The US: a state by state food map

[GoldenRivet]

well as someone who has traveled coast to coast, and had a legitimate reason to visit all but perhaps 3 of the states in this great land i'll say this much...


... foods by state is one place where stereotypes DEFINITELY apply

thats one thing i love about traveling - because when it comes to girls, cigars, fine drink and dining... variety truly is the spice of life, and i rarely meet with cuisine in any of those categories that i dont enjoy.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

well as someone who has traveled coast to coast, and had a legitimate reason to visit all but perhaps 3 of the states in this great land i'll say this much...


... foods by state is one place where stereotypes DEFINITELY apply

thats one thing i love about traveling - because when it comes to girls, cigars, fine drink and dining... variety truly is the spice of life, and i rarely meet with cuisine in any of those categories that i dont enjoy.

I've been to a large majority of the states as well, and one of the keys to having a great time is telling random people you're from out of state and you "want a true taste of (insert state name here)'s food. Where should I go?"

Cabbies, bellhops and bartenders know some great places.

[GoldenRivet]

thats absolutely right.

I dont like going 800 miles to eat at a chain restaurant... i can do that 1 mile down the road. I like finding the mom and pop places, or those restaurants that are unique to the town. they yield some of the best eatin' imaginable.

one of my favorite past times is the "$100 hamburger"... for those unfamiliar, that is loading up into a small private airplane with a buddy or two and finding an out of the way, hole in the wall place to fly into and have a bite to eat.

we went to this small louisiana town once and ate at what appeared on the exterior to be a nearly abandoned old truck stop or something, i had my doubts... but i'll tell ya - i have not found better crawfish anywhere yet.

here in my home town, we have a small place with 3 tables and a counter... run by a family of mexican immigrants. best Tamales I have ever had.

good food, like most things of high quality, must be searched out.

[Sailor Steve]

The Green Jello has been adequately explained, as has the Utah version of the pastrami burger. That's something I'd like to address, though. Utah is one place you can come to and actually find some specialized fast food that is worth sampling (I'm sure others have similar things but I just wanted to brag).

Crown Burger. Back in the 1970s a Greek immigrant started a burger joint that served pastrami burgers, steak sandwiches, barbequed pork sandwiches and other items not found in the usual chains. When an Arab mogul built a business tower across the street he wanted a parking lot, and Crown Burger disappeared.

Several months later it was back, less than a block away. I got the opportunity to ask the owner what had happened, and he said "Oh, their offer was too good to argue with. So good, in fact, that I was able to open this new restaurant and two new ones, plus loan money to my cousins for their own businesses!"

So now we have three Crown Burgers, Atlantis Burgers, Apollo Burgers, and Burger Palace, all serving pretty much the same fare. And it's good.

[Penguin]

I could recognize most stuff, but can someone identify the weird stuff people eat in the Dakotas, in MN and OK?

Originally Posted by GoldenRivet

... foods by state is one place where stereotypes DEFINITELY apply

I have only travelled a few states, but this is true definitely true for the ones where I've been. Same goes if you travel Europe, all your food cliché expectations are fulfilled

[Platapus]

Nothing beats going behind Embassy Row in Seoul Korea and stopping off at Burger Jacks for a Shrimp Burger

It is just like it sounds.

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Penguin

I could recognize most stuff, but can someone identify the weird stuff people eat in the Dakotas, in MN and OK?

I don't know what the Dakotas stuff is, but as for Oklahoma, okra is a vegetable that looks like this:



It can be pickled or added to soups, or in this case fried. It originally came from Africa, and its popularity in the south owes to it having been introduced to the Americas through the slave trade.