Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Outside of a few boutique shops and store fronts, there is nothing Italian about SF's little Italy.
The neighborhood is dominated by yuppies and techsters, who are not typically Italian at all.
That's not surprising though. What's more interesting is that the Italian population totally dispersed and didn't seem to create any new concentrations.
There are no Italian neighborhoods in New Orleans anymore.
I heard they used to be concentrated within the French Quarter.
Are there a lot of good Italian restaurants in New Orleans? I was there a few weeks ago with mostly Italian-Americans from South Philly and they wanted nothing to do with even trying any Italian food just because it was "the south"-even though they knew NOLA had some Italians.
We absolutely loved the food though, so even if an Italian dinner was excellent it probably wouldn't have been as unique an experience as getting those amazing oysters at Acme.
Baltimore city will have a low number of Italians due to white flight. Since the late 40's Baltimore went from being 80% white ( which was mostly German, Irish, and Italian)to 63% black today. However, the numbers are starting to change again as blacks leave for the suburbs and suburban whites move back into the city. secondly, from my experiences, although the on paper stats may say otherwise, most whites that's I know claim to be of Irish and/or Italian descent. On paper, Overlea, MD may have the highest Italian concentration at 14.69%; most communities around Baltimore are Irish or German except for Pikesville which is mostly Jewish, and Russian.
Those were metro percentages. Here are the most recent stats (2013 estimates) for the city limits.
San Francisco - 43,790 (5.22%)
New Orleans - 14,448 (3.81%)
Baltimore - 16,581 (2.66%)
Surprisingly, Washington, DC has a larger Italian population than Baltimore (25,099 and 3.88%). Philadelphia, which is the next closest major city, has an Italian population of 120,466 (7.75%).
Interestingly, cities like Portland, OR and Denver that aren't known for much of an ethnic white population(though historically they did have some Italian neighborhoods at one point) have higher numbers than Baltimore or New Orleans. Though also places like Denver and Portland--and San Francisco--had far less "white flight" than places like Baltimore or New Orleans.
Portland - 28,284 (4.7%)
Denver - 27,895 (4.4%)
Also though it's hard to tell how many people of Italian ancestry in any of these places are descended from the old Italian immigrant communities and how many are just people with Italian blood who might have moved more recently. San Francisco for one, has always had a lot of more recent transplants from the Northeast, who might have Italian heritage, but aren't going to be part of any specific remaining Italian-American community.
Are there a lot of good Italian restaurants in New Orleans? I was there a few weeks ago with mostly Italian-Americans from South Philly and they wanted nothing to do with even trying any Italian food just because it was "the south"-even though they knew NOLA had some Italians.
We absolutely loved the food though, so even if an Italian dinner was excellent it probably wouldn't have been as unique an experience as getting those amazing oysters at Acme.
Besides some of the newer places with good upscale Italian, I've found that there's a lot of Italian influence in the cooking(or specifically Sicilian) or older restaurants that were started by Italians that serve Creole-style food with a mix of Italian dishes. A place like Pascal's Manale feels like very old school--though they're specifically famous for New Orleans-style BBQ shrimp and serve other Creole dishes, but they also have a lot of Italian(or Italian-American) dishes on the menu.
There's also places like Angelo Brocato's for Italian ice cream and pastries or the old Italian grocery Central Grocery for muffaletta(which is a tourist staple)--which is probably the most recognizable contribution from Italian immigrants in New Orleans.
And there's also this place on a rural highway on the edge of the metro, that's basically a classic red sauce joint that seems unchanged for the last fifty years--and also where famed Mafia boss Carlos Marcello used to hold court. Italian Restaurant | Avondale, Louisiana | Mosca
I'm just a frequent tourist and aficionado of New Orleans though, I'm sure some of the posters from there can provide much more detail about restaurants. I know there's some good Italian places out in the suburbs as well(where most of the older Italian community moved to).
Baltimore city will have a low number of Italians due to white flight. Since the late 40's Baltimore went from being 80% white ( which was mostly German, Irish, and Italian)to 63% black today. However, the numbers are starting to change again as blacks leave for the suburbs and suburban whites move back into the city.
The Italian population actually declined in Baltimore City from 18,215 in 2012 to 16,581 in 2013.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
