49 Best Restaurants for RV Road Trips

RV travel is great until you need to stop for food. As many folks with motor homes, trailers, and other types of recreational vehicles have figured out, not every pit stop is a great place to stop, and not all roadside joints are stocked with all the amenities the average road warrior might need. If you plan to explore the country by RV and worry about finding food at a place your home on the road will fit, we have a few ideas. We scoured reviews and rankings from expert food writers, checked in with RV die-hards, and double-checked online ratings from thousands of hungry travelers to find the best RV-worthy restaurants along America's roads.

Related: Road Trippers Go Out of Their Way for These 32 Convenience Stores

Walcott, Iowa
There's a 24-hour buffet with a 50-foot salad bar, and entrees including meatloaf, pork chops and fried chicken. If you need something quicker, the food court has a Wendy's, Caribou Coffee, Dairy Queen, Orange Julius, Taco Bell, and a Pizza Hut. Sound big? They don't make many truck stops bigger than this one. A whopping 100,000-square-feet just off Interstate 80, this small city of a truck stop features a barber shop, two dozen private showers, a dentist's office, a chiropractor (all that sitting in the captain's chair is murder on your alignment), a 60-seat movie theater, a dog wash, and 150 fuel pumps.

Related: The Best Hole-in-the-Wall Diner in Every State

Cornersville, Tennessee
There's a full-service restaurant, pizza shop, and ice cream parlor here, along with private showers, power hookups, free Wi-Fi, a large grocery store, and a dog park. But you're here for Pops BBQ and its 12-hour slow-cooked pork butt, St. Louis-style ribs, and sauces and dry rub you can take with you. If you can time it right, stop in on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday for catfish.

Sikeston and Ozark, Missouri, and Foley, Alabama
The "Home of Throwed Rolls" has been in existence since 1942. Those hot, fluffy, grapefruit-sized rolls are announced at high volume and accompanied by extra large drinks in insulated cups and "pass arounds" including fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes, and fried potatoes, recommended especially by Jody Halsted at GoRVing.com. If you're worried about parking, the lots at Lambert's are sized as generously as its meals, with dedicated bus and RV parking.

Related: 11 of the Biggest RV Parks in America

Santa Rosa, New Mexico
A trucker on Thrillist hailed the offerings at Silver Moon as "some of the finest Mexican food I've experienced out on the road." Beef tacos, cheese dip, salsa, and fajitas dot the menu, but so do burgers, fries, onion rings, and a mean throwback Monte Cristo sandwich. If you're going down Route 66, non-driving adults can stop here for prickly pear margaritas and green chili stew.

Related: Route 66: Then and Now

Rayne, Louisiana
Kermit may consider them "appalling, disgusting, revolting," but frog's legs are a staple here in the frog capital of the world. If that doesn't do much for your appetite, there's catfish, shrimp, and gumbo when you find yourself between Houston and New Orleans. The on-site casino is less likely to pay off.

Related: 27 Restaurants for Wild Game Across America

Little Orleans, Maryland
It looks like any Exxon in the Appalachians, but beyond the pumps and sprawling parking lot is a little grocery store with a cottage-sized restaurant serving up stew, burgers, lasagna, chicken salad sandwiches, and homemade pies. Cross your fingers for the Belle Grove Grocery's Philly Cheesesteak special, or try to stop for breakfast on the way to Rocky Gap Casino.

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Mineral Wells, West Virginia
Facebook users say the showers are older, but cheap and near perfect. The parking lot is huge, if a bit pockmarked. But there's an on-site livestock auction and a restaurant with a fine steak dinner, some mashed potatoes and gravy, and a breakfast featuring the "Hillbilly Omelette." They don't make them like the Liberty Truck Stop anymore.

Related: Where To Find Great Cheap Steak in Every State

Johnson Creek, Wisconsin
There are ham steaks bigger than your head, cookies the size of a dinner plate, massive cream puffs, broiled Icelandic cod, giant rolls, a Friday night fish fry, and shelves upon shelves of Packers gear. The Pine Cone Travel Plaza also has free Wi-Fi, private showers, a laundry area, and a lounge, and it's a fine place to stock up on supplies and fill the tank or just dig into a plate of waffles and ice cream.

Chesapeake, Virginia
With more than a half-century of experience and breakfast all day to go with private showers, a repair shop, and a truck wash, this is a homey — if humble — place to rest your RV for a bit. Yelpers like the salt herring and eggs, salmon roe and eggs, and home fries with corned beef.

