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Sure, but they're not prevalent at all. I have lived here 2+ years, and have not seen grits on a restaurant menu in Southern Florida. I remember seeing it offered for a Hotel breakfast in Tampa, and being somewhat happy.
I'm sure they exist (restaurants that offer Grits) but they are rare, it's not a staple cuisine here.
Fish and Grits on the other hand, never seen that combination. I guess you could go to a restaurant that has both Fish and Grits, and order them at the same time.
You're not going to find many restaurants that serve fish and grits in Texas either. But it's still eaten there and it's still very popular. Same with Florida and including South Florida. Go ask the locals in Miami Gardens, Miramar, inner city Miami if they eat the combination of it. You'll hear a yes many times than you'd care to admit.
Sure, but they're not prevalent at all. I have lived here 2+ years, and have not seen grits on a restaurant menu in Southern Florida. I remember seeing it offered for a Hotel breakfast in Tampa, and being somewhat happy.
I'm sure they exist (restaurants that offer Grits) but they are rare, it's not a staple cuisine here.
Fish and Grits on the other hand, never seen that combination. I guess you could go to a restaurant that has both Fish and Grits, and order them at the same time.
Don't have a dog in this fight but with the huge Caribbean/Latin American influence in south FL in particular, that's not hard to believe. I just hate when people use over simplistic arguments like "You can find grits in Boston, ergo grits isn't a Southern staple."
As far as fish and grits go, that's more of a homemade meal than something you'd find in a restaurant. I grew up in rural SC and don't recall it being on many restaurant menus, if any at all (unlike shrimp and grits, a staple Lowcountry dish that's been popularized).
You're not going to find many restaurants that serve fish and grits in Texas either. But it's still eaten there and it's still very popular. Same with Florida and including South Florida. Go ask the locals in Miami Gardens, Miramar, inner city Miami if they eat the combination of it. You'll hear a yes many times than you'd care to admit.
I'm not sure how we can use this to compare 'Southerness' between Florida and Texas.
Miami Gardens, and Miramar are both heavily American-Black areas (as opposed to more Caribbean-Black areas of Miami). If you go to Black neighborhoods in Chicago, you will find they cook Southern food in their kitchens.
But strictly speaking, when I lived in Houston, finding Grits in restaurants wasn't rare at all, as well as other Southern food staples.
Happiness-is-close has some internalised anti-southern bias. He's from the South but wants to think he's above it. Its quite sad. I dunno what he's got against the South or against Florida's Southerness.
I'm a Cuban-American, raised in South Florida, and I identify as a Southerner. I identify as Southern. Its my regional cultural identity. I also identify as being from the East Coast but the East Coast isn't a northern thing, or an anti-southern thing, its just an Eastern thing.
Florida is Southern. Southern does not equate accent. Southern culture is not monolithic. Maybe if the only part of Florida you go to is the transplant heavy cities, it won't feel so southern but I've travelled all over the state I've got family all over the state, from Dade County to Collier County to Lee County, Lafayette County and Suwannee County. I got cousins in Live Oak they got the same Deep South accent you'll find in Georgia. They're all born in 2003 onwards. They're young. Their dad is Cuban, their mom is in prison. Doesn't matter where their dad is from (he got a Cuban Southern twang fusion thing himself) they are RAISED in a Deep South environment.
Thats what annoys me when people say "well even the people born in FL their parents are usually from somewhere else like another country or the north" who gives a rat's a$$ where their parents are from? They're still raised IN THE SOUTH. I got friends from Texas whose parents or grandparents are from the Midwest and they got Southern accents AND identify as Southern. Shoot, I have a friend whose mom is from Spain and whose dad is from Mexico and she identifies as a Southerner. What because Johnny's from Tampa's parents are from Illinois that makes him not a Southerner? I knew a kid from high school (down in Miami) whose mom is from Michigan, dad is Cuban, he's got a very noticeable Southern twang. Stop using the whole "the parents are from elsewhere" argument to debunk Florida's Southerness. Florida may be a weird state in terms of culture, its very diverse but its every much the South as Texas is. More so actually, because far west Texas is nothin like the South its solidly Southwestern. All of Florida is hot, humid and full of lush vegetation. Even Miami which stands out for being more tropical has native southern trees like live oaks and bald cypresses. Western Texas is more like New Mexico nothing like the South. Topography matters too, yo.
And for those that say that Miami isn't southern either, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4Zj7Mxq5iU any city in this song is in the South Miami may not be in the same vein as Charleston, SC or Montgomery, AL but its still a solid part of the "Dirty South." People on this site have a cultural bias towards caucasians though. Don't forget the African American culture, too. Blacks have proudly been in Florida since well, it was a state. They have the same heritage of slavery and oppression as the rest of the Southern black population. People overestimate the Afro-Caribbean influence in Florida. And guess what, the children of those Haitian and Jamaican immigrants also assimilate to the American black population.
