The heart wants what it wants.

Same goes for the stomach.

There are some meals and drinks that are just absolutely and inexplicably swoon-worthy. And I’m not talking about that $50 steak or a top-shelf bottle of bourbon. Sometimes, it’s the cheap $1 burger at a dive bar in a college town. Or it’s a stack of pancakes at IHOP at 3:00 a.m. Whatever it is, you know you won’t be able to get it out of your head until you take a bite.

So, how far would you go for that bite?

It’s a question that’s been on my mind a lot lately. 

• Take, for example, the time my friend and I were trying to figure out where to go for appetizers and drinks. She began talking about a cocktail she loved getting at a restaurant in the area. She listed several other great options of places to go, but kept circling back to that one drink at that one restaurant. 
  
  The only issue: An ex worked there. Obviously, she wasn’t too interested in running into him. 
  
  But that drink…
  
  “Maybe you can run in first,” she suggested. “Just ask if he’s working that night.” 
  
  Stomach: 1, Heart: 0
  
  
• Or how about the time I began craving sushi from my favorite spot across the street from my apartment. I was in my pajamas, curled up and watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix, and suddenly, all I wanted was a shrimp tempura roll. 
  
  It would have been significantly less expensive to just throw on a real outfit and walk over to pick up a carryout order. And yes, I did have some delicious home-cooked leftover pasta in my fridge.
  
  But that tempura roll…
  
  Well, I did what any rational, financially-savvy person would do: I ordered delivery from a place literally right outside my building. 
  
  I felt slightly ashamed when the delivery guy arrived. I swear he was trying not to laugh as I paid for dinner.
  
  But then I took my first bite of sushi and that feeling went away.
  
  Stomach: 1, Head: 0.
  
  
• Oh, and let’s not forget the craving that just about anyone from the Chicago-area can relate to: a slice of Portillo’s chocolate fudge cake. 
  
  Every year when I returned home from college or from my job in Louisville, Portillo’s was one of the first places I would go. It wasn’t exactly close. It was at least a 30-minute drive, and I’m sure I probably passed a dozen fantastic bakeries every time.
  
  But that cake…
  
  Ironically, while I was living in Milwaukee, Portillo’s opened three new locations of significance: one that’s 10 minutes away from my parents’ home, and two in the Milwaukee suburbs. So wherever I went, I was blissfully surrounded by my favorite cake in the entire world.
  
  But I worried that would change if I ever moved. So, I decided I’d need my own version of the cake to bring with me wherever I go… and then I moved to Champaign, which also has a Portillo’s location that stays open pretty late every night. So I’m set.
  
  But just in case… I have a knockoff cupcake version of its chocolate fudge cake at the ready.

What meal would you drive hours for? Comment below!