Your country's 3 most popular ethnic foods (price, best, areas)

[Annuvin]

Originally Posted by Trequartista

so much this, the good places that have the real ethnic food have trouble staying afloat most likely due to most americans not having a taste for it, which sucks

I tried authentic Chinese food once and did not like it at all. I have to admit I greatly prefer the Canaan style (or "American" Chinese) food with chicken balls, fried rice and chop suey.

As for Canada, I more or less agree with BIMBAM:

1. Chinese
2. Japanese
3. Indian

Although a lot of roti shops selling Caribbean foods have become more commonplace in the GTA. If pizza joints are considered Italian than I would have to tie them for #1.

[irish_bob]

british = fish and chips

italian = pasta

indian = curry

[visitor21]

Originally Posted by Annuvin

I tried authentic Chinese food once and did not like it at all. I have to admit I greatly prefer the Canaan style (or "American" Chinese) food with chicken balls, fried rice and chop suey.
...

I'm in the same boat as you. I prefer American Chinese dishes over authentic Chinese. In the US, Italian,Chinese and Mexican are less ethnic to me. They are pretty much American food in my book. So I'd pick, Japanese, Thai and Indian as the most popular (real) ethnic foods in the U.S.

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by Annuvin

As for Canada, I more or less agree with BIMBAM:

1. Chinese
2. Japanese
3. Indian

I agree with that list if it's for Canada excluding Quebec, and if by "Japanese" you guys mean "Sushi". IMO specific joints like sushi or pizza or burgers don't count. With that in mind, for Quebec (where French isn't ethnic) I'd say

1) Vietnamese
2) Chinese (close?)
3) Greek/Turkish/Lebanese (well OK, chicken skewers, shish taouk, that's about it)
HM: Italian

Obviously if pizza counts as Italian and sushi counts as Japanese, things change quite a bit.

[tvdxer]

In the US, authentic or not, ethnic food is extremely popular, especially compared to countries with established, regional culinary traditions. For example, when I was in Madrid some five years ago, almost all the restaurants served Spanish cuisine. You could find all the regions of Spain represented (even tiny La Rioja), but only about fifteen or twenty foreign cuisines. Knowledge of and willingness to try foreign cuisine is also, in my experience, an honest marker of one's socio-economic class, at least locally.

The most popular are probably Italian, Mexican, and Chinese. All are usually heavily Americanized. Dishes inspired by the first two places are commonly cooked by normal, non-foodies at home. The last can be found in cheap take-outs in every town with over about 5,000 inhabitants.

In the next tier are probably Japanese, Thai, and Indian. In some parts of the country, certain Japanese foods such as sushi have become virtually mainstream; in other places, they're more the reserve of the middle-class and hipsters. Thai food is the darling of the middle class, while Indian food is also common (you'd be hard-pressed to find a city of 100,000 without at least two Indian restaurants), especially among the more adventurous. Middle Eastern and Greek foods such as hummus, tzatziki, babaghanoush, and the like could also be in this category.

In the third tier are cuisines that are normally not cooked at home except by immigrants, but in cities with sufficient immigrant populations, restaurants have been opened, sometimes many, and attract the more adventurous non-immigrant eaters. These include Ethiopian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Afghan food. Restaurants of the preceding cuisines can be found in most large cities (i.e., with metro areas exceeding 1m inhabitants) as well as many smaller cities.

In the fourth tier are those types of cuisines which have not yet seen their glory days yet have a large enough immigrant population in some U.S. cities to support multiple restaurants. These would include such cuisines as Cambodian, Colombian, Somali, Romanian, and Nigerian.

[Barzie]

Indian, Jamaican, Chinese

[Deezus]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

In the US, authentic or not, ethnic food is extremely popular, especially compared to countries with established, regional culinary traditions. For example, when I was in Madrid some five years ago, almost all the restaurants served Spanish cuisine. You could find all the regions of Spain represented (even tiny La Rioja), but only about fifteen or twenty foreign cuisines. Knowledge of and willingness to try foreign cuisine is also, in my experience, an honest marker of one's socio-economic class, at least locally.

