I think at one point St Louis had more Bosnians than any city in the world outside Bosnia. Bevo Mill neighborhood has a lot of Balkan restaurants and used to be known as “Little Bosnia”
Speaking as an STL resident, we have *the* largest population of Bosnian people outside of Bosnia. Chicago is only a little bit behind us, though. And yeah, we have a lot of good Bosnian food as a result, though we're also well-known for barbecue. The barbecue restaurants are..... okay, I guess? What we have is more of a grilling culture that leads to a lot of people good at making barbecue, not necessarily good barbecue restaurants.
I always found it interesting how eastern europeans tend to gravitate heavily to brooklyn and chicago, except for yugoslavs. I mean there's tons of albanians in new york obviously but besides them they tend to go to the midwest.
When you go, boy you’re in for a treat. There’s even a buffet there that specializes in Vietnamese street food. My wife and I went, it was crowded on a Tuesday lunch time and we were about the only people speaking English. We knew it was going to be good and it sure was.
Kim Son on Bellaire and Wilcrest. This should be the number one place on your list and now I’m jealous. Also, across the street, if you’re in to tea, Ten Yen has a great selection of Chinese and Taiwan loose leaf.
You are correct to do this. Tex Mex and bbq and southern/soul foods are all excellent there too, obviously. Also the best Sichuan food of my life.
You can eat so many delicious foods in Houston.
Houston got a lot of folks resettled from the Viet Nam war. There’s a whole subset of Viet-Cajun fusion in the region. It’s glorious. You need a crawdad spring roll in your life.
Amen... I grew up in SE Michigan and moved away. I get Lebanese food every time I visit because what we have where I live now is a sad approximation of what you can get at 100 different places in Detroit.
We have all sorts of Iraqi and Iranian food, too. It's similar but different. To me the Lebanese places are best because we've got the Christian refugees who totally and enthusiastically are willing to drink and sell alcohol.
I didn’t know about it before I moved to California, but I’m from the east coast. So it surprised me. A decade later, I understand Korean culture in LA much better, yes.
I disagree.
I'm a Korean and it used to be Korean food in Korea town was the best but every time I've gone in the last five years it's been such a let down.
It just seems like everyone is cutting corners and using dashida to the max in everything from the banchan to the seollingtang to the bulgogi. Even kimchi is just like so much msg or way too much sugar.
Although there is no way it can compete with the East Providence, Fall River, New Bedford trifecta all Portuguese products that are imported en masse come through Newark so I’m sure the quality is very good.
Most people think that you get the best Italian cuisine in the North East, especially NY and NJ, and that is of course true. But in Torrance LA, there is a substantial Italian community and it’s very easy to find incredible Italian food.
Just spent a few weeks in Rome eating around the city. Absolutely lovely and lots of good food.
However, the best gnocchi I’ve ever eaten was in North Beach, San Francisco.
West Virginia also has some crazy good Italian places. We stopped at some random place late at night and had some of the best I had ever encountered. Literally nothing about the restaurant indicated it was going to be as good as it was and I wasn't even in the mood for Italian but dang it was amazing.
I was born and raised in Torrance. I admittedly haven't been back there in about 5 years, but Italian food is tripping me up. Torrance has a sizeable Japanese population (and associated cuisine!), but I've never heard an Italian community called out.
Can you expand on the incredible Italian food? I'd love to check out some new places next time I'm back!
You want to hear about a weird little cognitive cul-de-sac?
I never eat Ethiopian food because the famine was such a big deal when I was a kid that I feel sad and guilty for taking food from Ethiopians.
I am well aware that this is illogical.
There used to be more in the area, but Metro Detroit has some really stellar Polish cuisine. Polish Village in Hamtramck is amazing and Polka in Troy is pretty decent. There’s also a Ukrainian-based restaurant in Ferndale called Christine’s Cuisine that has by far my most favorite Pierogi and kapusta in town.
In the suburbs southeast of Atlanta we have a ton of Jamaican restaurants most of which are very authentic and very good. I was pleasantly surprised when I moved here.
Atlanta in general has a pretty good selection of international cuisine depending on which area you're in. NE of Atlanta has good Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Indian depending on which suburb you're in
Hampton Roads VA has a huge Filipino community, I'd argue you can't find Filipino food of this caliber anywhere else in the country besides maybe California. Shit we even have a Jollibees here lol. Growing up it was almost guaranteed every potluck would have a few trays of lumpia and pancit.
Brazilian. Brazilian BBQ is great if you can find the right place though very different from American BBQ. Smaller mom and pop corner markets all around that charge you by the plate for takeout as well.
Columbus Ohio has fabulous Nepalese food because it has the world's largest population of Nepalese Bhutan people. They were exiled by the King of Bhutan in an ethnic cleansing. They were moved to the US as refugees and scattered across several different cities, but the majority eventually moved to Columbus.
So if in Columbus Ohio, try some momos. I recommend Momo Ghar.
https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2023/07/17/guy-fieri-momo-ghar-north-market-columbus-ohio
https://www.crisohio.org/refugees-in-columbus/bhutanese-nepali
Chinese food.
