Statesville to Greensboro

Across North Carolina, it holds true that the lower the elevation, the higher the heat index–at least on your plate. This set of exits gets off to a spicy start with dipped chicken, one of Southern cooking’s finest hybrids.

EXIT 148: Phifer’s Hot Wings & BBQ

If eaters outside of the Statesville area are familiar with dipped chicken—that magical amalgam of church suppers and backyard cookouts which involves frying half a chicken and submerging it in peppery barbecue sauce—they probably know Keaton’s. Locals, though, will tell you the dish isn’t the same since B.W. Keaton passed away. If they’re feeling generous, they’ll then steer you to the glorious version at Phifer’s, where every side is an excuse to soak up more hot vinegared sauce.

EXIT 168: Miller’s Restaurant

On a recent visit to Miller’s, a man in a Vietnam veteran ballcap sighed as he escorted his mother through the front door. “It’s the only place she wants to come,” he said of the storied family restaurant which opened as a truck stop in 1952. “She’d come here every day.” Some do. Homestyle cooking is a draw, but plenty of regulars swear by the superlative pimento burger, featuring a rail-thin patty spread with mayonnaise-heavy pimento cheese.

EXIT 188: Taste Jamaica

Taste Jamaica’s food truck roots are showing at its new permanent location: if you’re ordering takeout, for instance, Jamaican-born owner Sonia Beckford stays behind an order window and sends out a robot server with a to-go box. What’s in the box also reveals lessons learned on the road, such as how many butter beans belong in a glossy, allspicy oxtail stew, and the right ratio of pepper to cabbage in the cuisine’s essential steamed side dish.

EXIT 203: Clark’s Barbecue

Long before the barbecue map got mixed up by Texans selling barbecue in Georgia, and South Carolinians smoking meat in Alabama, the Gentry family of Davidson County had the gumption to bring Lexington-style barbecue to Kernersville, about 35 miles away. Three decades later, the gamble’s paying off for travelers in the form of tender wood-smoked pork, portioned out with a good amount of crispy bark. Plus, if your tastes tilt toward crunch, Clark’s sells its skins by the box.

EXIT 217: Bánh Mì Saigon Sandwiches

Have you ever gone shopping for a white shirt? The simplest items are sometimes the hardest to find, a trope proved true by most sandwich searches. Fortunately, the family-owned Bánh Mì Saigon challenges conventional wisdom with its terrific bánh mì. In addition to the usual fillings, choices include curried chicken, fried fish, and pate drizzled with Sriracha in what’s billed as a nod to New Orleans. All display the three C’s of bánh mì brilliance: Crusty bread, crunchy vegetables, and contrast aplenty.