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Chicago has amazing pizza- we all know this. Not just the famous and delicious Chicago deep dish, but also Chicago-style thin crust. Plus there are many delicious Neapolitan and New York style pizza places here.
Chicago has fantastic Indian food. The Little India area on Devon in Chicago has great stuff.
Chicago has excellent and authentic Korean barbecue that you cook at your own table in Koreatown. I know because I lived in Korea and it's legit.
Chicago has surprisingly awesome sushi places, my favorite being Sunda, a celebrity hotspot. You wouldn't think Chicago would have good seafood but it does.
Chicago has alright Mexican food. Mexican food is really hit or miss here for me, despite the 4th largest Mexican population in the U.S. Those Rick Bayless places are great though.
European food- Chicago wins hands down. Go up to Lincoln Square for some great authentic German. Greektown for Greek. Italian all over the place.
African food. North African food doesn't seem to be nearly as popular in the U.S. as it is in Europe.
Really great dessert places here- places dedicated to cupcakes, or many great gourmet donut places.
Chicago does BBQ well. There's a fantastic place for ribs in Oldtown with a delicious sauce.
Chinatown has great authentic Chinese food. But besides sushi, I can't find decent Japanese dishes like yakisoba to save my life.
Who wins? I don't know. But Chicago does food well. That's pretty much not arguable. I think if you polled the entire country as to which is KNOWN as a better food city, Chicago would win. If you polled everyone who's been to both cities, Chicago would probably win to. If it was a poll about Mexican or Seafood, Houston would probably win.
For me, the the difference in the quality of mexican food can be explained by the fact that mexican food or mexican influenced food has existed for generations in Texas. It's ingrained as part of the culture and hispanics and non hispanics have eaten it since birth
In chicago, the hispanic influence is way more recent, like decades. When I lived in chicago, the mexican food was generally horrible and the local population didnt know the difference because they ate it only occasionally instead of frequently. They ate at places like Pepe's Tacos and places that would give you a giant sombrero if you drank enough margaritas. Also, there wasnt nearly as large a hispanic population as there is now.
I always thought Rick Bayless's place in chicago was good, but the places in Texas were much better, cheaper, and there were more of them.
This is probably the same reason the Italian and E. European food is better in chicago than Texas. There is a history of that type of food in chicago and generations of experience...
My mother who is a mexican in chicago makes more authentic Mexican food then some chicano in texas whos been there for generations.
For me, the the difference in the quality of mexican food can be explained by the fact that mexican food or mexican influenced food has existed for generations in Texas. It's ingrained as part of the culture and hispanics and non hispanics have eaten it since birth
In chicago, the hispanic influence is way more recent, like decades. When I lived in chicago, the mexican food was generally horrible and the local population didnt know the difference because they ate it only occasionally instead of frequently. They ate at places like Pepe's Tacos and places that would give you a giant sombrero if you drank enough margaritas. Also, there wasnt nearly as large a hispanic population as there is now.
I always thought Rick Bayless's place in chicago was good, but the places in Texas were much better, cheaper, and there were more of them.
This is probably the same reason the Italian and E. European food is better in chicago than Texas. There is a history of that type of food in chicago and generations of experience...
I have actually seen it argued the other way around, new transplants will have more authentic cuisine and bring it from their country.
The bigger problem is, are they good cooks?
There is some pretty crap "authentic" mexican by people who can't cook to be certain.
again, i bet there are more mexican immigrants in texas or houston than chicago...Texas has both the history and consistent influx of mexican immigrants..
In general, more is better. Is there a great sushi chef in New Orleans better than all of Tokyo's? Possibly, but not likely..
Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico
I have actually seen it argued the other way around, new transplants will have more authentic cuisine and bring it from their country.
The bigger problem is, are they good cooks?
There is some pretty crap "authentic" mexican by people who can't cook to be certain.
again, i bet there are more mexican immigrants in texas or houston than chicago...Texas has both the history and consistent influx of mexican immigrants..
In general, more is better. Is there a great sushi chef in New Orleans better than all of Tokyo's? Possibly, but not likely..
I wasn't putting Houston down, I know Houston has recent immigrants too. But there are areas in the U.S. who have mexican populations, but immigration has not been high.
good point. I am amazed by how much of the mexican population has migrated to chicago.
In general, I think its a good thing, especially for the food scene. Again, when I lived in chicago, there was a definite dearth of latin cuisine, but chicago seems to have embraced it whole heartedly.
My friends from there loved Mexican food, but I had a hard time convincing their parents to eat it as they wanted to eat German Food, whenever we went out to eat. Again, this is the mid 1990s.
Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico
I wasn't putting Houston down, I know Houston has recent immigrants too. But there are areas in the U.S. who have mexican populations, but immigration has not been high.
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