This! I live in Tampa and have a lot of friends of Caribbean descent, some even from Miami, and they all talk with Southern accents. The rapper Kodak Black is the perfect example, he's Haitian and wears gold teeth and talks very Southern, like many in South Florida do. I even got a friend whose parents are Nicaraguan that talks like a Southern black person, when he's not speaking Spanish of course. This is something very common in Florida, especially in the urban areas of Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. I think the "Casssh me outside" girl from Dr. Phil is also from South Florida. A lot of lower income white people talk like that in Florida, especially in the cities. People underestimate the Southerness of Florida, I just ate at a Waffle House in Tampa, full of a bunch of country bumpkins. lol
People that usually don't identify with the Southerness of Florida are recent Northern transplants and foreigners. Although that makes up a large portion of Floridians, I think the assumption is that they are in the majority. Well sorry to tell you, but a LARGE percentage of Floridian transplants also come from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, the Carolina, etc. and they feel right at home here. There are still large swaths of the Greater Tampa area where you can find in your face Southern culture. Trailer Parks are still very common, just 10 minutes from Downtown Tampa, Confederate flags are seen daily, especially if you drive on I-4 to I-75. There is a Confederate cemetery in Brandon right on State Rd. 60. The original vernacular of housing was also very Southern, the Old Tampa architecture is very common to the housing you see in much of the Gulf Coast "South", meaning they sort of resemble slave shacks, the local black population is treated like they have one foot out of slavery (this can be seen in Miami too), Football is the biggest thing going, church is still a big part of culture here (not as bad as Jacksonville, but just a little dialed down), cant get light rail off the ground in Tampa, because its perceived as a big city northern thang, etc. Shall I continue?
I'm not sure how we can use this to compare 'Southerness' between Florida and Texas.
Miami Gardens, and Miramar are both heavily American-Black areas (as opposed to more Caribbean-Black areas of Miami). If you go to Black neighborhoods in Chicago, you will find they cook Southern food in their kitchens.
But strictly speaking, when I lived in Houston, finding Grits in restaurants wasn't rare at all, as well as other Southern food staples.
It isn't. Just saying fish and grits is a common southern dish and it is eaten heavily in Florida. Also, I didn't say you can't get grits in Texas, I said fish and grits combination will be harder to find in restaurants especially in the cities. But I trust you realize they do have restaurants in South Florida that serves grits. In fact, numerous restaurants.
Miami New Times: Try the boil fish and grits, served on the weekends ($10.50) and come during the week, you can get some catfish and grits ($7.75), liver and grits ($6.95), or smothered pork chops and grits ($6.95).
Don't have a dog in this fight but with the huge Caribbean/Latin American influence in south FL in particular, that's not hard to believe. I just hate when people use over simplistic arguments like "You can find grits in Boston, ergo grits isn't a Southern staple."
As far as fish and grits go, that's more of a homemade meal than something you'd find in a restaurant. I grew up in rural SC and don't recall it being on many restaurant menus, if any at all (unlike shrimp and grits, a staple Lowcountry dish that's been popularized).
Yeah it is mostly homemade meal. That's the meal my grandmother and aunt made. Growing up in Central Texas, I don't think I ever saw any restaurant that served Fish and Grits (or shrimp and grits man those are good lol. Tried that in Savannah last year.).
It would be nice if we can come up with some statistics on how many people (percent) eat grits in Florida and compare that to Texas.
Here is what side dishes are eaten much more than grits in Florida:
1)Fried plantains
2)Rice and Beans
That I see at restaurants all the time, even though I never order it. What I don't see is Grits, though I'm sure you can find it if you look. You can find it in Boston if you look too. That's not the point, prevalence is the point. If I can casually go into numerous restaurants, and not see it, it's not prevalent.
Now, the two most popular fast food chains that originated out of Florida that I know of are Burger King and Pollo Tropical. Not even a hint of Southern influence in either.
Nobody is going to comment on the numerous maps I posted on the last page? I bet i can guess why, because they are facts not personal, unique experiences. Noone is saying Florida doesn't have any southern culture, it's just that Texas is much more southern. Heck, even many of the Mexicans down there wear cowboy boots and hats with big belt buckles. Imagine the massive population of white people that do the same, and were the ones who started it. I mean come on, even their NFL football team is named after them. Oh i get it, you guys have them new age cowboys down there and they don't count. Florida has nothing at all like that and never has.
Acting like the relatively small black population of these states compared to the other races is somehow the major factor of southerness is ridiculous. Especially since Florida has a huge Caribbean black population, more than anywhere in the U.S., and less of the population live in rural areas compared to Texas.
Nobody is going to comment on the numerous maps i posted on the last page? I bet i can guess why, they're facts not personal unique experiences.
Probably because most of the maps were laughable. Especially the redneck map.
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Miami may not be in the same vein as Charleston, SC or Montgomery, AL but its still a solid part of the "Dirty South." People on this site have a cultural bias towards caucasians though. Don't forget the African American culture, too. Blacks have proudly been in Florida since well, it was a state. They have the same heritage of slavery and oppression as the rest of the Southern black population. People overestimate the Afro-Caribbean influence in Florida. And guess what, the children of those Haitian and Jamaican immigrants also assimilate to the American black population.