Over the last three decades, Jane and Michael Stern have logged more than three million miles on America's two-lane highways, eating some 72,427 meals--and counting--often at the rate of twelve a day. Roadfood, their best-selling guide to the quirky eateries that lie beyond the blur of McSomethings, has become a glove-box bible for chain-weary travelers who want authentic barbecue or homemade pie.

In this laugh-out-loud culinary memoir, the Sterns tell the story behind their lifelong road trip. Two for the Road offers a front-seat view of smoke pits, turnip green, and coconut pie, and cafes where customized mugs for regulars hang on pegboards.

Along the way, the Sterns meet unforgettable characters, endure meals from the Hall of Infamy, and gradually formulate their own rules of the road. When you want to ind a great restaurant, forget the yellow pages and the concierge: ask the local cop or barber. Run like hell from anything World Famous. Sure bets the place with a giant plastic animal on the roof or pictures of Jesus on the walls.

Each chapter ends with the Stern's best recipe finds, from white clam pizza to Elvis' pound cake.

From Two for the Road : Bi-animal-on-the-roof restaurants almost always have terrific food. The goofier the animal, the better the food. If the bull atop the steak house gazes down at the parking lot with a big, toothy smile, or if the pig is dressed in a natty tuxedo and carries a walking stick, or if the lobster is wearing spectacles all the better to see the view from the roof, then we know for certain we are in good hands. Maybe it's a little perverse, but we have a soft spot for animals that invite us to eat them: the plump pig that appears ready to dive into a painted rendition of a smoky hickory pit, boasting. I'm go--oood! or the old knickers-wearing Chicken in the Rough bird who used to announce, I'll gladly be fried for Chicken in the Rough!