The reality of being a touring musician is that although you travel all around the country, the itinerary often limits the time you can spend exploring these destinations. With that narrow window of leisure, my favorite side-quest is food tourism. It has become custom for my Teen Mortgage and Tired all the Time to compile a list of regional dishes and culinary hot spots before each tour. The following are some of the highlights from last year.   

NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN   

Hattie B’s Hot Chicken in Nashville & Memphis, TN

Teen Mortgage have a penchant for spicy food that’s at times borderline masochistic. We’re often wise enough to weigh the endorphin rush of that fiery meal against the inevitable consequences. However, when a rare culinary experience opportunity presents itself, self preservation will take a back seat. 

We made it to Hattie B’s Hot Chicken on our first tour when we rolled through Nashville. The aftermath of that meal was legendary. That’s a story for another day but I assure you that chicken is 100% worth it.  When we rolled through Memphis this year, we saw there was a location just down the street from our venue. With the emotional scars of our previous Nashville experience still in mind, we couldn’t resist the temptation to sink our teeth into that sweet devil chicken. As comedian Joey Diaz likes to say, “If you’re going to dance with the devil you might as well lead.”   

Hattie B’s restaurants are set up fast casual style, visually akin to something like a Chipotle with a southern flare. If you just walk in off the street, be prepared to wait because they’ve been packed both times we visited. We spent a considerable amount of time longingly salivating while watching each proceeding customers’ orders come out alongside the disheartening stream of mobile pick-ups. Eventually, our order of two Nashville Hot Chicken sandwiches were called and we swooped in like carcass stealing hyenas to drag them off to our bench table.     

The decision to go with sandwiches over bone-in pieces was partially a veteran move as I didn’t want to bury my fingers in capsaicin and have to remember not to touch my face for the rest of the night. I’ve had attempts at Nashville hot chicken at various spots over the country. Most of them have been serviceable but tasted more like they were doused in buffalo sauce. The real deal sauce has the perfect ratio of pepper heat complimented by a hint of sweetness from honey and brown sugar that helps trojan horse the heat in. Both times, I’ve made it about half-way through my meal before the full heat potential was realized. At the mid-tier heat level, “hot,” the burn is enough to make your nose runny and forehead sweat but it in no way impairs the delicious flavor. I’d happily try my luck with the superlative heat tiers, “DAMN HOT” & “SHUT THE CLUCK UP,” if we didn’t have to perform and spent hours in a van the next day. The sides all absolutely slap. We usually go for the southern collards, pimento mac’n’cheese, and either red potato salad or coleslaw to cool your mouth down a little if you find yourself needing a break from the burn. 

SONORAN DOGS  

El Guero Canelo in Tucson, AZ

This food quest was six years in the making, since my friend and former Tired all the Time band member, Daniel Euphrat (Timmy Sells His Soul, Negative, Digital Negative), told me about the regional dog variant. The former southern Arizona resident exclaimed, “They are the only reasons you ever need to visit Tucson.”  So I unabashedly capitalized on the opportunity to re-route our tour to complete the mission at El Guero Canelo.    

Sonoran dogs are bacon wrapped 100% beef hot dogs, grilled and stuffed inside a bolillo bun, a Mexican version a baguette. Fully loaded comes with beans, diced tomato and onions, decorated with drizzles of mayonnaise, mustard, jalapeño sauce and a grilled green chile garnish. The restaurant itself had a utilitarian cafeteria vibe, dimly lit through shaded windows that kept the desert sun at bay. We ordered at the window, moved to the dining area and procured an assortment of radishes, cucumbers, limes, cilantro and sauces while waiting for the main event. 

Before long, an employee delivered the meal to our sheet metal bench table. If you’re like me, before you take your first bite, you might find yourself simply admiring the presentation, the subtle coloring, the tasteful thickness of it all… The bolillos are soft and slightly sweet, surrounding a nucleus of bacon and beef, forged together through the grilling process. Again, the toppings arrangement brings heterogeneity to each bite and lifts the dish by complimenting the richness of the dog. Sonoran dogs exemplify how artful yet unpretentious food can be. I love everything about them and I can’t see passing through southern Arizona again without seeking them out. 

Texas BBQ  

Stubbs BBQ in Austin, TX

Stubbs was the final boss of BBQ for our US tour recommended by Joshua Hankin from All Access Garage. You might be familiar with the smiling face of C.B. Stubblefield gracing various bottles of sauces and marinades in your local grocer. This is the restaurant opened posthumously since the BBQ legend’s 1995 passing. Of course, Franklin’s had also been recommended but the impression I had been given is you have to invest some serious effort to secure that brisket. That kind of allocation is an exclusion criterion. We found ourselves with enough time to grab dinner at Stubb’s before making our way over to the venue, located conveniently a block away. We were able to just walk right in and seat ourselves at the bar. 

