Beyond the SGV
Where the road has taken us.
Most of our trips start with an NBA arena or a race bib, but they never end there. We've been documenting where we actually eat along the way, so if you're someone who likes to fit a lot into a little time, our trips are usually short, these guides are built for you.
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Every trip, in one view.
A pin for every travel guide, split between the US and abroad.
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USA
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In the States (15)
Seattle Food You've Never Heard Of: Lao Burgers, Hand-Pulled Noodles, and Rainier Cherry Ice Cream
Ever tried a Lao burger, or noodles pulled fresh right in front of you? We hadn't either. We spent a day hunting down Seattle spots that don't always make the tourist lists: a Lao burger joint, an unassuming hand-pulled noodle shop, a gyro place open until 2 AM, and closed it out with the city's favorite ice cream flavor.
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Is Las Vegas Actually a Ghost Town Right Now? We Went to Check
Everyone kept telling us nobody's going to Vegas right now, so we went back after more than a year away to see for ourselves whether the strip had actually emptied out.
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48 Hours in San Francisco: Dry-Fried Wings, La Taqueria, and an NBA Player's Coffee Shop
We only had 48 hours in San Francisco and one rule: don't waste a single bite. The range of flavors we packed into one weekend, some of it food we're convinced only exists here, made it feel a lot longer than two days.
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48 Hours in Washington, DC: Cherry Blossoms, a Half Marathon, and Where We Actually Ate
We came to DC to run the Rock 'n' Roll Washington DC Half Marathon, raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and cross off arena #24 on our NBA Arena Quest at Capital One Arena. We ended up staying for the food, and this is the full list of everywhere we ate across 48 hours in the city, real names, addresses, and what to order.
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Following the Clippers to Charlotte: Soul Food, Biscuits, and James Harden's 55
We followed the LA Clippers on their road trip to Charlotte, one of the 15 biggest cities in the US that still somehow flies under the radar. This stop also doubled as arena #24 on our NBA Arena Quest and state #23 on Peter's side quest to hit as many states as possible along the way.
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The Ultimate Oahu Food Guide: Every Poke, Shrimp Truck, and Shave Ice Spot We Actually Recommend
Hawaii is our happy place, and after three trips (and a lot of viewer recommendations we're genuinely grateful for) this is everything we'd tell a friend to eat on Oahu: the poke spots worth the line and the ones with no line at all, the shrimp trucks, the bakeries, and the one birthday dinner that made the whole trip.
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Houston Was About the Rockets Game, But Viet-Cajun Crawfish Stole the Trip
We came to Houston for the Rockets game, but the real action wasn't on the court. Houston's Vietnamese food scene, especially the Viet-Cajun crawfish, turned out to be something we genuinely can't find back home in LA, and it ended up being the better half of the trip.
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Nobody Goes to Cleveland on Vacation, So We Did: Mabel's BBQ, West Side Market, and a Cavs Game We Left Early
We'd never heard anyone say they were going to Cleveland on vacation before, so naturally we went to Cleveland on vacation, on our quest to see a game in every NBA arena. We weren't sure what to expect from the city, and it surprised us enough that we left a game the Cavs were 99.9% likely to win just to go explore it further.
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48 Hours in Minneapolis: Owamni's Indigenous Tasting Menu, Hmong-Lao Food, and the Biggest Mall in America
We came to Minneapolis to catch the Clippers playing the Timberwolves, and left having found some genuinely amazing food, seen the biggest mall in America, and figured out how to explore a whole city without freezing thanks to its skybridge system. The standout of the trip was Owamni, one of our favorite dining experiences ever and something genuinely unique in American food.
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Memphis for Arena #21: Gus's Fried Chicken, Germantown Commissary, and a Catfish Po'boy Worth the Detour
We came to Memphis to check off arena #21 on our NBA Arena Quest, and stayed for the food: world-famous fried chicken, a barbecue breakfast in Germantown, and a catfish po'boy detour that took us across state lines into Mississippi and Arkansas along the way.
