Recently I embarked on a trip that lasted 17 days and included 5 states.  Among the places that I visited were St. Louis, Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota and South Dakota.  The final leg of the journey consisted of a 5 day road trip from Chicago to South Dakota with my mom where we visited Badlands National Park, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Deadwood, Spearfish, Sturgis and much more.  As usual, a lot of different food from various places was consumed, here are numerous pictures to tell the story.

Redbird Carvery
loading...

St. Louis in known for their phenomenal barbecue, here is a brisket sandwich from the Redbird Carvery at Busch Stadium. The meat was tender and the sauce was sweet and complimented the sandwich perfectly.  The chips and coleslaw were a perfect addition to this delicious Midwestern delight.

Photo by Brandon Cohn
loading...

No visit to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium is complete without a brat made in house. This delight was a bacon cheddar brat that was perfectly cooked and every bite incorporated an abundance of cheddar or bacon, it was a special treat.

Photo by Brandon Cohn
loading...

Imo's Pizza is a St. Louis institution that has been serving some of the best thin crust "St. Louis" style pizza since 1964. Pictured here is their large 2 topping pizza with pepperoni and sausage and included a double order of their famed toasted ravioli. Without question, thin pizza is one of my favorites, and Imo's was as good as is gets.

Brandon Cohn
loading...

Chicago is notorious for their cuisines from around the world. Pictured above is a Greek combination plate from Psistaria which included dolmades, tiropita and pastitsio, (Greek lasagna).  This restaurant located in the Chicago suburb of Skokie is one of the best that I've ever tried.

Photo by Brandon Cohn
loading...

Who doesn't love a great all beef hot dog? Chicago has some of the best hot dogs in the country. Here is a Vienna Chicago dog with mustard, relish, celery salt, onions and a pickle.

Minervas
loading...

Based on a recommendation by my new principal Mr. Craig Kehrwald at Austin High School, my mother and I ventured to Minervas is Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Steak Michael is a peppered New York Strip with a horseradish, blue cheese and Parmesan topping. I am a big fan of quality steaks, this one was juicy, tender and the toppings were the cherry on top. It was quite simply, heavenly.

Mavricks
loading...

Mavericks Steaks and Cocktails located in the Gold Dust Casino and Hotel in Deadwood, SD claimed to have delicious barbecue. In fact, one of the locals who lived in nearby Lead, SD told me they had the best ribs that he'd ever eaten. Curiosity got the best of me and I had to try the ribs and brisket platter. The fall off the bone baby backs were amazing and and the pulled brisket with their home made sauce was even better. This jewel located in the Black Hills of South Dakota is a can't miss when traveling to that neck of the woods.

Victoria's
loading...

Our trip to South Dakota concluded in Rochester, Minnesota as we were driving back to Chicago. One of the locals highly recommended a quaint little Italian restaurant called Victoria's. It turned out to be a great suggestion as I had the Chicken Parmesan on a bed of their home made pasta and meat sauce. The chicken was perfectly cooked and the cheese used was noting short of spectacular, it was by far some of the best chicken parm that I've ever had.

Hope you've enjoyed my food blog from some of the places that I visited on my epic trip, don't worry, there will be more to come in the near future.

More From 600 ESPN El Paso