Related: How to RV Without Going Stir-Crazy

Arcadia, Oklahoma
You'd almost be disappointed if a place on Route 66 named Pops didn't have a 66-foot-tall neon soda bottle and a choice of 700 beverages. The on-site restaurant makes large, shareable meals (ask about the Buffalo burger), but save room for the shake shop, which will make you a float with just about any soda and ice cream combination you like, advises Halsted at GoRVing.

Douglas, Wyoming
The eggs, wheat toast, and sausage, biscuits, and gravy, have their fans, but so do the chopped steak dinner and the burgers. Unfortunately, only the restrooms are 24-hour at the Broken Wheel, so be sure to time your arrival at this recently remodeled Sinclair Broken Wheel Restaurant before it closes at 10 p.m.

Related: Where to Find a Good, Cheap Burger In Every State

Hooksett, New Hampshire
Not so much a truck stop as a roadside mall for travelers, the Common Man has a 24-hour general store, a tourist information center, a bank, and specified RV parking. Though Massachusetts residents use it to avoid tax on liquor at liquor and wine outlets, hungry drivers stop for the four eateries: The vegetarian-friendly Hi-Way Diner, the Café and Bakery, a pizza shop, and a coffee stand.

Byron Center, Michigan
Steak and mashed potatoes, loaded biscuits, homemade potato chips, 24-hour service: This is a trucker diner to its core. Just 10 miles south of Grand Rapids, this is the type of place that will serve a burger called the Big Mother Trucker — two half-pound patties, three slices of bread, cheddar, Monterey Jack, horseradish and garnish — without reservation. The enormous portions are great, but there are also showers, a laundromat, vacuums, and free Wi-Fi.

Related: Celebrate Spuds With 27 Tasty Ways to Cook Potatoes

Boise, Idaho
The Boise Stage Shop has been open in some form since 1891 — originally, it catered to stagecoaches. Today, it offers trucks and RVs private showers, a laundromat, a theater room for a quick movie, a general store with its own deli, and a restaurant that's open from 5 a.m. to midnight with a full menu at all hours. You can get a rib-eye for breakfast here, and you can order it online.

Clearwater, Minnesota
You've got private showers, laundry, free Wi-Fi, and huge parking spaces here, as well as a general store and a Minnesota gift shop. The draw, however, is Nelson Bros. Yes, it's a full-service restaurant, a quick-stop food court, and even a pub, but Nelson Bros.' claim to fame is its bakery. Plate-sized doughnuts, to-go pies, and five kinds of fritter bread are the key offerings, but the bakery also makes pizza dough for the pizza stand, artisan bread for the deli, and biscuits for the restaurant's morning biscuits and gravy.

Related: 33 Unique Doughnuts You Have to Try

Morris, Illinois
This 24-hour facility is inside a TA truck stop with its own bowling alley/arcade, fitness room, laundry room, pet area, dentist, medical services, and multiple restaurants. But if you're only here once, you'll want to make the stop at R Place. Home of the 4-pound Premium Ethyl Burger, R Place will give you that burger for free if you can finish it in one hour by yourself without leaving the table. You may want to skip the challenge and save room for strawberry puff pillows, pecan rolls, and pies from the bakery.

London, Kentucky
You won't find great fish and chips or tikka masala in this London, but you will get a whole lot of fried chicken, stir fry, loaded nachos, tall stacks of pancakes, and a grand Southern-style buffet that you can take to go (Tuesday's chicken and dumplings special is particularly promising). Meanwhile, the truck stop features package delivery and receiving, Wi-Fi, Moneygram service, coin-operated laundry, a game room, and showers.

Related: 45 Best Homemade Pancake Recipes

Minot, North Dakota
Need one last stop before Canada? Maybe a quick shower or a few loads of laundry? A few minor repairs before departing the U.S.? Well, if you make that stop at the Schatz Crossroads, you'll be having one of the best breakfasts anywhere in North Dakota. The hash browns and home fry combos are highly recommended, but the burgers, steaks, and spaghetti and meat sauce make this place a down-home, all-day affair.

Saxapahaw, North Carolina
This "five-star gas station" outside Raleigh sells the work of local artisans as well as locally grown produce and locally sourced meals. It has grab-and-go croissant and English muffin sandwiches, but if you have some time to linger, the Eggs Catalan, Shrimp and Grits, and Creamy Applewood Bacon Succotash during weekend brunch are worth sticking around for. Lamb, bison, and goat burgers, vegetarian sandwiches (avocado tomato, falafel, portobello mushroom), and full duck confit dinner aren't your average gas-station fare, but there's a lot going on beyond Saxapahaw's pumps.

