The Great American Menu: Foods Of The States, Ranked And Mapped

[listopencil]

What are the United States' best regional foodstuffs? Its worst? These are the questions that bedevil the mind of man—but no longer! For here, we have ranked them. Rigorously scientific (not), ardently researched (nope), and scrupulously fair (not even a little bit): this is the Great American Menu!
Each state (plus the District of Columbia) gets one, and only one, signature foodstuff. And we selected actual food preparations; no state gets credit merely for being the geographic location where a certain edible flora or fauna happens to grow or swim or graze. But enough of that bullshit. On to the rankings! (For a full-size version of Jim Cooke's map, click here.)

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The Greats

1. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (Illinois)

Man is mortal. He frolics upon the grass of life for but a short season, and then is snatched back to the inanimate dirt of his origin. The Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, America's greatest regional foodstuff—all those toppings, good God so much cheese and meat, I can hear my heartbeat, this can't be right, it sounds like a goddamn chainsaw, can that be right?—will greatly hasten that day's arrival, but it will also fill at least a little part of at least one of those days with a transcendent, mind-boggling, outrageously indulgent sensory experience. This is the best thing any food can do, and certainly far beyond the capabilities of [stares daggers at New York] a sheet of soggy cardboard with a flap of waxy melted cheese stretched across it.

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2. Shrimp and grits (South Carolina)

Shrimp. Grits. Tasty, satisfying, authentically South Carolinian. Perfect.

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3. Mission-style burrito (California)

The Mission-style burrito is especially great because, nowadays, you don't have to go all the way to California to get a good one. In fact, you can even leave California at 125 miles per hour, screaming and crying because your organ systems are rightly rejecting the state of California like a grafted-on walrus tail because California is awful, and still get a tasty Mission-style burrito pretty much wherever you end up! This is because a Mission-style burrito is just a really fuggin' large burrito with extra rice and (figurative) shit in it. Mmmmmmmm.

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4. Crab cake (Maryland)

As we've established (here, here, and here), blue crab—particularly the Chesapeake blue crab—is the best of all ingestibles. However, the Maryland crab cake ranks fourth on this list, simply because so many of the various foodstuffs calling themselves crab cakes are really just mildly crab-flavored bread wads for ninnies, which are nonetheless priced as though they contain some quantity of actual by-God crabmeat measurable in units larger than the zeptogram. This means that the best way to obtain a genuine crabcake, rather than an OldBayseasoningandcrushedcrackerscake, is to make one at home—and, so long as you can find yourself a tub of crabmeat to work with, you don't have to be anywhere near Maryland to do that. (That's a good thing. Maryland drivers. Holy shit.)

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5. Peach pie/cobbler (Georgia)

Peaches are good. Pie crust and/or biscuit dough are/is good. Good on ya, Georgia.

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6. Gumbo (Louisiana)

Yeah, yeah, Louisiana also has the po' boy and the beignet, but really, those are New Orleans foods, and New Orleans already thinks more than highly enough of itself. Besides, neither of those is as tasty as Creole gumbo, which, factually, is the sole credible argument for not sinking that state into the Gulf of Mexico.

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7. Key lime pie (Florida)
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But what about the Cuban sandwich?!?!?!?! First of all, there's some controversy about the Cuban sandwich's origins: Either it is from Cuba, in which case it is Cuba's sandwich and not Florida's, or it is from Tampa, in which case it is not a Cuban sandwich and has a dumb name, in which case it sucks because things from Tampa suck because Tampa sucks. In any case it is not as definitively Floridian as Key lime pie, which originated in Florida and is made with ingredients—Key limes—that are native to Florida and nowhere else. (It also doesn't taste as good as Key lime pie. So there.) Anyway Key lime pie is very good and I don't know how we wound up talking about the Cuban sandwich this whole time so let's just move on.

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8. Fried green tomatoes (Alabama)

... at the Whistle Stop Cafe, yawl! There is nothing to say about fried green tomatoes. They taste very good and you should eat some.

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[Cannibal]

I had no idea KS signature dish was hamburger casserole and like others above, I have no idea what the **** it is.

[SPchief]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

Runzas are ****ing awesome. They are one of a very few things I would miss if I moved away from NE.

I am curious as to where the hell he got that from because I have lived here for 45 friggin' years and have never seen anyone make anything like what he is describing.

They opened a chain down here about 20 minutes from me and it's not even close to what they taste like up there. Strange

[Bugeater]

I'm thinking the hamburger casserole is like Sheppard's Pie, where you layer ground beef, green beans or corn, and top it with mashed potatoes and bake it. Great winter time dish.

[SPchief]

And homemade runza's are awesome.

[Fritz88]

I couldn't like the deep dish pizza.
I tried.
Posted via Mobile Device

[a pp roach]

Originally Posted by listopencil

43. Green Jell-O with goddamn carrots in it (Utah)

Come on, Mormons. Goddammit.

[MOhillbilly]

My granddaddy loved goin back home for the family feeds especially the burgoo. Surprised it made the list tbh. Not something many people have ever heard about.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Cannibal

I prefer a thin crust with relatively modest toppings that you fold. But certainly understand if someone prefers their pizza 2" thick.

Sure, but I don't really get the "New York style" hype... it's just pizza. A really big slice of pizza. There's nothing unique about it.

[MagicHef]

He did a great job mapping them. Put 'em right on the states.

[Bugeater]

Originally Posted by SPchief

And homemade runza's are awesome.

We did them one time and they weren't good enough to justify all the work. Nzoner's wife made some a couple weeks ago that were pretty good, so maybe they're only awesome when I don't make them.

[MOhillbilly]

Originally Posted by Bugeater

We did them one time and they weren't good enough to justify all the work. Nzoner's wife made some a couple weeks ago that were pretty good, so maybe they're only awesome when I don't make them.

My wife makes em and they are hard core good.

[Cannibal]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Sure, but I don't really get the "New York style" hype... it's just pizza. A really big slice of pizza. There's nothing unique about it.

I've never been to NY and tried it. But if I was betting, I'd have to assume its totally ****ing awesome.

[a pp roach]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

He did a great job mapping them. Put 'em right on the states.

yeah. great job especially fitting that chili in ohio. makes perfect sense that he couldn't fit that one for oregon. oregon is so small.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Cannibal

I've never been to NY and tried it. But if I was betting, I'd have to assume its totally ****ing awesome.

4 in the morning, you walk up and get a slice. Oh yes.

[Strongside]

Grew up in Kansas. Never even heard of a ****ing hamburger casserole.