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Portland for Arena #15: Screen Door's Chicken and Waffles, Cartopia's Tom Yum Fries, and Eem's Thai BBQ
Portland is a city where the food alone makes the trip worth it. Between arena #15 on our NBA Arena Quest, a food cart pod we hadn't fully explored, and a Southern brunch spot we'd somehow never made it to because of the line, this trip was less about basketball and more about finally working through our Portland list.
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A Denver Food Crawl: Thin-Crust Pizza, Korean Fried Chicken, and Two Bucket List Stops
Denver turned into a full day of eating around our stop on the NBA Arena Quest: thin-crust pizza, a proper steak frites, a Korean fried chicken spot we were excited to support, and a couple of bucket list items along the way that we're saving for the video itself.
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5 Quick San Antonio Bites: Puffy Tacos, Two Barbecue Stops, and a Curry-Barbecue Fusion Sandwich
Five quick San Antonio bites, no lines, local flavors, and small prices: a puffy taco spot minutes from the airport, two separate barbecue stops, a Czech kolache bakery, and a curry-barbecue fusion sandwich shop, all built around catching a Spurs game.
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NYC Half Weekend: Lysee's Madeleines, Pecking House's Wings, and a $21 Bagel Worth It
We came to New York to run the NYC Half, and ate our way across Manhattan and Brooklyn in between: a pizza landing after a long travel day, a fried chicken feast with friends, a madeleine tasting that required a month of advance booking, and a bagel expensive enough to make us question our life choices.
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Dallas Solo: Two Legendary Barbecue Spots in Under 24 Hours
Back in Texas for two things: basketball and barbecue. This one was a solo trip, following the Clippers on their road trip to Dallas, right around the point we were just over halfway through the NBA Arena Quest, with just enough time between the flight and tip-off to pack in two legendary barbecue stops in under 24 hours.
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8 Hours in Sydney: How Much You Can Actually Eat on a Long Layover
We had about 8 hours between flights in Sydney on our way to Melbourne, so instead of sitting in a lounge we built a quick loop: the Sydney Fish Market, the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, and a swing through Chinatown before racing back to the airport.
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Melbourne Food and Wildlife: Magic Coffee, Hot Jam Doughnuts, and Kangaroos
Melbourne felt friendly, easy to explore, and built for people who plan their day around food. We stayed at The Langham, ate our way through Queen Victoria Market, tried a proper Melbourne magic coffee, went all in on Sichuan hot pot, and spent a day meeting Australian wildlife.
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Toronto Food Stops: Dumplings, Dim Sum, Peameal Bacon, and Kim's Convenience
We came to Toronto to catch the Clippers and built the rest of the trip around food, Chinatown, downtown wandering, and a few stops that felt unmistakably Toronto. These are the places we actually made time for.
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Cabo in 48 Hours: Resort Dining vs. Street Food
We came to Cabo for 48 hours and made the trip a friendly competition between resort food and local street food. Marina Fiesta made it easy to keep eating, but the local stops delivered the moments we still talk about.
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24 Hours in Vancouver: The Best Asian Food Tour We've Ever Done
We only had 24 hours in Vancouver, so we handed the itinerary over to our local friends G and Sanda and let them build a food tour tight enough to prove their case: that Vancouver might have the best collection of Asian food anywhere, and that's coming from two people who live in the San Gabriel Valley.
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Truffle Season in Rome: Carbonara, Puntarelle, and a Day Trip to Positano
We landed in Rome right in the middle of truffle season, which meant everything on every menu had truffle shaved over it, so we let that decide most of the trip: pasta, pizza, a public-market porchetta sandwich, and a day trip out to Sorrento and Positano.
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Back in Paris After 8 Years: Bistrot Richelieu, an Eiffel Tower Picnic, and the Spot Where We Got Engaged
We first came to Paris eight years ago, back when we were still figuring out what to order. This time we came back with more confidence and more hunger: revisiting the spots we still talk about, tracking down the things we missed the first time, and returning to the exact bridge where we got engaged.
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London on a Tight Schedule: Pieminister, Nigerian Jollof, and a Stonehenge Day Trip
London reminded us a lot of Hong Kong, which makes sense given the shared history, right down to the street signs. We packed in fish and chips, a proper English breakfast, a market's worth of global food stalls, and a day trip out to Stonehenge before heading on to Paris.
