Although many of the businesses that now surround Santa Fe’s plaza are trendy and high-priced, the Plaza Café, established in 1918, is what it’s been all along—a three-meal-a-day town café frequented by locals and travelers alike, who come for dishes that range from American cheeseburgers to Greek souvlaki to New Mexican green-chile stew. The sopaipillas that come with the stew are hot from the fry kettle, perhaps the best in town, and don’t miss the quesadilla, a griddled tortilla sandwich filled with soft shredded pork and little nuggets of caramelized garlic.
Did you know that Dahlonega, Georgia, had a gold rush in 1828, 20 years before ore-hungry hordes began flocking to California’s Sierra Nevada foothills? The Smith House likes to say it was built on top of an untapped vein, but today’s treasure is in the form of puffy yeast rolls, cracklin’ corn-bread muffins, fried chicken, baked ham, and true-South vegetables such as candied yams and fried okra. Since 1922, when Henry and Bessie Smith turned the old house into an inn, service has been family-style, with strangers seated at big communal tables where a boardinghouse reach is perfectly acceptable.
We’ve never sampled Hadacol, the high-proof patent medicine that Colonel Tom Parker supposedly hawked before he became Elvis Presley’s manager, but we can recommend a fine teetotaler’s version of it at Wilton Candy Kitchen, in Wilton, Iowa. Opened in 1860, taken over by a young immigrant named Gus Nopoulos who came to town in 1907, and now run by his 88-year-old grandson George Nopoulos and his progeny, this vintage soda fountain makes its fizzy beverages using syrups squirted out of silver dispensers: lemon and lime for a Green River; strawberry, cherry, and vanilla for a Pink Lady; root beer and chocolate plus vanilla ice cream for a Brown Cow; and five different flavors for a Dipsy Doodle. As for the Hadacol, George Nopoulos makes his with a blend of vanilla and root-beer syrups; he says it got its name because “They ‘hadda call’ it something.”
Address Book
Belgrade Gardens 401 E. State St., Barberton, OH (330-745-0113). The Cozy Inn 108 N. 7th St., Salina, KS (785-825-2699). Dew Drop Inn 1808 Old Shell Rd., Mobile, AL (251-473-7872). Dot’s 3 W. Main St., Wilmington, VT (802-464-7284). Kumback Lunch 625 Delaware St., Perry, OK (580-336-4646). Matt’s Place 22339 Placer St., Butte, MT (406-782-8049). McClard’s 505 Albert Pike, Hot Springs, AR (501-623-9665). Mike Linnig’s 9308 Cane Run Rd., Louisville, KY (502-937-9888). Plaza Café 54 Lincoln Ave., Santa Fe, NM (505-982-1664). The Smith House 84 S. Chestatee St., Dahlonega, GA (706-867-7000). Wilton Candy Kitchen 310 Cedar St., Wilton, IA (563-732-2278).
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