Foods that aren't nearly as good outside your metro area. (island, skyline)

[BPerone201]

Originally Posted by Cart24

For Boston:

Portuguese Food. I've spent a good amount of time in Lisbon and the Azores and other than Boston (New England as a whole-especially the South Shore) only Toronto has a comparable selection of Portuguese food that rivals that of Portugal.

Try Newark.
They have a Portugese section (Ironbound) with fantastic Portuguese cuisine. It was a great first impression eating there.. I've looked for potugese joints elsewhere and I've yet found a place that's comparable to the authenticity of Ironbounds Portuguese restaurants.

I went here.

[5Lakes]

Originally Posted by 585WNY

Well... Garbage plates...

So are garbage plates usually consumed at 4:00am after a few too many alcoholic beverages?

[BPerone201]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

Chicago hot dog > NYC hot dog

Jersey Shore hot dog > NYC & Chicago hot dog



I don't feel like playing pong, it's just my opinon.

[Rachael84]

^^What's that stuff beside the hot dog?

I honestly don't think any hot dog can compare to the real Nathans in Coney Island.

[BPerone201]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

^^What's that stuff beside the hot dog?

I honestly don't think any hot dog can compare to the real Nathans in Coney Island.

Sliced fried pickles.
gotta try em before you judge em... unless your crazy and you don't like pickles

[ReluctantGardenStater]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

There's a thread on the NYC that's really long about foods people can't find outside the metro area. What about your metro area? As much as people like to believe, when you leave the metro area that food is known for, it really isn't nearly as good.

Here's my list for my metro:

-Bagels and bialys (most people don't seem to know what a bialy is. They're awful outside the area, if they even have them).
-rainbow cookies
-zeppolis and cannolis
-Pizza (well, Chicago metro has good pizza, but other than these 2 metros, it isn't really any good).
-black and whites
-egg creams (no, there's no egg or cream in them)

On the contrary, some of the best pizza I've had was in East Tennessee.

Pizza in Italy was also great, obviously. Ironically, I've heard stories from people in New Jersey and the New York City metro area in New York and Connecticut vacationing in Roma and Firenze and complaining about the pizza.

[Rachael84]

Originally Posted by ReluctantGardenStater

On the contrary, some of the best pizza I've had was in East Tennessee.

Pizza in Italy was also great, obviously. Ironically, I've heard stories from people in New Jersey and the New York City metro area in New York and Connecticut vacationing in Roma and Firenze and complaining about the pizza.

Probably because it's different than what they're used to. I imagine pizza in Italy is better than anywhere in the world, that's a given.

lol pizza in east TN? I don't know about that...

[2e1m5a]

For some reason, no other part of the country can make a soft pretzel quite like Philly can

[ReluctantGardenStater]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

Probably because it's different than what they're used to. I imagine pizza in Italy is better than anywhere in the world, that's a given.

lol pizza in east TN? I don't know about that...

That's why it's only fair to call the pizza found in the NY/NJ area, which is quite good, the Italian-American version, rather than the true Italian version. Of course, I had great pizza in Rome and Florence, as well as in Pisa and Siena. One of my favorite places for pizza (Italian-American style) is Marathon on the boardwalk in Seaside Heights, NJ.

I've heard stories about poor quality pizza in Florida, but I rarely have pizza in Florida. I enjoy the fantastic seafood and key lime pie (Key limes are actually Persian in origin rather than being from the Florida Keys, but the dessert dish seems to have been absorbed into Floridian cuisine).

But the pizza I had while in rural Tennessee rivaled that found in NYC.

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by BPerone201

Try Newark.
They have a Portugese section (Ironbound) with fantastic Portuguese cuisine. It was a great first impression eating there.. I've looked for potugese joints elsewhere and I've yet found a place that's comparable to the authenticity of Ironbounds Portuguese restaurants.

I went here.

I admittedly have only eaten in Ironbound once when I lived in NYC (Went to TOny de Caneca and it was solid) but yes I have heard great things from friends who love Portuguese food about the places around there, so it should be included in this list.

If you get a chance to visit the Boston area try some of the places in East Cambridge/Inman Square or venture out to Fall River or New Bedford. Similarly in Toronto check out Little Portugal (College St, between Ossington and Lansdowne) You will definitely get your fix.

Originally Posted by Rachael84

I honestly don't think any hot dog can compare to the real Nathans in Coney Island.

Overall the Hot Dog "scene" here in Boston does not compare to NYC, Chicago and Toronto. BUT, by far the best hot dog I've had in my life is Speed's in Boston. The Wall Street Journal seems to agree. (The Wall Street Journal- Speed is #1 Hot Dog in America (http://bostonspeeddog.com/Boston%20Speed/Wallstreet%20News.html - broken link))