Summer music season is in full swing, and that means musicians are on the road and working overtime crisscrossing the country to bring us awesome performances we’ll be talking about through fall. And while we count on them to bring the jams, it’s all-too-often overlooked that they’re more equipped than most to let us know what we should be eating now and forever.

From Canadian bagels to Texan duck-fat fries, your next best bite is waiting to be recommended by your friendly neighborhood rockstars.

Erin Fein from Psychic Twin: Sheep’s milk ricotta gnudi at The Spotted Pig

“It’s hard to pick just one thing. Living in Brooklyn you have access to some of the best food in the world, so i’ll just go with the first thing that comes to mind: the sheep’s milk ricotta gnudi at The Spotted Pig , where I bartended for two years when I first moved to New York. It is ricotta, rolled into balls and then rolled in semolina flour. The moisture from the cheese turns the semolina into a soft pasta shell. During fall and winter they serve these little cheese clouds with a brown butter sauce, shaved pecorino, and crispy, deep fried sage leaves that i would snack on just on their own. For two whole years, every time this dish went by my face or I delivered it to a table, I seriously considered sneaking off and eating just one. I did not do that (of course), but ordered my own whenever I could. Go eat these.”

The Frightnrs: The pesto slice at Dani’s House of Pizza

“Our favorite food—like so many others from New York City—is pizza, of course. There are countless pizzerias throughout the boroughs, but the best spot for a slice is undoubtedly Dani’s House of Pizza in Kew Gardens, Queens . Dani’s is an establishment; It’s been standing and serving up slices since 1959, incredible for any business, but particularly amazing for a pizzeria. The house where The Frightnrs rent out the 1st floor to live and work on music is right in the neighborhood and home to the Maher family. Karin Maher, the official “band mother,” was born in the neighborhood in that very same house, and has been going to Dani’s since grade school (P.S. 99 right up the block.) Their slices are huge and their sauce is sweet, a flavor conjured up decades ago and perfected—not to mention they are one of the only places that does a mean Pesto slice , which is coveted by many locals. Top it all off with a huge beer selection, friendly service and cozy atmosphere, and it’s easy to see why we consider Dani’s the best place to grab a slice in Queens—and perhaps the entire city.

The band enjoying a slice at Dani’s.

Dilly Dally: Leftover fajitas

“It’s hard for me to think about the best thing I’ve ever eaten ever when I’m still so satisfied from the chicken fajita leftovers I had for breakfast this morning. The grilled chicken stuff was all salty and cold, the beans and cheese had mushed together over night—so perfect. Dilly Life can get pretty boring on the road but that’s exactly why these babies tasted so wicked. Don’t remember the restaurant name, sadly —some middle America small town bar/grill—you know the one 😉 .”

Nico Yaryan: Fresh-caught black cod in Alaska

“When it comes to a great food experience, I would argue that your company and environment is just as important as the food itself, if not more so. But it definitely helps if the food is fresh and cooked by someone who knows what they are doing. I was in Sitka, Alaska a few years ago playing the Homeskillet Festival with Hanni El Khatib, joined by our friend Nick Walker who had come to shoot photos and video of our visit. We stayed for a few days after the festival and our new Alaskan friends showed us a great time, taking us on a boat for a few miles up the Sitka coast, where we shot guns into the water for fun and stopped at hot springs and drank Russian vodka with new friends (from Russia, naturally), among other adventures. One of the nights we were invited to a dinner at a house on a tiny house-sized island in the Sitka Bay, where they served fresh black cod they had caught earlier in the day . It was the best fish I’ve ever had in my life, and it didn’t hurt that I was surrounded by new and old friends, with a 360 degree view of a bay, in a remote town in a distant, misty corner of the planet that I was seeing for the first time. Whatup, Sitka?!

Homeboy Sandman: Indian food from Punjabi

“First time anyone ever recognized me was almost 10 years ago at 3am while I was plastering the F train with Homeboy Sandman flyers. “I can’t believe it’s really you! I see your flyers all the time! You’re awesome!” I also hadn’t eaten anything but stove popped popcorn in almost 3 days. He asked me if I had any music on me that he could buy and even though I only charged $5 for the slim case CDs I carried around with me in my book bag he gave me $10 and told me to keep the change 🙂 Next stop was 2nd Ave! I got off went right to Punjabi. Got me a large with spinach, chickpeas, and lentils, and two samosas ! Best meal I ever had.”

