Long before the Eisenhower administration sanitized coast-to-coast car travel with its network of cookie-cutter interstate highways, there was Route 66. Running from Chicago to Los Angeles, this two-lane blacktop ribbon cut through existentially lonely swaths of the still-undeveloped American West, building its own mythic aura as the miles ticked past. There've been pop songs about it (Nat King Cole's 1946 hit "Get Your Kicks On Route 66") and even an early 1960s TV series starring George Chakiris and Martin Milner as two drifters in a jazzy sports car. Even though the road was long ago disbanded and the famous signs torn down, its iconic status persists, with guidebooks still tracing the route. In the summer of 2008, no less a fan than Paul McCartney drove it in a red Ford pickup. Driving Route 66 is a spunky adventure in blue-highway travel, with plenty of mom-and-pop motels and cafes.
Just east of Oklahoma City, Route 66's romantic Dust Bowl vibe is startlingly interrupted by Pops (660 W. Hwy. 66, Arcadia; tel. 877/266-7677; www.pops66.com), a relatively new diner/gas station that looks like a futuristic spaceport set down on the site of an old gas station. At heart, however, Pops has a nostalgic streak a mile wide. Owner Aubrey McClendon stocks over 500 brands of soda pop from all over the world, championing quirky independent brands over the mass-marketed nationals. You'll know you're there when you see a 66-ft.-high (20m) neon soda bottle rising like a beacon over the wheat fields. Head west through Oklahoma City, catching State Road 66 again on the far side, to find El Reno, Oklahoma, and vintage Jobe's Drive-In (1220 Sunset Dr.; tel. 405/262-0194). Intercoms at each parking space let you order a classic Oklahoma-style onion burger (not listed as such -- all burgers here come with onions smashed into the meat); carhops bring the food out on a tray that gets clipped to your car window.
Crossing the state line into Texas, Route 66 parallels I-40 as a series of unnumbered roads; halfway through, in Amarillo -- a town that lovingly preserves its Route 66 heritage -- stop off at the red-brick storefront Golden Light Café (2908 W. 6th St.; tel. 806/374-9237) for a cowboy-style burger, superlative thin-cut french fries, and frosty mugs of local beer.
In New Mexico, the original Route 66 angled north to Las Vegas; follow that route up U.S. 84 to parallel I-25, and you'll pass through Santa Fe, where an old adobe trading post was converted in 1953 into Bobcat Bite (420 Old Las Vegas Hwy.; tel. 505/983-5319; https://bobcatbite.com). (Note that Bobcat is closed Sun-Tues.) Route 66 was rerouted in 1937, however, to run through Albuquerque; follow that option to check out The Frontier (2400 Central Ave. SE; tel. 505/266-0550; www.frontierrestaurant.com), a gigantic, student-friendly hangout right across from the University of New Mexico campus. Though it opened in 1971, long after Route 66 vanished, the Frontier has that On the Road spirit down pat, with speedy counter service, round-the-clock hours, and delicious cheap food, from breakfast burritos in the morning to green-chili stew in the evening.
Over in Arizona, just past the Painted Desert in Holbrook, Joe & Aggie's Café (120 W. Hopi Dr.; tel. 928/524-6540) is a cheery little pink-adobe storefront dating from 1946. It's a great stop for enchiladas, chicken-fried steak, and puffy sopapillas (fried bread). On the other side of Flagstaff, along the last section of Route 66 to finally be bypassed, cozy wood-paneled Old Smoky's (624 W. Bill Williams Ave., Williams AZ; tel. 928/635-2091) has been serving stack of hot fluffy pancakes to Grand Canyon-bound tourists since 1946.
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This article is an excerpt from 500 Places for Food & Wine Lovers, available in our online bookstore now.