Marion to Connelly Springs

Welcome to livermush country! If pig parts aren’t your preference, protein choices abound along this stretch of I-40, including chicken, fish, and local beef.

EXIT 81: Pho 828

When Pho 828 took over the strip mall space previously occupied by Sakura Japanese Ramen, it kept its predecessor’s signature item on the menu, a decision that evidences confidence rather than mission creep. There’s no broth or noodle that this restaurant can’t handle, although the aroma of grilled pork and sound of a cleaver rightly steers eaters back to Vietnamese dishes, including a sonorous pho with admirably fresh garnishes.

EXIT 90: Mama’s Country Kitchen

Mama’s Country Kitchen is hardly the only diner in McDowell County serving livermush. But what makes its rendition of the regional delicacy so valuable is short-order cooks here are egg virtuosos, meaning every plate and sandwich does justice to the loaf of cornmeal and pig parts (although a smear of mayonnaise doesn’t hurt when the combo’s bookended by white bread.) While staffers take equal care with the iron-rich flaps of livermush, even some lifelong western North Carolinians abstain: Mama’s also serves an estimable cheeseburger.

EXIT 103: Tokyo Diner Japanese Restaurant

While it’s little appreciated outside of the state, one of North Carolina’s favorite cuisines is counter-service hibachi, in part because eye-poppingly affordable portions of soy-saturated chicken, buttery shrimp, and griddled mushrooms reliably strain the seams of their Styrofoam boxes. Mostly, though, genre fans are fiends for white sauce, or sugared mayonnaise tinted by paprika. Tokyo Diner serves a flawless interpretation of the condiment, as well as fresh rice and bright vegetables, which may account for its perpetual drive-thru line.

EXIT 112: Highlands Butchery Restaurant

As the old joke goes when food’s slow to reach the table, “What did they do? Kill the cow?” At Highlands, that’s close to accurate. Co-owner Daniel Wall raises all the meat at his 75-acre farm in Icard, and it’s prepared for retail in a glass-fronted production room. But the butcher shop doubles as a restaurant specializing in smash burgers, grilled to order and presented on potato rolls. The grass-fed beef is stunningly rich; pickles are a must with every patty.

EXIT 118: Tex’s Fish Camp

Tom Burns opened Tex’s Fish Camp in 1972, as any of his many family members working at the community institution could tell you. What’s unknown is the year in which Tex’s started out-Calabashing Calabash, serving exquisite shrimp, sheathed in a see-through batter of flour and ground crackers. Tex’s menu is visually monochromatic—save for the can’t-miss homemade desserts, including persimmon pudding when the fruit’s in season–but its vinegary slaw, brittle-walled hush puppies, and deviled eggs are astonishingly multidimensional.