I often temper my expectations for regional specialties with the notion that reputations may be inflated by local pride. Stubbs is not one of those situations. I went big and ordered the major plate, consisting of brisket, pork ribs and house jalapeño cheese sausage with potato salad, serrano cheese spinach, pickles onions and Texas Bread. Everything was top notch but when I sunk my teeth into that brisket, it was game over. I thought, “Oh shit, I see now,” as if acknowledging the claims by BBQ elitists as truth for the first time. It was aggressively delicious, succulent beef encased in a layer of bark reminiscent of deeply smoked dark chocolate. Though I intended to eat what I could and box it up for after the show, before I knew it I had crushed the whole thing. This indulgence did not go unpunished and I found myself negotiating the consequences while trying to play a ripping set while digesting over a pound of BBQ before accounting for sides.     

LATE NIGHT TACOS  

El Sapo in Long Beach, CA

It’s hard to pick favorites when it comes to tacos because we fucking put them down at almost every opportunity. Not a day in our SoCal run went taco-less. In fact, several days we hit multiple taco trucks, never once being disappointed. The options do drop off precipitously for late night spots and after shows are prime feeding hours. Finding ourselves getting out of our Saturday Long Beach gig at nearly 1 a.m., El Sapo was our taco oasis in a post midnight food desert. 

Open until an oddly specific 2:15 a.m., El Sapo’s truck is parked on an unassuming street corner in front of a neighborhood U-haul.  It has a wide assortment of staples like carne asada and al pastor alongside more adventurous fare like tripe, lengua and buche. The tacos are sized crushable, so order a bunch if you’re hungry and load up on the accouterments (limes, radishes, peppers, cucumbers, etc..) laid out on the stainless steel ledge beneath the pick-up window.  The vibe is admittedly a little sketchy for some but just what you’d expect for a late-night dive.  If you’re in the right frame of mind, you’ll fit right in with all the boozed up patrons, living their best life and slamming tacos.         

TACOS  

Mona Bar of Modern Art in El Paso, TX

We found ourselves in El Paso on a random night off. We had unsuccessfully tried to lock in a gig in the city but we had at least touched base with one of the owners of Mona Bar of Modern Art. Since our hotel was close and it was the only bar we had heard of, we decided to start our night off there. Luckily, it happened to be Taco Tuesday. At $2 a go, we showed up ready to put ‘em down. One of the owners happened to be working behind the bar that night. As a fellow musician, he was able to sympathize with our story and extended some liquid hospitality our way. Before long we were drunk AF and laid waste to several rounds of al pastor and carne asada tacos. At such a bargain price, I expected humble portions of protein on tortillas served in a plastic basket. What we were served was much higher quality and aesthetically plated with pickled red onion, lime wedges, avocados, and queso fresco.

GARBAGE PLATE & DOGS  

DOGTOWN in Rochester, NY 

I initially declined the opportunity to sample the garbage plate during our first visit to Rochester.  A quick image search reveals a depression era dish leaving much to be desired aesthetically. I believe the foundation of a garbage plate is typically several mounds of home fries, macaroni salad, hot links and beans, blanketed by ambiguous meat sauce and diced onions. At the time, I didn’t think the depression era food staple was worth the caloric impact and potential gastrointestinal fallout. 

James seemed a little more enamored with desire to try this beloved struggle meal so we decided to unlock the achievement when we made it back in 2022. We chose the fast and casual restaurant, Dogtown Hots, over the OG spot, Nick Tahou’s Hots, given its proximity to the venue and consistent high reviews. Also, since I wasn’t ready to gamble my food experience opportunity on the plate, Dogtown’s IG drew me in with images of some 18 hot dogs varieties.  

My fear was the garbage plate would amount to a pile of mushy, overseasoned starch that would no doubt leave you full and palate fatigued before the last bite. Dogtown’s garbage plate lived up to the best expectations of what that amalgam of beige foods could be. I believe the key here lies in heterogeneity, which I’ll attribute to the execution of plating. There’s a nice juxtaposition between the crispy, hot home fries and cool, tangy macaroni salad. The meat sauce and hot links were hearty as expected but well seasoned and unexpectedly bright with the accent of fresh diced onions and neon yellow mustard. Also the tightness of the meat sauce maintains some order, allowing the eater to experience different texture and flavor combinations throughout the meal.  

The star for me was still by far the hot dogs. We ordered 4 different varieties: The Hawaiian Poi (grilled pineapple, bacon & BBQ sauce),the Reuben (Corned beef, sauerkraut, melted Swiss & Russian dressing), the Chihuahua (Cilantro-lime sour cream, roasted corn & black bean salsa), and the Caribbean Wild Dog (sweet Jamaica relish, onions & cheddar).

Each is a Zweigle’s hot link made with a unique combination of beef, pork and veal that’s served on Dogtown’s locally sourced, fresh baked and hand-cut french bread. Again, each topping style offered a unique variation of sweetness and acidity to compliment the richness of the links. We were slightly concerned the bread ratio was going to be off from the visual presentation. To the contrary, the rolls were lightly toasted and remarkably pillowy to the bite, while also allowing ample surface area to arrange each dog’s respective ingredients. An additional point of note for the herbivores in your party, Dogtown also offers a wide variety of vegetarian hot dogs and plates as well.  

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