Michael Symon starts in San Diego with a Champ Burger loaded with beer-braised pork that packs a powerful punch, and he can't pass up a cookie-brownie mashup that satisfies every sweet tooth. In Wichita, Kan., cola-braised brisket makes the ultimate taco, and wildly inventive rattlesnake and elk sausages make seriously savage dogs in Denver.

In San Diego, Michael Symon chows down on fish tacos with housemade blue corn tortillas and a meaty Mexican pizza. In Denver, a local Colorado lamb patty is a remake of a traditional Hawaiian hangover cure, the Loco Moco. Finally, a pulled pork and brisket sandwich and a barbecue rib-meat chimichanga are to die for in Little Rock, Ark.