The most popular are probably Italian, Mexican, and Chinese. All are usually heavily Americanized. Dishes inspired by the first two places are commonly cooked by normal, non-foodies at home. The last can be found in cheap take-outs in every town with over about 5,000 inhabitants.

In the next tier are probably Japanese, Thai, and Indian. In some parts of the country, certain Japanese foods such as sushi have become virtually mainstream; in other places, they're more the reserve of the middle-class and hipsters. Thai food is the darling of the middle class, while Indian food is also common (you'd be hard-pressed to find a city of 100,000 without at least two Indian restaurants), especially among the more adventurous. Middle Eastern and Greek foods such as hummus, tzatziki, babaghanoush, and the like could also be in this category.

In the third tier are cuisines that are normally not cooked at home except by immigrants, but in cities with sufficient immigrant populations, restaurants have been opened, sometimes many, and attract the more adventurous non-immigrant eaters. These include Ethiopian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Afghan food. Restaurants of the preceding cuisines can be found in most large cities (i.e., with metro areas exceeding 1m inhabitants) as well as many smaller cities.

In the fourth tier are those types of cuisines which have not yet seen their glory days yet have a large enough immigrant population in some U.S. cities to support multiple restaurants. These would include such cuisines as Cambodian, Colombian, Somali, Romanian, and Nigerian.

This is a good post and pretty accurate as far as the US.

I'd say that the difference between the second tier and third tier is that while you can find a lot of the third in many major American cities, it hasn't gotten to the point where you have more Americanized versions or chains that have mass marketed the food. Something like Korean or Ethiopian still feels fairly authentic, whereas a lot of Thai restaurants these days serve the same menu that Americans have come to love and not the regional varieties of Thai food. Where I live for example, Thai food is common in just about every neighborhood and in just about every suburb. Furthermore you can even get pre-made Thai sauces and noodles at even the most average of supermarkets these days. The cafeteria at my workplace will serve pad thai weekly and no one considers it one bit exotic to anyone. Japanese/sushi and Indian isn't far behind. Greek/Mediteranean food like gyros and sorts of mezza platters are common at even many non-Greek or Middle Eastern restaurants as a menu item(many average American-style diners have it on the menu).

Whereas many Korean or Vietnamese or Ethiopian or East African restaurants are popular, though there's no sort of local chain(outside a few pho places with multiple locations) or attempt at mass marketing the food styles for American taste buds. I might eat Ethopian or Korean or Vietnamese fairly often(or occasionally something like Peruvian or real Lebanese or Moroccan), but it's usually a night out sort of thing, not like a casual takeout or for lunch where I might go to an Indian buffet or Thai takeout joint or get cheap sushi to go. Although the prevalance of Vietnamese pho here, is rapidly making it seem like a pretty common comfort food...

[sulkiercupid]

If you use number of restaurants as a barometer of the popularity of different ethnic foods than the list is:

1. Chinese
2. Italian
3. Thai
4. Indian
5. Japanese

I guess small sushi joints and the like wouldn't be represented so it's not exactly a definitive list. Nonetheless it's interesting that Thai food seems considerably more popular in Sydney than in other cities, in fact it is the only Australian city where Chinese restaurants didn't top the list.

[Chicagoist123]

Originally Posted by sulkiercupid

If you use number of restaurants as a barometer of the popularity of different ethnic foods than the list is:

1. Chinese
2. Italian
3. Thai
4. Indian
5. Japanese

I guess small sushi joints and the like wouldn't be represented so it's not exactly a definitive list. Nonetheless it's interesting that Thai food seems considerably more popular in Sydney than in other cities, in fact it is the only Australian city where Chinese restaurants didn't top the list.

Wow, never imagined that Mexican would be significant in Australia. Learn something new everyday!

[jim9251]

There was a survey recently that showed in America the most popular foods were Italian, American, and Mexican in that order. I would also include Chinese. Then there's SOUL FOOD, best food on the planet!