For the first episode of Man v. Food Nation, Adam visited New Haven, Connecticut, home to the prestigious Yale University (where he earned his master's degree from Yale's School of Drama).

This episode showcased the "big food" of restaurants in Tampa. Adam coaches wrestler Jerry Sags in the Davy Jones hot wing challenge.

Adam sampled the best food Nashville had to offer. Adam guides country music stars through 72 ounces of steak in Nashville.

Adam visited Tulsa, once the oil capital of the world, for their best eateries. Adam is in Tulsa with a local fireman to take on a spicy pizza challenge.

Adam started off his trip to Albuquerque with a visit to Frontier Restaurant (across from the campus of the University of New Mexico), which serves nearly everything on its menu with roasted green chili. Adam tried the "Bonanza Burger", which was 2 quarter-pound patties topped with shredded cheese, bacon, and green chili; he tried the burger with a side of homemade onion rings. Next, Adam ventured to Sadie's to try a 6.5-pound sopaipilla appropriately called the "World's Biggest Stuffed Sopaipilla", which is filled with refried beans, fried potatoes, cheddar cheese, stewed chicken, ground beef, carne adobada and both red and green chile (together known as "Christmas"), then topped with more chili and cheese. The final stop, Grandma's K & I Diner, was the setting for the Travis on a Silver Platter Challenge: a 6-pound beef-and-bean burrito filled with sausage-infused red chili and shredded cheddar cheese and topped with green chili, more shredded cheese, then buried in 2 pounds of fries