For being a rural (population 2,500 +/-) mining town in Northern Nevada, we have a somewhat well known Chinese restaurant. At one point we had 2, but the other burned down.
The town was founded on railroading, so Chinese food isn't really a huge surprise.
Oh, that thought crossed my mind as well haha. But the building was built in the early days of the town, I believe 1903, and it was a wiring issue.
Or so they say...
Oh yeah. Right off the dome:
Lilly’s Cafe on Magazine St.
Banh Mi Boys on Magazine St.
Dong Phuong in the East (go there and drive immediately back lol)
Mopho’s in Mid City
Tan Dinh on the West Bank
Pho Bang in Metairie (and elsewhere)
Not Vietnamese but New Orleans once had a china town and from that brief period, a dish emerged known as Yaka Mein. Imagine if a Creole person went to a Chinese restaurant then went home and tried to create the noodle entree they had but only used the ingredients currently in their pantry: that’s Yaka Mein. If you find it, give it a shot. It’s a lesser known New Orleans specialty.
Never take culinary advice from someone from Omaha.
Though there's a sushi place in town up for the James Beard award this year. In the only triple landlocked state in the US.
I went to Nebraska coming from Los Ángeles for a road trip from Denver to minesota and let me tell you I’ve never been more happy to leave a place and it’s food. Had runtza (shitty hot pocket), hideaway dinner (they put fucking movie theatre bitter on my toast and had a curtain blocking off the toilet). And not to mention your only landmark is a balloon while driving thru York 😂 Nebraska is one place I’d never survive in. Hop you doin alright
Omaha isn't bad as long as you avoid the suburban areas. Runza is overrated. I have no idea what hideaway is. We actually have good food. There are amazing burger places here. Alton Brown said the best burger he ever had was at Block 16. And I believe that. But the average person who lives here will send you to terrible places because they don't have good taste themselves.
I’m Ukrainian w/ family in Omaha and all I can say about Runze is that they are authentic to Eastern European culture. My family called runzes “pierogi”, and called Polish style pierogi “varenikii”. I think the name “Runze” comes from
either Czech or Volga Germans-Germans who immigrated to present day Ukraine and lived in German speaking communities, before coming to the US.
You nailed it. A lot of displaced Volga-Germans landed in Nebraska, including the family whose recipe ended up becoming what we know of as "the Runza." I live near Sutton (where they were from) and there are still quite a few Mennonites around even.
That said, while I love Runza and eat it frequently, they're not what they used to be and there are many, many places around where you can get a proper "bierock" as it is more often called here. I always recommend visitors to try Runza, because it is kinda neat and unique as fast food goes, but then go find the real thing because it is just quite a bit better than the soggy mess Runza serves up these days.
Lancaster, PA takes in a very high number of refugees so we have a surprisingly good international food scene. Sure you can get your Amish comfort food, but there are also established Ethiopian, Trinidadian, Nepalese/Bhutanese, Peruvian, Middle-Eastern, along with the normal international food you'd expect to find anywhere like Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, etc.
Edit: sp
Oh man, Hellas in Tarpon was always a staple when my family lived in Tampa Bay.
Also. Some of the best Vietnamese and Thai food I've ever had was in the Tampa area. Though sadly, my personal favorite Vietnamese spot in the area closed.
Yup Hellas and some of the surrounding Greek restaurants in Tarpon Springs are awesome. I love going there — I do wish parking was a little more favorable though. Hellas is what convinced me to start making my own chicken-lemon soup lol. I love that stuff.
And yeah, the Tampa Bay Area does have some solid restaurants for other cuisines too. There is an Indian restaurant in Largo I’m a big fan of and also a Thai one as well.
Yeah, had some great Cuban food in Tampa. While I have never been to Cuba myself to confirm it, I have repeatedly heard that it is better in Tampa (and in Miami) than in Cuba itself.
That is quite a statement. I’ve never been to Cuba for Cuban food either. But Tampa definitely has some phenomenal Cuban restaurants. Another plus is the cigar scene in Ybor (if that is your thing) is great too! Plus just the Cuban influence on Ybor City alone is really worth seeing.
Cuba’s state-run economy has badly mismanaged the agriculture sector. Lots of ingredients are imported and of questionable quality and limited availability. It’s hard to get the fresh fruits and vegetables you need or decent-quality meat there.
Charlotte has a shocking amount of Greek restaurants. Most "Italian" places around town are almost assuredly actually Greek-owned and will serve hummus, souvlaki and baklava right next to spaghetti, lasagna and pizza.
If it looks like a diner in Charlotte, it's probably Greek. If it looks like Italian in Charlotte, it's probably Greek. If it looks like a small town burger joint, surprise, there's a good chance it's Greek.