Related: Hearty Meatless Meals Even Carnivores Will Devour

Tallapoosa, Georgia
Big parking spaces, a nearby Dairy Queen and lots of roadside amenities make this a fine stop, but it's the big buffet that sets this place apart. Rib-eye steak, fried chicken, roast beef, fried green tomatoes, hot rolls, creamed corn, and a whole lot more make this a filling station in every sense of those words.

Watauga, Texas
In an unassuming spot behind a Conoco gas station and near just about nothing, Chef Point caught food show host Guy Fieri's eye nonetheless. The cafe built out a huge back patio and hosts wine and beer events and live music, and the restaurant menu includes lobster mac and cheese, maple leaf duck, and a $25 Angus rib-eye that outpaces any truck-stop ribeye we've listed so far.

Related: Where to Unwind: 30 Charming Restaurant Patios

Gilbert, South Carolina
Liver and gizzards, smothered steak and mashed potatoes, catfish, mac and cheese, chicken fried steak, broccoli casserole, burgers, fried chicken, and homemade carrot and coconut cake make this a rare soul food truck stop. Clean showers, an upstairs pool hall, and a service station make this place as good for an RV as it is for an appetite.

West, Texas
In a Shell station just off of Interstate 35 with working pumps and public bathrooms, Czech Stop is a reminder that West is basically Texas' mini-Czechia. The kolach pastry comes in ham, sausage, and various fruit flavors, but we recommend a very Americanized — and very Czech-Texan — plate of spicy sausage chunks known as "Hot Chubbies" that are coated in cheese.

Related: 18 Places to "Travel Abroad" Without Leaving the Country

Sulphur, Louisiana
Unsurprisingly, this spot just off Interstate 10 with its RV-accommodating spaces is replete with spicy boudin sausage, alligator bites, chicken and andouille gumbo, crawfish etouffee, stuffed shrimp, stuffed chicken breast, cracklins, and po' boy sandwiches. There's a wine list at LeBleu's if you want to stay a while, but nobody will be offended if you take a po' boy and some fried pickles and skip town.

Cape Charles, Virginia
It's in a gas station's market, but Sting-Ray's embrace of its "Chez Exxon" nickname means it serves up impeccable Chesapeake Bay seafood and sweet potato ham biscuits. If you don't have much time, give the crab cake sandwich a go. If it's a true pit stop, go all out and get the $28 crab imperial: crab meat mixed with mayonnaise and seasoning, topped with breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, and baked into a crab shell.

Related: 28 Eateries That Are Famous for One Amazing Dish

Bangor, Maine
First opened off Interstate 95 in 1967, Dysart's became known for its substantial servings of fried clams and scallops. But the blueberry French toast with housemade blueberry bread and whipped cream also comes recommended — a nice treat once you're done using the private showers, hooking into the free Wi-Fi, filling your propane tanks, washing your car, or getting one last tuneup.

McLean, Texas
Trucker Otto Schmeckenbecher of Arkansas raved to Thrillist about this spot off of Route 66. "They have great salads, burgers, steaks, catfish, ribs, and all the fixings to go with it," he says. "You can finish it off with homemade cobbler." Throw in RV-sized parking and live music on Saturday nights, and the Red River Steakhouse is a lovely, leisurely Texas pit stop.

Related: The Best Under-the-Radar Steakhouse in All 50 States

Southwest Ranches, Florida
At this tiki hut in the middle of the Everglades, owner Juan "Chuchi" Daniel holds bike nights on Thursdays, latin nights on Fridays, and invites the Caribbean community in for jerk chicken and fried bread on Wednesday and Saturdays. You can dig into Cafe 27 gator bites or Mahi sandwiches before sticking around for punk and metal bands at night.

Lee Vining, California
The humble Whoa Nellie Deli serves a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu that includes a blend of Mexican, Polynesian, and Asian fare. The sashimi isn't to be missed, but get the fish tacos if you want the full experience — and marvel that it's all inside a Mobil station right outside Yosemite National Park, with 24-hour restrooms, free potable water fill-ups for RVs, and access to a dumping station for $10.

Related: The Best Sushi Restaurant in All 50 States

Pringle, South Dakota
The motorcycles may outnumber the RVs at the Hitch Rail, but all the motorists order from the same menu once inside, where Buffalo burgers ands four-cheese mac and cheese are the stars of a rotating menu served on a covered patio with a sprawling view of the surrounding Black Hills. Specials range from hot ham and cheese sandwiches, burgers, and French dip to pork tacos and racks of ribs.

