I'm going to Barcelona in a couple weeks. While my husband is certainly interested in art, history and architecture (and I am too) I have to admit that I am lusting after the food. Are we going purely for the food? Probably not 100%, but 70% is pretty accurate.

mine and wife's birthdays are close and we took a birthday adventure to Durham, NC just to eat last year.

My friends and I drove 8400 km (~5200 miles) on a Fried Chicken tour across the continent. (Alberta->New Orleans->Alberta) in 10 days. We also sampled lots of doughnuts. Does that count?

I went to Montreal two weeks ago to eat at Au Pied De Cochon, DNA, Lawrence, and Schwartz's Deli.

Here is the first of my write-ups on this fab city

http://piccantedolce.blogspot.com/2011/06/travel-thursday-dna-restaurant-in.html

No, but I try to make the most of the places I visit in terms of food. If I've been there before, I try to hit the places I loved before and anything new that sounds good. If its completely new, I try out stuff that sounds great. I'm so looking forward to a summer vacation in my hometown of NYC this year - bagels, Chinese and Thai food, pizza, here I come!

Charleston, SC. Some of the best food I ever ate, even when I recall meals I had in Paris! Fresh, fresh, fresh.

My husband-to-be and I often take trips to certain cities (usually on our way to/from somewhere else) to hit up breweries we haven't been to before. I live in Portland, Oregon, so there are enough awesome restaurants here to eat at that I haven't been to, so traveling for food alone isn't at the forefront right now. However! At some point in the future, we will be going to Chicago specifically to go to Alinea (and Aviary and Next, and any other amazing restaurants there, if it's possible all in one trip).

Portland OR, we tacked it onto the end of our honeymoon just for food and wine.

If I'm going somewhere on vacation, either the food is good, or the rock climbing is good.

While backpacking through Europe, my friend and I took a train from Paris to Vienna, just to eat at a restaurant. The next morning we had coffee and headed back to Paris.

I also wen to Vienna just for the Wienerschnitzel and Sacher Torte. Best decision ever. (Though admittedly, I swung through from some nearby spots).

We went to Mexico City strictly for the street food and enchiladas at Cafe Tacuba.

More recently, while in Cambodia we took a 9 hour night bus ride (a rather surreal experience in itself) to Kep because it was famous for its seafood.

Not yet, but I would certainly return to San Francisco to eat at specific places--and go there because the food and the restaurant experiences are so extraordinary.

Also not yet, but if I'm in Hong Kong again, there will be a daytrip to Macau for the food. My husband can sit at a casino poker table all day, I'll be out on a food street.

@heypielady,
You and your husband will have a blast in Barcelona. Me and mine are into all of the above (art, history, architecture and food) and couldn't get enough of the city.

Yup, my husband and I took our first "real" vacation to Portland, OR for the food. Years later we planned a trip to Chicago with an itinerary marked with just restaurants, hot-doggeries, and Intelligentsia.

Yes, to New Orleans. Amazing.

I have never gone anywhere just for the food. I wish I could say that I have! I live in the middle of the country and everywhere that appeals to me is more than a road trip away. Maybe some day soon I'll change that.

My partner and I took a vacation to Chicago in 2008 that was built around a trip to Alinea. The entire vacation was the best I've ever been on, but that night in the middle of the week was definitely the high point.
We had a lot of other fantastic food in Chicago as well!

My boyfriend and I are addicted to the fried clams at Ivar's in Seattle, so we plan the trip and the meals way ahead of time. I'm from Texas, and I'll go to Austin just to have the shrimp fajitas at Pappasito's, and the barbecue at Salt Lick in Driftwood. Fortunately, jerky and smoked salmon can be shipped from both locations.

New Orleans here too - just this past week. The food there is absolutely amazing (and plentiful!)

Yes. When Husband and I run down to Corpus Christi, we try to eat shrimp for every meal.

I would go back to San Francisco just to go to the Ferry Building, Tartine, Fog City News (chocolate).

