On our first evening visiting Ouray, Colorado, we needed to find somewhere to eat. After a recommendation from our family, we stopped for a delicious dinner at Brickhouse 737.

Bacon makes everything better. Before leaving Denver our family took us to the Bacon Social House for a nice brunch. The Bacon Social House is proof that you can never have too much bacon.

While visiting some family in Denver we wanted to go someplace special for a nice meal. We ended up going to Mercantile Dining and Provisions in downtown Denver. This restaurant has its own farm that supplies many of the produce and cheeses used. We were in for a treat, but not quite what we were initially expecting.

While visiting Denver, we stopped at The Budlong Hot Chicken, a Nashville Hot Chicken Joint for some tasty, spicy chicken sandwiches. Whether you get the sandwich, tenders, salad, hot chicken plate, or hot wings, the chicken is the star of the dish and the classic sides are made from scratch daily!

While in Denver our family highly recommended we stop by Voodoo Doughnut to try out some of their loaded, over-the-top doughnuts. So we made it a point to drop in, and we were definitely impressed with their selection.

After hiking up a bunch of sand dunes we needed to find something for lunch. So we headed up to Salida and stopped at Sweetie’s Sandwich Shop. Little did we know this would end up being one of the best sandwiches we’ve ever had.

While stopping by H Mart, an Asian food market in Mesa, we saw a very long line of people outside a shop in the nearby strip mall. After further investigation we saw everyone was at a Korean corn dog restaurant called Two Hands. With such a long line well after lunch we figured it had to be good, and we picked some up the following weekend. We were definitely not disappointed.

Pagosa Springs has many great places to eat, but our favorite is easily MEE Hmong Cuisine. MEE Hmong Cuisine is an Asian restaurant that melds flavors and dishes from across southeast Asia where the Hmong people are from. Here they put their own delicious spin on popular dishes from Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand, among others.

Meltdown on Main is a specialty food truck in Pagosa Springs that serves up a multitude of different types of grilled cheese sandwiches. It’s easy to miss if you’re driving by or even on the other side of the street, but it is definitely a spot to check out.

After a long day of hiking we needed some good food to fill us up. So we headed down to Riff Raff on the Rio for tasty burgers.

Before we ventured off on a snowy hike in the nearby mountains, we stopped by the bakery and restaurant called Two Chicks and a Hippie for some delicious brunch.

Michelle was talking about picking up some donuts from The Local Donut for a while, so we finally made the drive into Scottsdale to get some tasty treats.

In the heart of Gilbert’s Heritage District is Topo. The small gopher-topped building is designed to look like a classic roadside attraction of a bygone era. With a quick look as we pass by, it’s hard to determine what a place topped with a large gopher with glowing eyes and a ten-gallon hat would serve. It doesn’t exactly shout anything in particular, but we definitely wouldn’t have guessed it to be some tasty burritos.

On our recent trip to Jerome, we visited Bobby D’s BBQ for the first time. This smokehouse-style restaurant is located in the historic English Kitchen building, built in 1899, which boasts of being the oldest operating dining facility in the state of Arizona! Today, passersby are lured in to the establishment by the tantalizing smells from the Ole Hickory pit smoker outside the building.

After many trips to Sedona we were finally able to get reservations at the highly sought after Elote restaurant. This of course is due to the fact that they now take reservations since they have an actual building location and aren’t a hotel restaurant anymore. Regardless, we were very excited to finally be able to dine at this establishment.

In the small town Strawberry in northern Arizona there’s a newly opened take-out restaurant called the PIEbar that specializes in pies and empanadas. We drove by it on our previous trip through the area and made sure we stopped by this time.

As with Bayou By You, Williams is full of surprises and is home to a fantastic little Thai restaurant called Dara Thai Cafe.

The Sheridan House Inn really likes to emphasize the “breakfast” part of the bed and breakfast. Each morning we got a freshly made meal of our choice from the available options. In addition, the presentation of the food really goes above and beyond what we normally see for most restaurants and is akin to higher-end culinary establishments. The breakfast is particularly one of the main reasons we decided to stay at the Sheridan House Inn.

Williams is a small tourist town at the main junction heading towards the Grand Canyon. With that said one wouldn’t expect there to be much variation of food there to begin with, but we were in for a surprise. We came across Bayou By You on the main stretch of Route 66 in town and nearly walked past it on our way to a different restaurant, but Michelle noticed it and pointed it out. We definitely were glad to have stopped, because their food is delicious.

On our first night staying in Williams we decided to walk into the center of town and find a nice place to eat. Since we were escaping the heat of Phoenix we also wanted to be able to sit outside and enjoy the weather. After seeing how great the menu was and that they had patio seating we chose to go to the South Rims Wine and Beer Garage.

Just two streets over from Prescott’s historic downtown Courthouse Plaza is the quirky El Gato Azul. Here they serve their take on tapas, which are a type of Spanish food consisting of various small appetizer plates. It’s also similar to a much less formal version of Japanese kaiseki, but in this we get to actually pick our food. The great thing about tapas is that you can try out so many different things in one meal.

Dellepiane is an Argentine bar known for its delicious burgers and empanadas. Its first location is in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and the second is in Sedona, Arizona!

Sedona isn’t where we would expect to find some delicious Korean food, but this town is quite amazing and full of surprises. We happened to come upon Momo’s Kitchen and decided to get some lunch. We were not disappointed.

Hideaway House is a relaxed, friendly Italian restaurant set in the middle of scenic Sedona. Unfortunately, our visit took place at night when it was dark, so we couldn’t enjoy the beautiful views! Hideaway House has three open-air patios from which patrons can enjoy the stunning red rock formations. Happily, we were still able to enjoy their wonderful food!

We don’t make our way to Jerome very often, but when we do we always make sure to eat at the Haunted Hamburger. The restaurant is nestled high up the hill and offers patrons some nice views to go along with the tasty food. The Haunted Hamburger’s name is fitting since Jerome is the most famous ghost town in Arizona. There are plenty of other restaurants in the small town, but it’s hard to pass up going to one of our favorite spots to get a great burger.

After a long morning of exploring the Shrines and Temples of Nikko, we wanted to get some lunch. So we walked back towards the train station and found Hippari-Dako. Located just a few minutes walk from the Shinkyo Bridge, Hippari-Dako is a small yakitori shop with some fantastic food. Their menu features a variety of items beyond yakitori, including ramen, yakisoba, yuba (tofu skin), sashimi, curry rice, tonkotsu, tempura soba, and much more.

Our time at the Kai Nikko was fantastic, and one of the best parts of it, besides the amazing view from our room of Lake Chuzenji, was the food. As with other ryokans, Kai Nikko serves kaiseki meals for dinner. These meals usually offer seasonal and regional ingredients, and the regional specialty for Nikko is yuba.

During our stay in Kyoto our hotel managed to get us reservations at Kikunoi for lunch. Kikunoi is widely regarded as one of the best restaurants in the world for kaiseki cuisine, and holds a 3-star Michelin rating. Located in eastern Kyoto, Kikunoi is nestled in a quiet charming neighborhood just south of Yasaka Shrine.