about tour food
Tour Food is a work-in-progress searchable database created to answer every traveler’s favorite daily question: “Where are we going to eat?”
What began in 2012 as a Google Spreadsheet compiled by a few musicians passionate about eating well on tour, quickly grew into a privately shared resource featuring contributions from dozens of touring musicians. After years of expansion, we decided it was time to turn “the spreadsheet” into an easily navigable, functional website. We painstakingly checked, sorted, and tagged each listing, cursing whoever added a Chick-Fil-A in Idaho and praising the genius who found the family-owned gas station in Wyoming that serves outstanding Indian food.
The refreshed and refined spreadsheet is now the heart and soul of this website: a public, shared space where all types of traveling folks can benefit from the wisdom of musicians whose touring highlights sometimes include more delicious meals than well-attended performances. We only play for about an hour each night. But during the other 23, we’re eating or thinking about eating.
HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER FOOD WEBSITES?
Our criteria are simple: quality, value (roughly $20 or less for a meal), and whenever possible, regionality– something that can be elusive on tour. Over years of touring across the country, we have been lucky to experience and appreciate America’s diversity through its food, and want to share our rolodex with anyone interested. Our ever-evolving lists of restaurants, bakeries, and cafes are non-hierarchical: there are no listicles, rankings, or any “best of” content. The information we give you is lean but meaningful. It’s like asking a friend where to eat in {x} town and they text back “you should go to {x}.” But in this scenario, we’re your friend. Or rather, the many touring musicians who have contributed to this database are your friends. And what makes us different than Joe Schmo on Yelp is that we’ve eaten pizza in enough cities to know whether the best pizza in Norman, Oklahoma is actually worth your time or if there’s something more special worth pursuing. No offense to Joe. Or that pizza place in Norman. Our main goal is functionality: you’re on tour, you’re in a new or unfamiliar city or town, you don’t know anybody there, and you want to know what to eat. You come to this website and realize you’re not alone anymore. Other people have been here before you, and they have places to recommend. You’re going to have a great meal.
made by
Luke Pyenson
Luke plays drums in the indie rock band Frankie Cosmos and contributes food and travel articles and recipes to publications including Saveur, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Edible Boston, and more. He has been touring on-and-off since 2010 and full-time since 2016. He has been writing about food professionally since 2007, and spent formative years working part-time in Boston-area restaurant kitchens. He has an MA in the Anthropology of Travel, Tourism, and Pilgrimage, which is a subject area that directly relates to this website. His favorite listing on Tour Food is Saxapahaw General Store, in Saxapahaw, NC.
Charlie Ferguson
Charlie was born and raised in Berkeley, CA, currently lives in Brooklyn, NY and plays drums in the band Hurray For The Riff Raff. He worked for years as a server in NYC restaurants (Glasserie, Flatbush Farm, Martha, The Grocery) until he started touring more full time in 2015. Charlie met Adam in 2006 and the two have covered thousands of miles together, touring and eating all across the U.S. in their matching Toyota Sienna minivans. Charlie met Luke in 2019 when Adam realized his friends' mutual love for ice cream and cooking, and thought they would make a good Tour Food team. Charlie loves cooking with immigrant grandmas and his favorite listing on Tour Food is Snow's BBQ in Lexington, TX.
Adam Schatz
Adam writes and releases songs with his band Landlady and plays keyboards and saxophone with lots of other fun folks including This Is The Kit and Japanese Breakfast. He produces records for others out of his Ditmas Park recording space, The Chamber Of Commerce. In the kitchen he has fallen off the deep end with baking sourdough bread and a developing signature donut recipe. He has written articles for The Talkhouse and has read articles in Bon Appetit. He pays a monthly fee for The New York Times Cooking. His favorite listing on Tour Food is Perly’s in Richmond, VA.
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Web design by Oliver Plunkett
Illustrations and graphic design by Lauren Martin
Additional graphic design by Amy Armani