Yeah. Food is pretty much how we plan our travels. We honeymooned in Zanzibar because we heard about spice tours on The Splendid Table. We're plotting a side trip from visiting friends next spring to visit Parma.

@piccantedolce ooh thanks! I'm going to Montreal next week.

I pretty much only travel for food. It's not entirely true, I mean of course I will check out the famous sites but my custom Google Maps that I create for each city is 95% food.

Sort of. We went to Napa for the first half of our honeymoon just for the food and wine, relaxing was great but it wasn't the main reason. It was a fantastic vacation too! But we're both big foodies, so food is usually a central part of any travels, even if we're there for another reason.

Oh! I went to BlogHer Food in Atlanta just for the food writing conference - does that count? : )

Admittedly, I'm such a Waffle House freak that I have gone to Bethlehem, PA JUST to eat a pecan buttermilk or two.. and one New Year's day I went two hours south from Flagstaff to Phoenix to go to the westernmost location of the chain.

There's just something about those waffles.

Unprofessional Cookery

Grew up in Columbus, OH. A few good things...little to wax poetic about until summer tomato season. Moved to Seattle. Ahhhhh...Salumi, Pike Place Chowder, Ivar's, Tom Douglas anything, Top Pot Donuts... Plus the Pike Place Market as my grocery. Now back in Cols due to family and miss it every moment.

When I go to SF, the only thing on my mind is Escape from New York pizza & pretty much everything at the Ferry Building. I regularly check for cheap weekend flights just so I can enjoy these things more than once or twice a year.

All my few vacations are inspired by food! Went to Seattle 2 weeks ago. All activities planned involved breakfast lunch and dinner. Plus one winery. ;p

Yes, friends and I traveled from around the world to meet for a single dinner at El Bulli in Rosas, Spain, and it was worth the travel (we're all culinary addicts and chefs). The same group's also met in Istanbul, Paris, Sydney, New York and San Francisco.

I've flown to specific cities for a dinner but then build a trip around it to include my interests - I nearly always come home with a suitcase full of ingredients to add to my pantry (or ship a box full home).

I love the ideas about travel for specific foods, especially like the idea of 'waffling' my way across America, there was a writer who produced a book (with some recipes) about her pie tour across America but I've forgotten her name. I make chocolates so tend to do a lot of advance research for chocolate tours wherever I travel.

@susanah: Cocoa Bella is another great stop with a cross-section of the World's best filled and bar chocolates available and labeled by country.

Oh yes. I try to read up on places to eat before going on any trip.
While we were in Miami, I did a side trip to the Florida Keys looking for the best key lime pie. Also, while travelling in Spain figured we should dip into Portugal to do some empirical tests on Natas.
I do want to go to Georgia next to check some peach cobbler.

While there are few cities (if any) with finer food than New Orleans, Rome, and Barcelona, they also have other attractions so I can't really consider them "purely food" destinations.

On the other hand, why would anyone ever go to Lockhart, Texas, if not for the brisket and sausage?

Ha! We took a train ride to Kobe, Japan, just so we could have dinner before leaving the country. Incredible Kobe beef! So worth it!

Most cities have at least a few things to offer other than food, so it would be a stretch to say I've visited a city purely for the food.

However, that may change this summer -- I'm hoping to make it out to McCarthy, Alaska this summer because I hear they have a really good restaurant. (McCarthy Lodge: http://www.mccarthylodge.com/food-drink-amenities/mccarthylodge)

yes! new orleans, which i documented purely for my food blog:

http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/walkin-new-awlins/

but unfortunately, i got SICK!!! so we are going back AGAIN this x-mas to try again.

Not exactly-- but when I visited SF, the #1 thing on my list was to hit up the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. My in-laws thought I was crazy, but they happily ate the grapes, artichokes, and persimmons.

Of course, I live in quite the foodie town (Durham, NC) so I eat yummy stuff regularly.

Yep. My husband and I take mini vacays to Yountville, CA from SoCal a couple times a year just to eat. We love the wine, too, but really, it's all about the food for us!