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Back in Seoul After 20+ Years: Gwangjang Market, a Kim Family Reunion, and Ramyeon by the Han River
Peter hadn't been back to Seoul in more than 20 years, so this trip was equal parts reunion and food crawl: catching up with friends on their honeymoon (who happen to also be Kims), an upscale dinner with a cousin we hadn't seen in five years, a walk through Bukchon Hanok Village, and a lot of eating in between.
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48 Hours in Busan: A Park Hyatt Suite, Gamcheon Culture Village, and a Fear-Factor-Worthy Delicacy
Busan is South Korea's second largest city, and it offers a genuinely wide range in one visit: a luxury hotel stay, cheap and delicious street eats, and at least one local delicacy that felt like something out of a Fear Factor episode.
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Hong Kong Is Fast Food, But Way More Delicious: Dai Pai Dongs, Egg Tarts, and a 1950s Cafe
Every meal we had in Hong Kong was fast, fresh, and tasted like a gourmet meal anyway, from buttery egg tarts to crispy pork chops to smoky clay pot rice. We ended the trip at one of the last dai pai dongs of its kind, a genuine one-of-a-kind experience you can't get anywhere else.
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5 Minutes of Jeju Seafood You Haven't Heard Of: Abalone Porridge, Black Pork, and a Whole Cutlassfish
We skipped the touristy spots on Jeju and went straight for seafood dishes that don't get enough attention: a breakfast of abalone porridge and whelk noodle soup, a Jeju black pork BBQ spread bigger and meatier than anything we get back home, and a whole cutlassfish deboned right at the table.
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Tokyo: A 7-Eleven Sandwich, a Micro Pig Cafe, and Japan's Best Neapolitan Pizza
If you've been to Tokyo, you know almost everything tastes amazing, but the most surprisingly delicious thing we ate this trip wasn't even a Japanese dish. Between convenience store finds, a micro pig cafe, a ramen shop we refuse to stop returning to, and a Neapolitan pizza spot that out-did our past Tokyo favorites, this was a genuinely stacked few days of eating.
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Taipei in 24 Hours: 24 Things From Shilin Night Market to Beef Noodles
We came to Taipei with one job: eat 24 things in 24 hours. The route took us from Shilin Night Market to early breakfast finds, a Hello Kitty 7-Eleven, Dongmen Market and Yongkang Street, a quiet coffee stop at MKCR, and a final run of noodles and traditional desserts. Taipei made the challenge feel almost unfair, because nearly every stop was cheap, fast, and good.
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Bangkok Honeymoon: Where to Eat, Shop, and Explore in 5 Days
Bangkok was the first stop on our honeymoon, and we stayed in the city for five days instead of trying to rush through all of Thailand. We wanted a trip that kept us moving, so the itinerary mixed temples, malls, markets, street food, inexpensive massages, and the kind of Thailand-only fast food we always want to try when we travel.
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Bali in Six Days: An Ubud Base for Rice Terraces, Temples, and Good Food
Bali was the second stop on our honeymoon, and we spent all six nights in Ubud instead of moving around the island. That gave us a relaxed base for rice terraces, temples, monkey experiences, waterfalls, and a lot of food, while still leaving time to enjoy a private villa and its pool when the afternoon rain rolled in.
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Singapore in 2.5 Days: Hawker Centres, Chicken Rice, and a 22-Mile Walking Day
Singapore was the third stop on our 2018 honeymoon after Bangkok and Bali. We had about two and a half days, so we based ourselves in Little India and built the trip around hawker food, iconic sights, and one very ambitious final day that combined an early treetop run with 22.39 miles of walking.
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All 50 states. We're at 29.
Lisa's goal is to set foot in all 50 states, and the NBA arenas make convenient excuses. Green means we've been; a link means we wrote about it.
Bonus stop (not a state, still counts in our hearts): Washington, DC →
Also on the road
Every trip doubles as an NBA arena stop.
Track the full 30-arena quest, food ratings included.
See the NBA Arena Quest →