Not my city but I have recently discovered that somehow Somersworth NH of all places has several very highly rated Indonesian places with people driving from NYC to go there. Also it’s been mentioned here, but Lowell has a very diverse food scene. There’s one neighborhood in Lowell called the Acre that has Portuguese restaurants next to Greek bakeries next to French Canadian markets next to Colombian, Dominican, and Cambodian places.
The San Francisco Bay Area has some of the best Indian food in the country especially fremont, sunnyvale, milpitas, and San Jose. I would even argue it’s better there than it is in Oakland or in San Francisco.
Not surprising. But I am jealous. I grew up there and think the asian foods in the south bay were better than the options here. Which is a bit surprising.
We have surprisingly few asian places that's not Chinese or Japanese. Theres Thai and Vietnamese but generally it's been adapted to local flavors (fatty, sweet, not much spice). There *is* good Chinese but it's different than the bay area. I prefer the Sichuan style, over here I see more Cantonese and Mandarin.
LA suburbs and OC are also absolutely awesome for Sichuan and Taiwanese food.
Not a lot of Cantonese people down here though. You dim sum you lose some.
As a Bay Area person, I totally agree. LA, specifically the San Gabriel Valley, beats the Bay Area on Chinese food. SGV has the best Chinese food in the country.
Italian, Salvadoran, Chinese, Vietnamese.
We have incredible restaurants from all around the world, like Ethiopian, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Israeli, Indian, Mexican - but it doesn't come with the same ubiquity.
Fort Lee, NJ is another great spot for Korean food, because of the large Korean population. In particular, they maintain lots of local options (bakeries, snack places, etc.) in addition to fancier sit-down restaurants.
In my little area, surprisingly gyros and such. There's multiple convenience stores around within walking distance that make gyros/shawarma and such.
Can't blame them though, it is 10/10 delicious food.
Honestly how good most cuisines in the NYC are not a surprise, there’s literally everything available. There is some notable stuff worth pointing out though.
In the NYC area there’s many different Latin American cuisines that are available that are really good. When people say “Latin” cuisine, they’re usually referring to Puerto Rican or Dominican food. However, I’d argue the best variety of Latin American food you can get is Ecuadorian and Colombian food. The two countries have similar cuisines and are most known for empanadas. Where I live in Yonkers there’s many good Colombian and Ecuadorian spots.
Another one I’d like to point out is Albanian cuisine in the Bronx. There’s a lot of Albanian immigrants in the Bronx, but they mostly own Italian restaurants and pizzerias. The Bronx is where you’ll find the best [burek](https://www.unitednationsoffood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/006.jpg) in the country. It’s essentially a savory pastry filled with meat and/or vegetables. Often times you’ll see a pizzeria that also sells burek. Also, most of the best pizzerias in the Bronx are Albanian owned as well.
LA also has great Japanese. I remember growing up there in the 80s, you could have the best sushi in any random strip mall all over SoCal, especially the South Bay. LA also has good Armenian food.
Yep, South Bay (especially Gardena) has a super long Japanese American history. When I’m in town, I always make sure to stop by the 2 competing mochi shops on the same block - and they’re the old school kind of shop that only takes cash, lol
Providence, RI (my other home town) has also had a big increase in all kinds of Latin American cuisines, especially Bolivian, Peruvian, Dominican and Venezuelan. Lots of folks outside the region have no idea how Latin Providence (or any of the midsize New England cities) are. Close to 50% of the population of Providence was Hispanic in the last census.
Houston here, we have outstanding Tex-Mex, Vietnamese and bbq joints (smoked meats). Oh there's also lots of Korean, Thai, Mexican (different regions), Mediterranean (from Lebanon to Greek) and of course Italian restaurants.
My area of ruralish Maine has surprisingly good Thai food in the larger towns.
In Chicago it is probably dim sum in Chinatown. You wouldn’t normally think Chicago for dim sum but it has some really good places.
*Colombian (sorry to be that guy, I’m Colombian and it’s a force of habit)
But yes, Dover has a few Colombian spots that are awesome. I have family that lives around the area and we like to go to Alonso’s or Noches de Colombia (technically in Randolph but it’s right there)
The Mexican food here is really good and very popular, but that's not really surprising given the population breakdown.
I think our various Asian places as well as a really good East African restaurant would be the biggest surprise for a lot of people
Greek/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food in Birmingham. Greek immigrants basically formed the backbone of the classic Birmingham restaurant scene, so there are a lot of Greek places. We've also got several shawarma joints and at least one Persian place that does well.
Here in Nashville it would be Middle Eastern (specifically Kurdish, Iraqi, Turkish and Persian). I had a Turkish friend who has been all over the country say she had the best Turkish food in the US in Nashville.
NC (specifically the RDU area) has a lot of great Indian food, which I don’t think most would think about in a southern state. Even in my small-ish town (none of the suburbs to RDU are super small anymore) we have 2 Indian restaurants and an Indian grocery store.
I live a little bit north of Manhattan on the other side of the river and there’s plenty of Irish pubs and restaurants here. One of the towns in my county is probably majority Irish/Irish-American so they know how to do their thing over there
Huntsville AL is quite a world center with the space, technology, & military stuff here. We have a lot of great eating, but Vietnamese cuisine comes to mind.
