‹ The Thanksgiving drive · Thanksgiving out
I-95, Boston to Washington
Southbound: Boston to Washington, D.C. · 442 miles · about 8 hours before traffic · 5 stops
The busiest drive of the busiest week: Providence, New Haven, the Bronx, Philadelphia and Baltimore, each with one thing worth getting off the highway for. Hot wieners, the white clam pie, bread for the table, a roast pork sandwich and a crab cake.
1A photo like it
Olneyville New York System
Get: Two hot wieners "all the way" (meat sauce, mustard, onions, celery salt) and a coffee milk.
Rhode Island's own hot dog, made the same way for 80 years and lined up on the server's arm. Ten minutes in and out, which is the point.
Where to get off: Get off for Route 6 / Olneyville, just west of downtown Providence.
Photo like it: Infrogmation of New Orleans, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Get: The white clam pie. If anyone in the car won't eat clams, a plain tomato pie with mozzarella.
The coal-oven pizza people drive to New Haven for. The line moves faster than it looks; The Spot, next door, is the same family and often shorter.
Where to get off: Get off for downtown New Haven; Wooster Street is a few blocks from the I-95 / I-91 split.
Photo like it: Rjcastillo, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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Madonia Brothers Bakery
Get: A ring of olive bread or prosciutto bread for the table, and cannoli filled while you wait.
Bring something to the house that isn't from a gas station. Arthur Avenue is the Bronx's Little Italy, and Madonia has been baking on it for over a hundred years.
Where to get off: Off the Cross Bronx (I-95) up the Bronx River Parkway to Fordham Road, then Arthur Avenue.
Photo like it: Cory Doctorow from Beautiful Downtown Burbank, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Reading Terminal Market
Get: The roast pork sandwich with sharp provolone and greens at DiNic's, then a pie or a box of doughnuts from the bakery counters to take to the house.
One stop does lunch, dessert for the table and anything you forgot for the stuffing. The whole city shops here the day before Thanksgiving, so it's loud and it's great.
Where to get off: Take I-676 (the Vine Street Expressway) off I-95 into Center City; park in the garage on Filbert Street.
Photo: Bruce Andersen, CC BY-SA 3.0.
5A photo like it
Faidley's Seafood
Get: The jumbo lump crab cake, eaten standing up, and a dozen more to go if you're the one bringing a starter.
The crab cake Baltimore argues about, now in the new Lexington Market. Almost all crab, almost no filler.
Where to get off: Take I-395 off I-95 toward downtown, then MLK Jr. Blvd to Lexington Market.
Photo like it: Geoffreyrabbit, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Take them with you
Open the whole drive in Google Maps with every stop on it, in the order you're driving. Drop any you'll skip right there.
Open the drive in Google MapsOn the map
Pins are numbered like the stops above. The dashed line joins them in order; it isn't the road.
Another road
Manhattan to the East End
The LIE to the Hamptons · 115 miles · 4 stops
Briermere Farms · Tate's Bake Shop · Candy Kitchen · Cromer's Market
Detroit to Tampa
I-75, Michigan to Florida · 1130 miles · 6 stops
Tony Packo's · Camp Washington Chili · Harland Sanders Café and Museum · The Varsity · Ellis Bros. Pecans · Columbia Restaurant
L.A. to the Bay
I-5, Los Angeles to San Francisco · 388 miles · 4 stops
Philippe the Original · Bravo Farms · Harris Ranch · Pea Soup Andersen's
Not your road?
Tell Chef where you're driving from and to, and he'll find the stops worth getting off for.
Good to know
Where should you stop to eat on I-95 from Boston to Washington, D.C.?
Olneyville New York System in Providence (Two hot wieners "all the way"); Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven (The white clam pie); Madonia Brothers Bakery in The Bronx (A ring of olive bread or prosciutto bread for the table, and cannoli filled while you wait); Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia (The roast pork sandwich with sharp provolone and greens at DiNic's, then a pie or a box of doughnuts from the bakery counters to take to the house); Faidley's Seafood in Baltimore (The jumbo lump crab cake, eaten standing up, and a dozen more to go if you're the one bringing a starter).
How far off the highway are the stops?
Every stop is within about ten minutes of I-95 (Faidley's and Reading Terminal are a short hop on the spur into downtown). You can do two in a day without losing much time; five turns the drive into a trip.
When should you leave for Thanksgiving?
Wednesday afternoon is the worst few hours of driving all year on this road. Leave before 11am or after 8pm, and plan your stops for lunch, not for when you're starving in traffic.
Are they open on Thanksgiving Day?
Reading Terminal Market: Closed on Thanksgiving Day. For the rest, call ahead: many close early on Wednesday or close for the holiday.
Every place checked open on November 5, 2026. Hours are the usual ones as listed; holiday hours change, so call ahead the week of Thanksgiving. Miles and hours are estimates from the start of the drive, before traffic. Photos marked "a photo like it" are of the food, not the place. Chef Amazing isn't paid by any place here. Something wrong, or a stop we missed? hello@chefamazing.com.
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