15 Food Museums to Visit on Your Next Vacation

Location: Bruges, Belgium

What other food but fries would have a dedicated holiday, movie, and museum? And where else would it be but in Belgium? The museum itself, housed within a cool Gothic building, explores the full range of fry history, starting all the way back at the domestication of the potato. It’s served with a side of many eye-catching visual exhibits that you’ll certainly want your photo taken in front of. The museum even offers information on how Belgian fries are made, and there’s a basement café in case you get a hankering for the real thing. 

Location: LeRoy, New York, United States

Jell-O was actually born in LeRoy, and this museum functions as its three-dimensional baby book. Although it’s quite a small space, it manages to pack in a lot of fascinating history and memorabilia dedicated to everyone’s favorite jiggly desert. Highlights include the many nostalgic advertisements on display and a collection of over 100 unusual Jell-O molds that have emerged over the years. If you’re ever traveling in upstate New York, you won’t regret following the Jell-O Brick Road. 

Location: Panggezhuangzhen, Beijing, China

China is the world’s largest producer of watermelons, so it’s only natural for Beijing to open the world’s first watermelon museum. It’s a behemoth, too, with over 40,000 square feet of exhibits that cover the watermelon’s origins, its many varieties, the way it’s cultivated, and the impact that it’s had on the world. There are very few translations provided in this museum, so a lot of the information might not be accessible to tourists. Still, the place is full of many impressive things that transcend language: Visitors can marvel at all the fascinating pictures and models on display as well as the museum’s epic interior design, which looks like the lair of a watermelon-obsessed Bond villain. 

Location: Middleton, Wisconsin, United States

For many of you, mustard is just something that occupies 1/40th of an ideal hot dog. But for the National Mustard Museum, it’s everything. This fine establishment boasts a collection of over 5,000 mustards from 50 U.S. states and 70 countries. There’s a bunch of historical artifacts and memorabilia on display to expand your mustard mind and even a Tasting Bar where you can treat your taste buds to hundreds of different mustards.

Location: Ikeda, Osaka, Japan

There are two museums in Japan dedicated to instant noodles, one of which is the CupNoodles Museum in Osaka. It’s one of the coolest museums imaginable, which is immediately evident from the interactive Cup Noodles–shaped theater in which you can have your head filled with noodle facts (English audio available). There’s a replica of the shed in which Chicken Ramen was invented, and even a station where you can customize your own Cup Noodles vessel. All you college students out there, eat your next meal with pride—it’s a product with great history and kick-ass museums.

Location: Roslyn, South Dakota, United States

Within this deceptively simple red-brick building is a dazzling galaxy of vinegary curiosities, billed as the world’s first and only vinegar museum. Visitors can taste different vinegars, see hundreds of vinegars from around the world, learn how vinegar is made, and learn about other ways that vinegar can be used. Did you know that paper can be made from vinegar, for instance? At this place, you can learn all about it.

Location: Ahrensburg, Germany

While not the world’s sexiest ingredient, flour is the foundation of countless foods that feed the global population, and the FlourWorld Museum gives it the recognition it deserves. The museum displays thousands of flour sacks from around the world, as well as cultural exhibits that illustrate the profound influence flour has had on society across the centuries. FlourWorld also honors the people who helped bring flour to the masses, it’s the home of the Milling Hall of Fame. If you’ve ever consumed a carb, you surely owe this place a visit.

Location: Gukeng Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan

Right off the bat, we know that this place catches more flies than the Vinegar Museum. The Honey Museum, established by a family of committed bee farmers, also catches a lot of satisfied visitors. There’s plenty of colorful and interactive stimulation for kids, and older visitors can enjoy learning all about honey manufacturing and browsing the range of honey products for sale. There are also numerous live beehives, if anyone wants to personally thank the little fellas for blessing humanity with such a delicious substance.

Location: Shandon, Cork, Ireland

The history of butter in Ireland is rich, golden, smooth, creamy… sorry, got a bit sidetracked. The butter trade did play an important role in Ireland’s history and success as a country, hence the opening of a museum which celebrates it. This museum exhibits a range of butter-making equipment that was used throughout history. Also on display are vintage butter wrappers and a keg of thousand-year-old butter (which you can also find at very bad supermarkets). On select days, the museum also hosts butter-making demonstrations.

Location: Mecca, California, United States

True to its location, the International Banana Museum is a true Mecca for fans of this yellow fruit. Despite being situated next to a wasteland (the Salton Sea), the museum is a delight, and claims in the video above to be the largest museum dedicated to a single fruit. It has well over 20,000 banana-related items crammed into one cozy space, and there’s every banana-themed item you could think of (plus many that you couldn’t). The museum also serves a mean banana milkshake, according to visitors. It’s currently listed as “temporarily closed” on Google; hopefully it doesn’t split.

Location: George Town, Penang, Malaysia

This famously fragrant fruit is a very big deal in certain parts of the world. In Southeast Asia, it’s even regarded as the King of Fruits, and that would make this museum its kingdom. Visitors can learn about the different types of durian, the history of the fruit, how it’s cultivated, and much more. For the tactile folks out there, you’ll even be able to touch the durian’s thorns. Be sure to also check out the products available for purchase, if you ever feel the urge to disrupt a German post office.

Location: Noda, Chiba, Japan

Kikkoman doesn’t just produce soy sauce but also houses a museum for people who wish to learn more about this umami seasoning. The free-to-enter museum offers a range of diverse exhibits, including games and a mini library, designed to boost soy sauce knowledge. Visitors can even tour the factory to see how the sauce is made. If you have a hankering for some soy-sauce-flavored ice cream (and who doesn’t?), this museum’s cafe sells it. The only really disappointing aspect of this soy sauce museum is that it’s so far away from the sushi museum. Missed opportunity there.

Location: Marion, Ohio, United States

Even carny food needs a home, and that home is the Wyandot Popcorn Museum. This place has a range of antique popcorn poppers (and some peanut roasters, for good measure). In fact, it showcases the largest collection of restored popcorn antiques. The whole museum is a warm and nostalgic dive into a world gone by with a lot fascinating popcorn tidbits to absorb. (Did you know that unpopped kernels are referred to as Old Maids?). After a visit to this place, you’ll probably think twice before carelessly letting so much of your popcorn miss your mouth and fall to the ground.

Location: Schrobenhausen, Germany

Asparagus is a big deal in Germany, and in this museum, every day is Spargelzeit, or “asparagus time.” Located inside a fortified tower, the European Asparagus Museum launches a full-scale assault of asparagus information onto every visitor. It explores the history of asparagus, how it’s cultivated, eaten, how it was used in science, and even how it’s been depicted in art. There’s no word on what the bathrooms in that museum smell like, maybe keep your fluid intake to a minimum during your visit.

Location: Irwin/North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, United States

Open since 2007, this museum commemorates the iconic two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun. It’s located in a working McDonald’s restaurant, so visitors can enjoy the food itself while they marvel at all the vintage McDonald’s memorabilia on display, as well as the 14-foot-tall Big Mac sculpture. The museum even includes a bust of Jim Delligatti, inventor of the Big Mac. May he Rest in Pickles.