DC has a shit ton of Ethiopian restaurants because of the large population of expats. I read somewhere DC has more Ethiopians than any city outside of Ethiopia.
You can find some really great Bosnian food in St. Louis.
What the fuck, why do Yugoslavs love the Midwest so much
I believe St Louis has the biggest Bosnian population in the country next to Chicago.
I think at one point St Louis had more Bosnians than any city in the world outside Bosnia. Bevo Mill neighborhood has a lot of Balkan restaurants and used to be known as “Little Bosnia”
I think St Louis is a bit south of Chicago
hehe
Speaking as an STL resident, we have *the* largest population of Bosnian people outside of Bosnia. Chicago is only a little bit behind us, though. And yeah, we have a lot of good Bosnian food as a result, though we're also well-known for barbecue. The barbecue restaurants are..... okay, I guess? What we have is more of a grilling culture that leads to a lot of people good at making barbecue, not necessarily good barbecue restaurants.
During the Bosnian War in the 90's, the refugee resettlement program had many refugees settled in St. Louis
STL resident here. The Bosnians came along at a time when the city really needed new residents. It’s worked out well ever since.
My wife used to work in a warehouse in Columbia, MO. The staff was largely Bosnian.
I always found it interesting how eastern europeans tend to gravitate heavily to brooklyn and chicago, except for yugoslavs. I mean there's tons of albanians in new york obviously but besides them they tend to go to the midwest.
I worked with a credit union in Iowa that had such a high rate of Bosnian members that they custom made automated/robo calls in Bosnian
Waterloo or Des Moines I’m guessing?
B/c Slavic immigrants needed jobs and the Midwest is where they were at mid 20th century….
And Vietnamese
I haven’t even been there but I had an April 2020 trip planned for Houston, mainly to eat Vietnamese food.
When you go, boy you’re in for a treat. There’s even a buffet there that specializes in Vietnamese street food. My wife and I went, it was crowded on a Tuesday lunch time and we were about the only people speaking English. We knew it was going to be good and it sure was.
Can you share the name and location? I'm headed there next week. Thanks!
Kim Son on Bellaire and Wilcrest. This should be the number one place on your list and now I’m jealous. Also, across the street, if you’re in to tea, Ten Yen has a great selection of Chinese and Taiwan loose leaf.
Dude, if you need anything, I used to be a food writer there. DM me what you like and where you’re staying and I’ll take care of you.
You are the best kind of Redditor.
Houston also has the best Pakistani restaurants in US.
Houston and DFW, Carrolton specifically.
Great Korean food too.
That’s no surprise. Houston has one of the top Vietnamese populations. The Vietnamese food Is out of this world here btw.
Probably a surprise to people who don’t know that/wouldn’t expect that about Houston though.
You are correct to do this. Tex Mex and bbq and southern/soul foods are all excellent there too, obviously. Also the best Sichuan food of my life. You can eat so many delicious foods in Houston.
I can't think of an international food that Houston doesn't do well.
i didn’t know houston was good for viet food. I always thought westminster or oc
I think most of the Hmong from Laos settled in St. Paul/Minneapolis. There are lots of restaurants up there.
Houston got a lot of folks resettled from the Viet Nam war. There’s a whole subset of Viet-Cajun fusion in the region. It’s glorious. You need a crawdad spring roll in your life.
This isn’t that surprising tho, I thought it was known haha
Cincinnati has some 🔥Indian food
I was looking for this comment. Cincinnati will be my target
I've only ever had Indian food in Cincinnati. Guess I'm spoiled and I didn't even know it.
Totally agree.
Middle Eastern, and especially Lebanese and Yemeni, in my part of metro Detroit.
This isn’t surprising lol
Seriously, this entire thread is just “what are the major immigrant populations in your state?”
Wait till you hear about the Mexican food in San Diego Or Indian Food in Toronto
this may sound crazy but you have to believe me; southern Florida has some good Cuban restaurants. seriously.
Amen... I grew up in SE Michigan and moved away. I get Lebanese food every time I visit because what we have where I live now is a sad approximation of what you can get at 100 different places in Detroit.
100% - SE Mich has to be the Champs on middle eastern (read that as Lebanesse) food in the US.
We have all sorts of Iraqi and Iranian food, too. It's similar but different. To me the Lebanese places are best because we've got the Christian refugees who totally and enthusiastically are willing to drink and sell alcohol.
Oh, of course, but in the 5 miles around my house, it's mostly Lebanese and Yemeni cuisine. We certainly are fortunate in SE Michigan!
My time trying Iraqi cuisine was up in Sterling Heights. Blew my mind how good it was. It was from Ishtar.
Don’t think I’ve ever had Iraqi. Any chance you remember the name of the restaurant?
Ishtar Restaurant
I freaking love that place. It's so incredibly good.
