Boom Towns, Food Towns

Here at Wildsam, we’re not physicists, but we know something about energy—how, as it concentrates, it can change the elements of a place and make all parts greater as a whole. As we considered our Road Trip Awards this year, “energy” led us to think more in terms of food towns, rather than individual restaurants (though we do name names, too). 

High on our list, partly because of America's 250th, and the city's key role in the country's founding: Philadelphia. You can check out our full take on Philly's culinary scene and the ways it celebrates a melting pot of flavors here. But we also have our eye on three smaller cities with thriving food scenes, due, in part, to creative, underdog moxy and proximity to rich agriculture traditions and flavors pulled from the seas. 

So, no. We’re not physicists, unless we’re talking about the appreciation of synergy and alchemy of flavors on a plate—especially in the diners, sandwich shops and roadside cafes that tell a story of a place and its people. Let’s dig in. 

Words By Colleen McNally Arnett

Savannah is changing. I realize the irony in a place established in 1733, older than America itself, with one of the country’s largest National Historic Landmark Districts and the nickname “Slow-vannah.” And surely those who come for the architecture, the cobblestones, the ghost stories and shrimp and grits will still find those aplenty. But for those with an appetite beyond the traditional, change is certainly on the menu—even if it’s not always on the tourist map. The dining scene’s past decade’s growth spurt is thanks largely to the global fame of two-time James Beard winner Chef Mashama Bailey of The Grey. She opened the restaurant, which became a sensation, in 2014 with Johno Morisano inside a 1938 art deco Greyhound Bus Terminal. Meanwhile, expansion of the Savannah College of Art and Design continued to bring a steady stream of curious minds—and cash flow—to the city each year. And then there’s the enduring influence of Cheryl Day’s award-winning, now-retired Back in the Day Bakery, which operated for 22 years in the Starland District, a fast-evolving  neighborhood somehow still being left off the free visitor maps distributed around town today. While the tourist maps cut off at Forsyth Park, much of the most exciting growth has happened to the south. 

Named for the old Starland Dairy, the stretch of Bull Street below Forsyth Park now boasts a fleet of creatives, giving new meaning to “star land.” Helping to lead the renaissance is chef Kyle Jacovino of Pizzeria Vittoria, who recently added Lucia Pasta Bar inside the rehabbed dairy’s graffitied walls. At the latter, reservations fill weeks ahead, but lucky walk-ins can still indulge in Sapelo clams in 'nduja butter, handmade pastas, pillowy focaccia, and draft Negronis. 

A few steps in any direction, diners can continue discovering stellar dishes and drinks, from handrolls at the sexy Ukiyo Izakaya & Ramen Bar to wood-fired day catch at the chef’s counter inside Fishbar to smashburgers from the Crispi trailer parked in front of Two Tides Brewing. Nearby, in the former Back in the Day space, Flora & Fauna serves Parisian-quality pastries by day, and elaborate crudos and cocktails by evening. Brochu’s Family Tradition remains unrivaled for its contemporary Southern fare like local oysters and whole chicken dinners, while the natural wine-loving team behind Late Air is preparing to open Specials Pizza, a slice shop with a DJ booth. Come morning, Goody’s is the move for breakfast burritos wrapped in Mitla Tortilla Company’s finest.This isn’t to say Savannah’s historic district is entirely old news. Last year, the team behind world-famous Death & Co. opened Municipal Grand, a cocktail-centric hotel in a gussied-up government building. And, there are still plenty of delicious plates of shrimp and grits to go around—most notably inside The Douglas, a recently revamped bed-and-breakfast in a circa-1853 home with an onsite restaurant, Lester’s, helmed by two-time James Beard Award nominee chef Jacques Larson. And the region’s rich bounty—made possible by farmland stretching across South Georgia and the dedicated shrimpers and fishers just off the coast—remain on display every Saturday morning at the farmers market in Forsyth Park.

Together, these fresh attractions—and more on the way—are all making where to eat in Savannah an increasingly more difficult and delicious question to answer. It’s about time for a bigger map. 