Absolutely. Went to Florence last year for food for four days. It was absolutely brilliant. Will never forget the Pollo Al Burro at Trattoria Sostanza.

Memphis: nothing but Elvis and awesome food!

For my 21st birthday my mom gave me my choice of cities for a trip. New Orleans won for the food. And oh man how divine that food was! That was the April after Katrina though and the city really hadn't recovered much yet and a lot of restaurants that we wanted to get to were still closed. So maybe for 27 next year we can go back! (My sister's followed suit when they turned 21 and now all four of us need a trip there together I think...)

In all cities that I visit semi regularly I have places I need to eat every time I'm there. One of my spots in Phoenix (Lola) closed down last year and it made me so sad when I went to see my family that it was gone. A visit to Lola was half of the reason I went home!

I mostly travel just because of the food.

I went to Portugal solely with Pasteis de Nata (aka Portugese Tarts) in mind. Let's just say... they didn't disappoint :-)

My husband and I are from Newfoundland, Canada although we live abroad. There is a tiny French island called St. Pierre that is a short ferry ride away from Newfoundland (yes, it's In North America, but they are truly French: they speak French, they have French government officials, and they use the Euro and everything). We just got back from France and are thinking of visiting St. Pierre for the weekend this summer just to get some French bread and pastries and wine.

i didn't really realize it before, but i only travel for food! not just new places, but also whenever i'm back home in the US, my schedule is equally determined by satisfying cravings/checking new places out as much as it is by seeing family and friends! my husband and i are known to go to amsterdam for stroopwafeln or barcelona for pinxos -- but it's easy because we live in frankfurt (aka culinary DESERT, outside of german food).

i also have a theory that the cultures that you most jibe with are the ones whose cuisines you enjoy. e.g. i don't *love* many british dishes; and i feel ''meh" about the uk. but greek meze and greek culture - can't. get. enough. but i'm always full of bs theories...

The only reason I ever go to Lockhart and Luling, TX is for the bbq. It's a trip on the small scale (just an hour to hour and a half drive), but there's nothing else to do in those cities.

I always tell my brother I'm coming to visit HIM in Berkeley, but it's really the Berkeley Bowl & Monterey Market I miss the most. I have been known to fly home with a suitcase half full of baby avocadoes and blood oranges (not sure if that is legal?).

We were in Italy on a trip and took a train to Bologna to try Annamaria's restaurant. Best ever, authentic lasagna, permanently engraved into my memory.

Too funny! I just came back a trip that was almost completely about food! We were going to be in NC for a wedding, so we decided to take a 2-day detour to Asheville because I had heard so much about their amazing vegetarian restaurants. It was awesome! I ate, and ate, and ate some more!

I haven't yet, but only because we have not had a chance! ha! We both love San Fran, but we haven't been able to go together. I have SO many food stops on my list for whenever we finally make the trip. I can't wait to take him to Tartine for a delicious ham & cheese croissant!

There are so many other places I want to visit that even though food isn't the ONLY reason, it's a big one! I mean, if you are going to visit a place, why not research the best places to eat?! I do tend to plan what we do around where we'll be munching... :)

Um, yes. Everytime I go home I do a food tour. Biscuits at Biscuit Kitchen in Fayetteville, NC. Barbecue and hush puppies somewhere in eastern NC. Doughnuts at Krispy Kreme. Burgers at Char Grill. Ice cream at Goodberry's. Yes, right now, "I'm gone to Carolina in My Mind....."

Singapore and New Orleans. Still love them both and can't wait to get back and eat some more!

my husband and i spent our honeymoon in vancouver, bc specifically to try a few restaurants. it was totally worth it.

all the time! i took a trip to penang, kuala lumpur, and singapore by myself just for the food. when my husband and i go on trips, our schedules are largely based on where/what we want to eat, with a little sight-seeing thrown in there in a way that's convenient to the food stops. :)

OK give Where did you go for the specialty root beer? I love, love, love them.