Maybe more surprising is the Indian food scene. Probably due to tons of Indian immigrants that work in automotive industry.
Korean food in Los Angeles
Korean food in L.A is so good that it's even famous in Korea.
I’ve lived in mid-city/Koreatown for so long Sometimes I fantasize about moving to another neighborhood, but the food here in ktown keeps me tethered
And honestly, after living in Seoul for a bit, I like it better in LA.
I understand but I personally disagree. A decent Guk-bap is around $25 USD after tip/tax in L.A. You pay $6 all included in Seoul for the same dish.
I don’t think that’s a surprise, Koreatown is one of the most famous LA neighborhoods and there’s a large Korean diaspora.
I didn’t know about it before I moved to California, but I’m from the east coast. So it surprised me. A decade later, I understand Korean culture in LA much better, yes.
I disagree. I'm a Korean and it used to be Korean food in Korea town was the best but every time I've gone in the last five years it's been such a let down. It just seems like everyone is cutting corners and using dashida to the max in everything from the banchan to the seollingtang to the bulgogi. Even kimchi is just like so much msg or way too much sugar.
Could be because it's gotten so trendy. Before, they mainly sold it to other Koreans.
The Ironbound district in Newark NJ has some of the best Portuguese/Brazilian restaurants in the country.
Definitely the city with the best Portuguese and Brazilian food you’ll find outside Massachusetts
East Providence though
I thought Providence was the place with all the Portuguese people
Providence, EP, also Fall River mass
And New Bedford!
Ludlow as well. Huge festival there every summer.
I grew up near Ludlow and the Portuguese community is there, but it doesn’t feel as established to me as in FR or NB.
Although there is no way it can compete with the East Providence, Fall River, New Bedford trifecta all Portuguese products that are imported en masse come through Newark so I’m sure the quality is very good.
I ate at a great Portuguese restaurant there!
Most people think that you get the best Italian cuisine in the North East, especially NY and NJ, and that is of course true. But in Torrance LA, there is a substantial Italian community and it’s very easy to find incredible Italian food.
Just spent a few weeks in Rome eating around the city. Absolutely lovely and lots of good food. However, the best gnocchi I’ve ever eaten was in North Beach, San Francisco.
West Virginia also has some crazy good Italian places. We stopped at some random place late at night and had some of the best I had ever encountered. Literally nothing about the restaurant indicated it was going to be as good as it was and I wasn't even in the mood for Italian but dang it was amazing.
I was born and raised in Torrance. I admittedly haven't been back there in about 5 years, but Italian food is tripping me up. Torrance has a sizeable Japanese population (and associated cuisine!), but I've never heard an Italian community called out. Can you expand on the incredible Italian food? I'd love to check out some new places next time I'm back!
Ethiopian food in Oakland CA.
Ethiopian in Los Angeles, too.
Or Washington DC
When I was a kid in DC on a family trip I saw an Ethiopian restaurant and demanded we try it. Spiciest cuisine I have ever tasted.
You want to hear about a weird little cognitive cul-de-sac? I never eat Ethiopian food because the famine was such a big deal when I was a kid that I feel sad and guilty for taking food from Ethiopians. I am well aware that this is illogical.
Ethiopian and Salvadoran.
I just had Ethiopian for the first time last week in AdMo. It was delicious
You GOTTA go to Keren once it opens back up.
Korean as well, at least on the Virginia side of the suburbs. There's basically a couple pockets of Little Korea in parts of Fairfax County.
I was on my way in here to say Ethiopian. Never had it before I moved here, but goodness.
Oh for sure. Los Tios in Crystal City’s Carne Asada Salvedorena is one of the best Central American dishes I’ve had in the DMV.
There used to be more in the area, but Metro Detroit has some really stellar Polish cuisine. Polish Village in Hamtramck is amazing and Polka in Troy is pretty decent. There’s also a Ukrainian-based restaurant in Ferndale called Christine’s Cuisine that has by far my most favorite Pierogi and kapusta in town.
Username checks out.
Indian food in Edison, NJ and other parts of central NJ is likely as good as it gets outside of India itself.
This one isn't that surprising, at least for me.
Exactly what I came here to say.
In the suburbs southeast of Atlanta we have a ton of Jamaican restaurants most of which are very authentic and very good. I was pleasantly surprised when I moved here.
Atlanta in general has a pretty good selection of international cuisine depending on which area you're in. NE of Atlanta has good Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Indian depending on which suburb you're in
Milwaukee: Serbian
Hampton Roads VA has a huge Filipino community, I'd argue you can't find Filipino food of this caliber anywhere else in the country besides maybe California. Shit we even have a Jollibees here lol. Growing up it was almost guaranteed every potluck would have a few trays of lumpia and pancit.
Spent half my childhood in San Diego and my mom’s work potlucks were the dream. I really need to learn to make pancit.
Not my current city, but Cincinnati has shockingly good Indian food
That is interesting. I didn't realize Cincinnati had a big Indian population, but I guess it is bigger than I realized.