Gudron, Arkansas
"Good country cooking, good old-timey cooking, too, right off Exit 63," trucker Jerry Whittenburg of El Paso told Thrillist. "Great hamburger steak, good chicken fried steak. Oh! They have really great biscuits and gravy, too." The South Fork Truck Stop's owners also own a hotel across the way and feature laundry service, a repair shop, and pizza delivery among their key amenities. The owners tout the daily meat and three that's served 24 hours a day; there's also a Fish Friday meal with two pieces of fried catfish, french fries, pinto beans, coleslaw, hush puppies, sliced onions, and dessert.

Related: The Best Spot for Comfort Food in Every State

Middletown, Delaware
Coming north into Delaware through Maryland via U.S. Route 301, you'll run into this gem just off of Middletown Warwick Road. The restaurant is more or less hidden inside an unassuming Citgo gas station, but its breakfast menu is almost too big to hide, and the burgers and dinner options such as veal, flounder, and crab soup have kept reviewers consistently surprised and overwhelmed.

Chehalis, Washington
There are long stretches of Interstate 5 throughout Oregon and Washington that are just desolate — no food or amenities for miles, and no one around to get mad about it. When Spiffy's neon sign appears in the distance, it's a beacon for weary Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier, or Olympic Peninsula campers. Inside are heaping breakfast portions, an old-school dinner menu with chicken fried steak, veal cutlet, halibut fish and chips, and a bakery case filled with towering fruit and cream pies. Outside is a full gas station and convenience store, as well as an espresso cart, a Pacific Northwest rest stop staple.

Related: Where to Find a Great Cheap Cup of Coffee Across The Country

Wells River, Vermont
P&H Truck Stop's online presence would lead you to believe it's little more than a gas station and mini mart. Its menu doesn't talk up its fresh-baked breads (including maple walnut and cinnamon raisin) or fresh pies (including a mountainous lemon meringue). But reviewers adore this place and have made it more of a destination than a pit stop.

Johnstown, Colorado
There are power hookups for your RV, a FedEx drop box, propane tank fills, free Wi-Fi, overnight parking, full showers, laundry, and a convenience store, but that all places a distant second behind Johnson's cinnamon rolls. Sure, Johnson's would love you to book an event at their function hall or spend some quiet time in their chapel, but even their breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus, their to-go deli, and their soda fountain take a backseat to their sweet shop's giant cinnamon rolls and their seasonal flavors such as peanut butter chocolate chip and blueberry cream cheese. Order them to go, or stay and enjoy one a la mode.

Related: We Tried 8 Store-Bought Cinnamon Rolls and These Were the Best

Portland, Oregon
This mega truck stop out near the airport never gets credit for keeping Portland weird. In business since 1952, Jubitz runs a full movie theater, a live music venue and dance lessons, a full hotel, multiple delis, and multiple restaurants out of a sprawling facility. All-day breakfast or an herb-encrusted salmon at the Cascade Grill are draws for RV drivers just as much as the dog wash, showers, free Wi-Fi, jacuzzis, a postal service, shoe repair, barber shop, and laundromat.

Amana Colonies, Iowa
Their origins go back to a German religious sect, but now the Amana Colonies are known largely for their accessibility to RV communities, handmade goods, and especially for restaurants where no one leaves hungry. The Ox Yoke and the Ronneburg serve their meals as a meat with passed sides and make everything from scratch — with local beer and root beer made at the Colonies' millstream brewery, points out Halsted at GoRVing.

Related: 44 Unique Regional Sodas You Have to Try — If You Can Find Them

Fort Lauderdale, Florida
The Georgia Pig moved to South Florida with its menu along for the ride. That means lots of barbecue chopped pork — especially in its Brunswick stew — and favorites such as spare ribs and smoked ham. Just bring cash, as the place doesn't take cards. "I've had barbecue all over the South, all over the country. It doesn't get more real than these guys," a 50-year East Coast trucker named Dale told Thrillist.