Red Pill: Gumbo, beef short rib, and rib eye at Herbsaint

“The best meal I’ve ever had was at Donald Link’s Herbsaint in New Orleans. I had the gumbo, a smaller plate with beef short rib, a small hash brown and a horseradish cream sauce and the rib eye steak . I’m a fan of traditional food done extremely well. I love when you eat a food item that makes you rethink every time you’ve eaten it before. I still don’t understand how they made the hash brown into the most perfect hash brown I’ve ever eaten, and all hash browns since then are now unfairly judged by the Herbsaint hash brown metric . The best music and food have the same qualities to me: something soulful that someone cared about when they made it.”

Vinyl Williams: Vegan mac & cheese at Little Pine

“Little Pine is a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles that donates their proceeds to animal rights organizations. I’m a mac & cheese connoisseur, and I must say that their mac & cheese was the best thing that has ever touched my tongue. It was truly mind-blowing, and didn’t have any of the detrimental after effects that dairy foods usually impose.”

Charlene Kaye of San Fermin: All the things at Salty Sow

“The best meal I’ve ever had was at a restaurant called the Salty Sow in Austin, Texas, which my boyfriend and I stumbled upon while in town. As a huge meat and cheese lover, I didn’t know which dish was my favorite—the triple-fried duck fat fries with a poached egg and béarnaise sauce, the bacon and gruyére roasted bone marrow, or the slow-cooked beef shoulder with glazed root vegetables. And to satisfy my sweet tooth: bananas foster beignets with honey and nutmeg ice cream . It was so good that we went back the next day just for the beignets. Austin-ites, don’t sleep on this place!

Mike Krol: A bagel from Fairmount Bagel

“The best thing I’ve ever eaten was a sesame seed bagel from Fairmount Bagel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada . We were on tour and staying with our friend Max Desharnais of the Montreal band Sonic Avenues, and he insisted on taking us to Fairmount in the morning to have the “best bagel in the world.” Boy, was he right. Fairmount’s bagels are hand-rolled with fresh dough, boiled in honey-water, and then baked in an old fashioned wood burning oven. They are open 24 hours a day, which means you can always walk in and get a fresh bagel straight from the oven that is hot, chewy, and melts in your mouth. No cream cheese or butter necessary. It was hard not to book a flight to Canada while writing this.”

Prince Rama: Dunwell Doughnuts

“Prince Rama has a sweet tooth, and we will be the first ones to admit that to y’all. When we are on tour, our van is stocked with gas station goodies (we lovingly refer to them as “st00pid snax”) and when we are home, I am usually busy making healthier, vegan versions of all of the trashy desserts that we adore. So you can imagine my excitement when my yoga instructor friend introduced me to Dunwell Doughnuts—a vegan gourmet doughnut shop in Bushwick. They perfectly walk that fine line of healthy treats and trashy treats that I am so familiar with. And if my yoga instructor is fueled by them, they must be good for me, right?! Upon my first visit there, my watch read 9:30 a.m. A very seductive Chocolate Sprinkle doughnut and Peanut Butter doughnut seemed to holler at me. ‘I’m a grown-ass woman,’ I thought. ‘Am I really about to start my day off with doughnuts?’ Let me tell you what—the answer was “DUH” and I’m proud to say this breakfast of champions quickly became my #1 favorite meal.”

String Noise: Pork Katsu Sandwich at Rockmeisha

“We’ve been living in the West Village now for 13 years but only recently (okay fine, two years ago) discovered Rockmeisha. It’s a little Izakaya restaurant on Barrow Street, easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it. We usually head straight for the little bar where we can chat with the chef, Kondo-san, and occasionally glance at the tiny TV silently showing old Japanese movies and TV shows. There’s also a great juke box spinning 45’s of old time rock and roll. He makes an outrageous Pork Katsu sandwich, only available Tuesday and Wednesday nights. It’s a thick cut of fried pork on white toast with slaw and a smooth tangy sauce. Yum…

Pure Bathing Culture: Jamon Iberico in The Canary Islands

“In 2006 we went on a tour in Spain with a band we used to play with when we lived in New York City. We were lucky to play some shows in the Canary Islands and also in Menorca which is one of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. We had some of the most memorable meals of our lives on that trip, but one in particular was at a restaurant in Menorca. We drove for what seemed like 2 hours or more to get there with an insane Spanish man who spoke no english behind the wheel driving a van maniacally (we feared we might not make it there alive) through absolutely incredible scenery. We arrived at a restaurant tucked away and twinkling with lights where we ate some of the most incredible Jamon iberico de bellota (dry cured ham from pigs who only eat acorns) and Pulpo (octopus) served in bubbling hot olive oil with garlic cloves we have ever tasted.”