Under the shadow of the cosmic cowgirl Stella Atom, a 19-foot fiberglass statue—or roadside “muffler man,” in Route 66 terminology—you’ll find the vintage trailer of Baloney Maroney’s slinging “Oklahoma tenderloin.” The trailer sits along the Mother Road, which threads through the thriving heart of the Meadow Gold District in Tulsa, and the menu pays homage to a smoking bologna tradition in the state as well as route cities. “The Albuquerque,” for example, includes baloney on a roll with a rich smear of cream cheese and a kick of roasted green chile.

Musician/owner W.T. Cauley, who opened Baloney Maroney’s last year, has a connection to route royalty through Cauley’s wife and the niece of writer and historian Michael Wallis, the voice of the Sheriff in the Pixar film Cars. And while not all new tastes from Tulsa come with Route 66 lineage, the interest and plethora of events around the Mother Road’s centennial this year have no doubt contributed to the energy in town in all things culture, including food. Tulsa is known as the “Capital City of Route” and home to oilman Cyrus Avery, the founder of Route 66. Cauley parks his rig route-side at Buck Atom Cosmic Curios, the gift shop in a former gas station run by effervescent entrepreneur and a local Mother Road mayor of sorts, Mary Beth Babcock. 

Babcock suggests a stop to ground folks in history at Ike’s Chili. Established in 1908, you’ll join Will Rogers as a former patron for burgers, cheese fries, spaghetti and frito burritos that come with a scoop of chili imbued with flavor from local meats and tallow, ground in-house. For more modern choices, Mother Road Market food hall has the local variety and pop-ups (barbecue, tacos, and West African cuisine). And for that new energy with an old soul, The Helen serves proper Route 66 breakfast of silver dollar pancakes or The Full Tank: eggs, steak and “smash browns,” brightened with pickled onion and tomato relish. Tulsa native Tim Rucker returned home after three decades working in New York City restaurants to open the place this year, which he named for his grandmother. 

Another newbie to the scene in 2025 with a grandmother namesake is Ava June, this one a French-style brasserie (seafood towers, pan-roasted duck, steak au poivre) from the hospitality team behind another local favorite, LoFi Pizza. 

Elsewhere in Tulsa, join the line of fans waiting to enter Country Bird Bakery, run by Cat Cox, the city’s first homegrown James Beard Award winner, named Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2025. A proponent of terroir in baking, she serves creative options like “strawberry pie twice-baked croissants” and “hot honey ricotta bear claws,” which carry a sense of place in their regionally sourced grains and flours. 

Even with its longtime outpost status, tucked into the pink-hued sunset shade off the Topatopa Mountains, Ojai is far from a secret enclave these days. The California foothills village’s  food scene has been growing and thriving for many years, too. But when a town prides itself on the creative energy of its locals, along with a rich farming, ranching, citrus and wild fishery history, it’s bound to keep catching our attention in new ways. 

One of the more recent offerings, Joplin’s BBQ, comes from the couple behind established Burmese-cuisine favorite in town, The Dutchess. Chef Saw Naing applies Burmese spice to low-and-slow barbecue methods for brisket and pork served alongside comfort sides such as honeyed cornbread and curry baked beans. Radio Roma, a listening room, also brings new energy with mezcal pours, Mexico City-inspired bites. 

Rory’s Place is an established favorite, open since 2022, but it continues to surprise and delight with Ojai’s seasonal produce and locally-raised meats. The two sisters from Santa Monica who run it, Rory and Meave McAuliffe, opened Rory’s Other Place in 2024, which has sandwiches and provisions for hikes. 

The best food scenes, after all, aren’t all about the shiny new thing but rather an ever-evolving tapestry of flavors from novel spaces to the well-worn, comfortable staples that help foster community by stewarding its natural resources with care. Ojai has that mix—pho from Ojai Noodle House; wood-fired sourdough pizza with fresh vegetables at Pinyon; to-go picnic packs with whole roasted chicken, cardamom carrots, Lebanese flatbread, hummus and baklava from Ojai Rotie; as well as even longer standing spots that keep the village spirit alive. For example, Wildsam contributor and Ojai resident Geoff Holstad calls the Farmer and the Cook “honest and humble in a fun almost reflective sense, like 90s vegetarian,” even if it did open a couple years after that decade. The soup of it all in Ojai makes for a scene that’s special and singular: “Ojai has this dreamy zen funky vortex thing, like Topanga or Sedona,” Holstad says. “And that collides with hyper-local food and creative ideas.”