I have an edition which was published 1984 by Alfreed A Knopf. Now i see that there is a revised edition abd Ill have to get another!
I first ran into yhis book one saturday in 90. By Sunday evening, I Had read the entire thing, been back to the bookstore just before it closed to get another copy as a gift for my mother. I have never read a cookbook that I have so thouroughly enjoyed just Reading! Not to mention the recipies contained in it. The style of wriring is delightful, imagine listening to you favorite "Elder Relatives" talking about the way things were cooked, and WHY they were cooked. It is as much a history of cooking and cooking styles, as a cookcoook.
My favorite sections are Nursery Food, and Victory Dinner and Mothers Sunday Dinner. Wherever you go, in within this book you will find many gems; like how the rationing system chaned eating and menues in WW II. Or the 3 pages on how to properly prepare toast! 
Youll love the wit and research that have gone into this book! You cant go wrong with this one! .. Now im off to get copy #3 (just in case!) 
<br>
<a href="http://www.accounting-central.com">accounting-central.com</a><br>
Only Jane and Michael Stern could have written this hilarious historic cookbook. They combed archives and libraries and found quintessential recipies reflecting American domestic cooking, dating from approximately the 1930s to the early 1970s.
Where else could you find a book that includes a recipie for Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast for 100 (from the World War II chapter,) horrifying things to do with bananas (from the nursery foods chapter), and the hilarious high point--the Luau in Your Living Room circa 1957. I wont ruin this for you other than to inform you that it involves cabbage, vienna sausages, toothpicks and a can of sterno.

Ive made a few recipies from the book and theyve all turned out great. So, not only is it a hoot, you can find recipies for real down home American cooking. 

<br>
<a href="http://www.tools-shop.com">tools</a>
<br>
For a book on travel, it seems that the index would be from the viewpoint of (in this order) State; City, Restaurant. In this book if you are in Podunk, Somewhere you cant find it in the index unless you know the name of the restaurant.
More "out-of-city" locations would have been preferable. 

In the text, list the State, City and restaurant with maybe one or two lines of description with a rating code.

Sorry, I wast impressed and am returning the book. 

<br>
<a href="http://www.bestmusicbuy.com">bestmusicbuy.com</a><br>
There are only 10 to 12 restaurants per state, but the ones that are listed are great. If you are driving across the U.S. and would choose your route based on great food, as much as sightseeing, then this is the perfect book for you. If you rarely get outside of your home state, then this book will be a disappointment for you. 

Hopefully, one day Jane and Michael Stern will have enough reviews to publish several big thick books covering different regional areas in the United States, where they will have 50 to 60 restaurants per state. 

<br>

<a href="http://www.earth-religions.com">earth-religions.com</a><br>
The best parts are the "sidebars", short articles on things like different styles of clam chowder and lists of good steak houses or pie spots that you might want to copy down for quick reference if you travel a lot. However, the restaurant listings are far too incomplete to really use this as a comprehensive source of advice for long road trips. Even "500+" listings have to get spread pretty thin over a country as large as the good old USA! And be warned, this is a meat eaters book that lists LOTS of steak houses, hot dog stands, hamburger joints and bar-b-q spots.
There is an average of about 10-12 places listed for each state, with no apparent relationship between the size of the state and the number of restaurants listed: Maine gets 20 listings (surprise, therere a lot of lobster shacks along the coast up there!) while New York gets just 19, and our largest state, California, only gets 26 (of which 70% are in SF, LA and San Diego).

Western states are particularly sparsely covered. There are only 7 tips for Colorado, but the Sterns guide us to 16 culinary Meccas in Alabama. The Sterns cant find even one place to list in Phoenix (admittedly not a great restaurant city, although I managed to find a few good spots the last time I was there). "Oh well, Mildred, theres nothin here, well just have to drive a few hundred more miles to LA before we can eat."

Based on the authors selection of restaurants for the area of the country where I live, Seattle, I concluded that the Sterns have no more insight into the identities of good local restaurants than you can find in a typical travel guide. My experience is that most conventional city and regional guidebooks list at least as many worthwhile places as the Sterns and they are usually written by locals who really do know some of good spots. For metro areas Ive had good results with the Zagat surveys. 

<br>
<a href="http://www.econbooks.com">econbooks.com</a><br>
Although there are recipes in this book, it is much more than a cookbook. It is an interesting and entertaining look at Americas eateries. Each entry contains a short history or background on the establishment, its food, and the people who work there and eat there, followed by a recipe or two. 
Anyone who travels and has eaten "roadfood" (or just dreams of it!) will enjoy this well-written book. And for those of us who will never get to visit even a small percentage of the eateries examined, it is a wonderful glimse at these businesses and the people who love working at them and eating at them.

Another reviewer stated that some of the places listed are no longer in business. With a book of this nature, thats inevitable. So many small, family-owned businesses are closing up fast. Im just glad that the Sterns were able to document their existence for us enjoy, if only from the comfort of our easy chairs. I put this book on my list of must-haves and look forward to reading other books by the Sterns. 

<br>
<a href="http://www.engineeringknowledge.com">engineeringknowledge.com</a><br>
Some of Americas most unique and talented cooks serve in humble roadside cafes and friendly neighborhood eateries. Jane and Michael Stern have gone "on the road" to encounter and retrieve outstanding recipes from the culinary heartland of American "blue plate specials" and showcased them in Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs: The Heart And Soul Of Americas Great Roadside Restaurants. As much fun to browse through as it is to cook from, this compendium of roadside cafe introductions and wonderful dishes ranges from Every-Friday Haddock Chowder; Beckys Whoopsie-Pie Cake with Poor-Mans Icing; and Enrico Biscottis Almond Macaroos; to Tennessee Cornbread; Horseradish Pickles; and Mrs. Rowes Summer Squash Casserole. Blue Plate Specials and Blue Ribbon Chefs is a wonderful addition to any personal or professional cookbook collection. 
<br>
<a href="http://www.health-books-web.com">health-books-web.com</a><br>
Had to counter the only other review on this book. Also a big fan of the Sterns, didnt think of this as "rehashed" from earlier Sterns material, but rather, a celebration of all the great places theyve discovered in their years of searching out the off-the-beaten-path shrines to American food. I loved this book--it reads like a National Geographic special on home cooking! To me, anyone who can get you excited about the thought of trying fried chicken from the Bon Ton Mini Mart must be doing something right--theyve got my attention! 
<br>
<a href="http://www.historyamericas.com">historyamericas.com</a><br>
Hunger is never a simple matter in the South and unlike other road food books, this one is not only concerned with whats on the plate, but also with the how and why and by-whose-grace it got there. Yes, youll find out what you need to know about (and where to get a great taste of) Kentucky beer cheese, Big Bob Gibson coconut pie and great barbecue in Birmingham. But youll also meet the people who make and eat this food, and learn the history -- some bitter, some sweet -- that lies enticingly behind it. The ability to notice and relate social/political/spirtual undercurrents behing the food of the South is what makes John T. Edge and Southern Belly such great companions both for the road or simply dreaming about it. 
<br>