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There is a large Nigerian population but I have yet to see or eat at any restaurants.
Ethiopian seems to be the stock African cuisine most people have tried. That or Moroccan.
Ah yes, I completely forgot about Moroccan. There are at least four African restaurants within 5 blocks of here, but I think most of them are Ethiopian. Never had a bad meal at any of them; some of them are a little pricey, but other are just as reasonable as a cheap Mexican joint. Just down the street from where I live there are also rows and rows of Indian and Pakistani restaurants. The selection is really great, and I've heard some people say it's better than the selection in LA, for what it's worth.
Ah yes, I completely forgot about Moroccan. Just down the street here are rows and rows of Indian and Pakistani restaurants. The selection is really great, and I've heard some people say it's better than the selection in LA, for what it's worth.
It very well could be. You have to go out of your way for Indian/Pakistani in LA. NYC and the Bay are very good there. Even Detroit (Hamtramck, Bangladeshi) has very good in that region.
My rankings for those would be:
NYC
Bay area
Chicago
(LA, Houston, Detroit, and maybe Dallas as interchangeable).
I have been in Houston about 2 weeks, so not much more if it all. I will allow that I was just unlucky in Chicago. I used to eat there before the "smart phone". Now I can just plug it in and find great spots at ease. Before I'd ask people on the street and recommendations varied widely.
Yeah, I mean you could also be 100% correct, but again it really depends on the chef. I'd imagine eating a Mexican place in Pilsen or Little Village would be a world of difference than eating at some yuppie place on the Gold Coast.
It's like how I don't trust eating Mexican food in Santa Monica along the promenade, as opposed to eating it in Palms. But then again, I have the advantage of growing up here and having enough Mexican friends to recommend places to eat wherever I go.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PosterExtraordinaire
Some cities are just more food cities than other. Take Atlanta, I loved my time there but finding great spots to eat (in the city proper) was like pulling teeth. If you didn't want to throw down some serious $$ everything was the "olive garden" of Mexican, Chinese, etc Not very exciting. Atlanta was the most disappointing food city (major) I lived in.
Like I said, maybe its the area you were in. I'd imagine going to eat in a place along Buford Highway or anywhere in Gwinnett County would be a world of difference than eating in Buckhead. Though, the distances may be annoying to deal with, those are just the way the city and metro is laid out.
I can't say for certain though because I really only feel comfortable talking about an area's "food" if I've lived there long enough.
Houston is a sleeper on everyone's radar though, but I don't doubt that the food there is excellent. LA's higher end options do leave something to be desired sometimes, but how often do I eat at those places? For mid and low options, LA does pretty well, but not in universally everything. For example, South Asian food here isn't that great, IMO. I wouldn't even be surprised if its better in Houston than in LA, despite LA having slightly more South Asians than Houston.
I think there is more to judge than simply looking at the numbers were most of X ethnicity lives. If that's the case, might as well have food threads be lists of ethnicities.
I think there is more to judge than simply looking at the numbers were most of X ethnicity lives. If that's the case, might as well have food threads be lists of ethnicities.
I agree, it's just hard to determine what the other factor should be. Foreign born % is one, but I don't think it's the whole picture.
Regardless, everyone adapts their cuisine to local ingredients and tastes and in some regions the local tastes are so much that they alter the food in question.
Regional. Houston crushes Chicago here. Sure I like the pizza slices, the deep dish, the dogs but give me Cajun, Texas bbq, seafood, and tex-mex over that any day. Houston has a great Creole scene thanks to be so close to New Orleans and accepting many residents after Katrina.
I think people on this board don't put enough emphasis on American/regional food. People seem to only judge the quality of food by ethnic restaurants and I think that's a shame. I commend you for including this important category.
When you say BBQ in Texas, is that primarily East Texas Barbecue (chopped with a lot of sauce) or do you get a lot of Central Texas Barbecue as well? I wasn't aware of Houston's Cajun/Creole scene. That's interesting to know (and makes a ton of sense). Obviously, Houston's Tex-Mex is well-known.
For Chicago, there's the pizza (deep-dish and thin) and the hot dogs. Don't forget the Polish Sausage, another big Chicago variety of hot dog. There's also the Italian Beef, which is one of the great sandwiches in the country. Chicago also has its take on the Tamale (including a tamale sandwich that's doused in chili). Wikipedia also informs me about the Jibarito, although, having never been to Chicago, I can't say how popular it is.
Interestingly, Houstonians eat out more than any other Americans. That doesn't say anything about quality, but it's an interesting side note.
I agree, it's just hard to determine what the other factor should be. Foreign born % is one, but I don't think it's the whole picture.
Regardless, everyone adapts their cuisine to local ingredients and tastes and in some regions the local tastes are so much that they alter the food in question.
The latter is most definitely true. After all, things such as burritos, chop suey, and hamburgers are themselves American adaptations of foreign food items.
Tex-Mex (not Houstonian, but from Texas) and Deep Dish Pizza are such examples of the above relevant to these cities.
When you say BBQ in Texas, is that primarily East Texas Barbecue (chopped with a lot of sauce) or do you get a lot of Central Texas Barbecue as well? I wasn't aware of Houston's Cajun/Creole scene. That's interesting to know (and makes a ton of sense). Obviously, Houston's Tex-Mex is well-known.
Mostly saucy so far, but my impressions go beyond where I ate it. As I drive around, I remember the restaurants I see and what leaves an impression are all the BBQ and Cajun places poking out. Seafood is big here, I remember going to a Chinese buffet (not meant to be authentic) only to have a separate table for crab, crawfish, shrimp etc and another table for BBQ pulled pork, ribs.... In many cities, there will be a couple of extremely good BBQ places that literally have a line out the door. In Houston, you can get that without the line
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I can't live in a city that is lacking in variety.