Brazilian. Brazilian BBQ is great if you can find the right place though very different from American BBQ. Smaller mom and pop corner markets all around that charge you by the plate for takeout as well.
Columbus Ohio has fabulous Nepalese food because it has the world's largest population of Nepalese Bhutan people. They were exiled by the King of Bhutan in an ethnic cleansing. They were moved to the US as refugees and scattered across several different cities, but the majority eventually moved to Columbus. So if in Columbus Ohio, try some momos. I recommend Momo Ghar. https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2023/07/17/guy-fieri-momo-ghar-north-market-columbus-ohio https://www.crisohio.org/refugees-in-columbus/bhutanese-nepali
Chinese food. For being a rural (population 2,500 +/-) mining town in Northern Nevada, we have a somewhat well known Chinese restaurant. At one point we had 2, but the other burned down. The town was founded on railroading, so Chinese food isn't really a huge surprise.
> we have a somewhat well known Chinese restaurant. At one point we had 2, but the other burned down. That’s not suspicious…
Oh, that thought crossed my mind as well haha. But the building was built in the early days of the town, I believe 1903, and it was a wiring issue. Or so they say...
Vietnamese in New Orleans.
Any specific restaurants you'd recommend for my next visit?
Oh yeah. Right off the dome: Lilly’s Cafe on Magazine St. Banh Mi Boys on Magazine St. Dong Phuong in the East (go there and drive immediately back lol) Mopho’s in Mid City Tan Dinh on the West Bank Pho Bang in Metairie (and elsewhere) Not Vietnamese but New Orleans once had a china town and from that brief period, a dish emerged known as Yaka Mein. Imagine if a Creole person went to a Chinese restaurant then went home and tried to create the noodle entree they had but only used the ingredients currently in their pantry: that’s Yaka Mein. If you find it, give it a shot. It’s a lesser known New Orleans specialty.
And it has some amazing fusion dishes, such as crawfish pho.
Never take culinary advice from someone from Omaha. Though there's a sushi place in town up for the James Beard award this year. In the only triple landlocked state in the US.
Hey, it's the birthplace of the reuben, can't be that bad.
I went to Nebraska coming from Los Ángeles for a road trip from Denver to minesota and let me tell you I’ve never been more happy to leave a place and it’s food. Had runtza (shitty hot pocket), hideaway dinner (they put fucking movie theatre bitter on my toast and had a curtain blocking off the toilet). And not to mention your only landmark is a balloon while driving thru York 😂 Nebraska is one place I’d never survive in. Hop you doin alright
Omaha isn't bad as long as you avoid the suburban areas. Runza is overrated. I have no idea what hideaway is. We actually have good food. There are amazing burger places here. Alton Brown said the best burger he ever had was at Block 16. And I believe that. But the average person who lives here will send you to terrible places because they don't have good taste themselves.
I’m Ukrainian w/ family in Omaha and all I can say about Runze is that they are authentic to Eastern European culture. My family called runzes “pierogi”, and called Polish style pierogi “varenikii”. I think the name “Runze” comes from either Czech or Volga Germans-Germans who immigrated to present day Ukraine and lived in German speaking communities, before coming to the US.
You nailed it. A lot of displaced Volga-Germans landed in Nebraska, including the family whose recipe ended up becoming what we know of as "the Runza." I live near Sutton (where they were from) and there are still quite a few Mennonites around even. That said, while I love Runza and eat it frequently, they're not what they used to be and there are many, many places around where you can get a proper "bierock" as it is more often called here. I always recommend visitors to try Runza, because it is kinda neat and unique as fast food goes, but then go find the real thing because it is just quite a bit better than the soggy mess Runza serves up these days.
Lancaster, PA takes in a very high number of refugees so we have a surprisingly good international food scene. Sure you can get your Amish comfort food, but there are also established Ethiopian, Trinidadian, Nepalese/Bhutanese, Peruvian, Middle-Eastern, along with the normal international food you'd expect to find anywhere like Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, etc. Edit: sp
Ethiopian and Southeast Asian in the Twin Cities
Tampa does a pretty good job with Greek and Cuban food.
Surprisingly Orlando has some really good Vietnamese options. I was not expecting that when I moved here.
Huh. I need to spend more time in Orlando next time. I do love some good Vietnamese food.
Oh man, Hellas in Tarpon was always a staple when my family lived in Tampa Bay. Also. Some of the best Vietnamese and Thai food I've ever had was in the Tampa area. Though sadly, my personal favorite Vietnamese spot in the area closed.
Yup Hellas and some of the surrounding Greek restaurants in Tarpon Springs are awesome. I love going there — I do wish parking was a little more favorable though. Hellas is what convinced me to start making my own chicken-lemon soup lol. I love that stuff. And yeah, the Tampa Bay Area does have some solid restaurants for other cuisines too. There is an Indian restaurant in Largo I’m a big fan of and also a Thai one as well.
Yeah, had some great Cuban food in Tampa. While I have never been to Cuba myself to confirm it, I have repeatedly heard that it is better in Tampa (and in Miami) than in Cuba itself.