King City, California
There's something inherently Californian about the Wildhorse's approach to American road food. The chicken fried steak comes on whole-grain bread, and the next most popular item off the menu is a chili verde off a lengthy list of Mexican meals. Yes, there are biscuits and gravy in the morning and fried chicken at night, but there are flat-patty cheeseburgers with avocado and bacon avocado omelets. If you're cruising the coast or heading to a National Park, this spot along Highway 101 is a fine place to take in California's view of the American Road.

https://blog.cheapism.com/homemade-chili-recipes-3881/

Needles, California
Thrillist's trucker Whittenburg notes that this is just across the border from Arizona and is a fine blend of Arizona, Southern California, Mexican and Midwest cuisine, with a menu that meanders from meatloaf and fried chicken to enchiladas, tostadas, and a fat burrito. Located along Route 66 since 1978, the Wagon Wheel has an old-fashioned name but has changed along with the road that runs through it.

Robertsdale, Alabama
The Derailed Diner makes it worthwhile to pause along Interstate 10, plant your RV, and dig into fare such as the Railroad Basket (fried mushrooms and green beans, mozzarella sticks, and onion straws), Hobo Basket (beef steak, baby carrots, red potatoes, corn on the cob, onions, and celery slow roasted in tin foil) and Fried Catfish Basket (with fries, coleslaw and hush puppies). You can order more than 50 flavors of fudge here, too, but we'd save the snacking for the diner's Nachos Supreme or Chili Cheese Fries.

Related: Eat These Gut-Busting Appetizers at Your Own Risk

Tucson, Arizona
The Triple T — the truckers' name for this place, not ours — is home to Omar Ramirez's Food Network-famous Omar's Hi-Way Chef. Its breakfasts are ample, to put it modestly, and include the Interstate 10 Belly Buster (three eggs, two strips of bacon, two sausage patties, two pancakes, and grilled ham). Even the desserts are huge, with deep dish apple, cherry, and peach pie served hot under a pile of soft-serve ice cream. If you're here for the barber shop, gift shop, gas, or just for the smoking section, give the menu a look.

Sweetwater, Texas
It's "a little hole in the wall" with parking for about 20 trucks, Whittenburg says, but the food at Big Boy's BBQ is "just stupendous ... so tender, you really don't even need a knife." Texas Monthly calls it some of the best barbecue in the world.

Related: Best Hole-in-the-Wall BBQ Joints Across America

Knightstown, Indiana
This mom-and-pop shop makes comfort food such as hamburger steaks, fried chicken with mashed potatoes, and patty melts in giant-sized portions for prices that should make you even more comfortable. Whittenburg says he got a meal of ham, eggs, hash browns, and a cup of coffee for $8.50. There are plenty of RV amenities at the Gas Grill too.

Highland, Illinois
Just off Interstate 70 east of St. Louis, the Blue Springs Cafe advertises foot-high merengue on its pies and means it. The Food Network did the measuring, and the merengue is so high that it overshadows the chicken breast, hamburger steak, fried vegetables, and other menu items that would be standouts just about anywhere else.

Related: 50 Under-the-Radar Restaurants with Amazing Homemade Pie

Loretto, Pennsylvania
Truckers rave about the bacon, eggs and thick-cut French Fries at this Pennsylvania-style kitchen, but they don't love the fact that its popularity means it gets packed on weekends. Burgers, melts, pot roast beef, Virginia ham, spaghetti and meatballs, and smothered chicken breast are all favorites at the Keystone, but save room for a full menu of pies and cheesecakes.

Dillon, Montana
When you're between Yellowstone National Park and Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, it helps to cater to the RV crowd. There are laundry machines, private showers, a convenience store, and overnight parking if you need to stock up and wind down. But if you're really just here for some sustenance, the burgers, meatloaf, and sunrise breakfast are a must.

Related: The Greatest Breakfast Sandwich In Every State

Green River, Utah
Nestled in the foothills just north on Interstate 70 from Canyonlands National Park, the West Winds is a welcome sight for weary travelers, and the restaurant's taco bowl or short stack of pancakes will make the trip more than worthwhile. There's also free Wi-Fi, Western Union wire service, a Knights Inn hotel, a service center if your car's having trouble and — in a worst-case scenario — a Greyhound bus depot to get you out of there.

Tower City, North Dakota
You'll enjoy digging into a menu of home-cooked savories that ranges from burgers and hot beef sandwiches to all-day breakfast and an orange-Asian salad with chicken, sliced almonds, and chow mein noodles. But the Tower Travel Center just off Exit 307 on Interstate 94 near Fargo has a bakery with pie that many consider the best in the country. The bakery's a bit buried behind the gas station, restaurants, and convenience store to get there, but it offers 15 to 20 pie selections at a time. The coconut cream and strawberry rhubarb, in particular, are highly recommended.

Related: 50 Beloved Hometown Bakeries Across America