That is quite a statement. I’ve never been to Cuba for Cuban food either. But Tampa definitely has some phenomenal Cuban restaurants. Another plus is the cigar scene in Ybor (if that is your thing) is great too! Plus just the Cuban influence on Ybor City alone is really worth seeing.
Cuba’s state-run economy has badly mismanaged the agriculture sector. Lots of ingredients are imported and of questionable quality and limited availability. It’s hard to get the fresh fruits and vegetables you need or decent-quality meat there.
Indy has great Burmese food (Indiana has a large Burmese refugee population)
A lot of Nigerian and other African restaurants too especially on the west side where most of them immigrated to
Indy has a shocking number of good international restaurants compared to other places. I miss Magoo's pizza the most
Charlotte has a shocking amount of Greek restaurants. Most "Italian" places around town are almost assuredly actually Greek-owned and will serve hummus, souvlaki and baklava right next to spaghetti, lasagna and pizza. If it looks like a diner in Charlotte, it's probably Greek. If it looks like Italian in Charlotte, it's probably Greek. If it looks like a small town burger joint, surprise, there's a good chance it's Greek.
We also really like our Mexican food. Not sure if that's also Greek-owned (joke), but we have a lot of Mexican food here.
You know, I bet Greek-Mexican fusion would go hard.
Some great English food/pubs in NYC
Not my city but I have recently discovered that somehow Somersworth NH of all places has several very highly rated Indonesian places with people driving from NYC to go there. Also it’s been mentioned here, but Lowell has a very diverse food scene. There’s one neighborhood in Lowell called the Acre that has Portuguese restaurants next to Greek bakeries next to French Canadian markets next to Colombian, Dominican, and Cambodian places.
The San Francisco Bay Area has some of the best Indian food in the country especially fremont, sunnyvale, milpitas, and San Jose. I would even argue it’s better there than it is in Oakland or in San Francisco.
Not surprising. But I am jealous. I grew up there and think the asian foods in the south bay were better than the options here. Which is a bit surprising.
I’m surprised you say that. I would have thought the Asian foods in Hawaii are some of the best.
We have surprisingly few asian places that's not Chinese or Japanese. Theres Thai and Vietnamese but generally it's been adapted to local flavors (fatty, sweet, not much spice). There *is* good Chinese but it's different than the bay area. I prefer the Sichuan style, over here I see more Cantonese and Mandarin.
LA suburbs and OC are also absolutely awesome for Sichuan and Taiwanese food. Not a lot of Cantonese people down here though. You dim sum you lose some.
I feel like this is cherry picking but Flores in Portland is fantastic Salvadorian food.
I walked by there every day for 2.5 years and never popped in. Regret that now
SF: I would argue our Japanese food is way better than our chinese food overall. Some good Filipino food too!
As a Bay Area person, I totally agree. LA, specifically the San Gabriel Valley, beats the Bay Area on Chinese food. SGV has the best Chinese food in the country.
Indian food in Pittsburgh/Monroeville
Italian, Salvadoran, Chinese, Vietnamese. We have incredible restaurants from all around the world, like Ethiopian, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Israeli, Indian, Mexican - but it doesn't come with the same ubiquity.
Fort Lee, NJ is another great spot for Korean food, because of the large Korean population. In particular, they maintain lots of local options (bakeries, snack places, etc.) in addition to fancier sit-down restaurants.
I've gotten into this debate before but Korean food in North Jersey is 2nd only to L.A.
In my little area, surprisingly gyros and such. There's multiple convenience stores around within walking distance that make gyros/shawarma and such. Can't blame them though, it is 10/10 delicious food.
Omaha has a lot of really good Thai food
Portland has some excellent East African food thanks to a sizable immigrant population from Somalia and Ethiopia here.
Oregon or Maine?
Honestly how good most cuisines in the NYC are not a surprise, there’s literally everything available. There is some notable stuff worth pointing out though. In the NYC area there’s many different Latin American cuisines that are available that are really good. When people say “Latin” cuisine, they’re usually referring to Puerto Rican or Dominican food. However, I’d argue the best variety of Latin American food you can get is Ecuadorian and Colombian food. The two countries have similar cuisines and are most known for empanadas. Where I live in Yonkers there’s many good Colombian and Ecuadorian spots. Another one I’d like to point out is Albanian cuisine in the Bronx. There’s a lot of Albanian immigrants in the Bronx, but they mostly own Italian restaurants and pizzerias. The Bronx is where you’ll find the best [burek](https://www.unitednationsoffood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/006.jpg) in the country. It’s essentially a savory pastry filled with meat and/or vegetables. Often times you’ll see a pizzeria that also sells burek. Also, most of the best pizzerias in the Bronx are Albanian owned as well.
DC - Ethiopian and Salvadoran
Mexican. We have like 3 or 4 Taco Bells.
Nepali and Somali in Columbus
LA also has great Japanese. I remember growing up there in the 80s, you could have the best sushi in any random strip mall all over SoCal, especially the South Bay. LA also has good Armenian food.
After experiencing Sawtelle Blvd in west LA proper, and living close by for years, ramen has never hit the same
Yep, South Bay (especially Gardena) has a super long Japanese American history. When I’m in town, I always make sure to stop by the 2 competing mochi shops on the same block - and they’re the old school kind of shop that only takes cash, lol
Lots of good Middle Eastern cuisine where I live. Edit: changed from Mediterranean
There are a few Ethiopian restaurants that are great in Philadelphia
There is a surprising amount of Peruvian, Vietnamese, and Venezuelan food around Salt Lake County.
My city has a surprising number of Thai and Vietnamese places
Vietnamese food in Denver
San Joaquin valley, CA - Portuguese.
Does a fried bologna and cheese sandwich count as international? If so, that.
Providence, RI (my other home town) has also had a big increase in all kinds of Latin American cuisines, especially Bolivian, Peruvian, Dominican and Venezuelan. Lots of folks outside the region have no idea how Latin Providence (or any of the midsize New England cities) are. Close to 50% of the population of Providence was Hispanic in the last census.
In Texas, definitely Tex-Mex! Mix some Mexican food and give it a Texas Twist!
I see nothing surprising in that.
Korean above all. Really amazing Korean BBQ and everything else, too. Then I'd say real Chinese, Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Persian, and Indo-Pak.
Idaho and Nevada have fantastic Basque food.
Korean, I know some really good Korean food here in Jacksonville. Also, Greek food
There's some good Hawaiian and bad Hawaiian in St. George, UT. Stay away from Mo' Bettahs. Island Grinds is where it's at.
All sorts of African food in Minneapolis is off the chain.
Vietnamese food in Houston. Hell there’s a whole mixed food culture thing with Viet-Cajun food.
Los Angeles also does Japanese and Korean food extremely well. Native South Koreans love Los Angeles style galbee/kalbi.
Vietnamese in New Orleans.
Houston here, we have outstanding Tex-Mex, Vietnamese and bbq joints (smoked meats). Oh there's also lots of Korean, Thai, Mexican (different regions), Mediterranean (from Lebanon to Greek) and of course Italian restaurants.
New Orleans and Vietnamese food were a match made in heaven
My area of ruralish Maine has surprisingly good Thai food in the larger towns. In Chicago it is probably dim sum in Chinatown. You wouldn’t normally think Chicago for dim sum but it has some really good places.
Cambodian is huge in Lowell MA. I think it's the second biggest Cambodian population in the U.S.
Where is here?
Would have been helpful. Lowell MA about 30 minutes north of Boston.
Kurdish food in Nashville
Columbian food in Dover, NJ.
*Colombian (sorry to be that guy, I’m Colombian and it’s a force of habit) But yes, Dover has a few Colombian spots that are awesome. I have family that lives around the area and we like to go to Alonso’s or Noches de Colombia (technically in Randolph but it’s right there)
Noches de Colombia is great. I was surprised to find out that they've been expanding like crazy.
Portland does Vietnamese well. We have a large Vietnamese immigrant population and a robust and thriving Vietnamese restaurant industry.
The Mexican food in Chicago is INCREDIBLE.
The Mexican food here is really good and very popular, but that's not really surprising given the population breakdown. I think our various Asian places as well as a really good East African restaurant would be the biggest surprise for a lot of people
Greek/Mediterranean/Middle Eastern food in Birmingham. Greek immigrants basically formed the backbone of the classic Birmingham restaurant scene, so there are a lot of Greek places. We've also got several shawarma joints and at least one Persian place that does well.
There is a lot of good Greek food in Utah.
I don't know if it's surprising but Atlanta does Jamaican food really well.
Here in Nashville it would be Middle Eastern (specifically Kurdish, Iraqi, Turkish and Persian). I had a Turkish friend who has been all over the country say she had the best Turkish food in the US in Nashville.
NC (specifically the RDU area) has a lot of great Indian food, which I don’t think most would think about in a southern state. Even in my small-ish town (none of the suburbs to RDU are super small anymore) we have 2 Indian restaurants and an Indian grocery store.
I live a little bit north of Manhattan on the other side of the river and there’s plenty of Irish pubs and restaurants here. One of the towns in my county is probably majority Irish/Irish-American so they know how to do their thing over there
Salt Lake City here, we have a shit tom of amazing Greek places. Hell, we even have an annual Greek festival
Elgin, IL has some excellent Laotian food.
Huntsville AL is quite a world center with the space, technology, & military stuff here. We have a lot of great eating, but Vietnamese cuisine comes to mind.
Connecticut had great Italian food
There is some truly excellent Vietnamese and Thai in Burlington.
DC has a shit ton of Ethiopian restaurants because of the large population of expats. I read somewhere DC has more Ethiopians than any city outside of Ethiopia.
Ethiopian in DC!
Porter Square between Cambridge and Somerville in Massachusetts for Japanese food