Foods you miss from Back Home?

[mpascal]

Agree with tamitrail. I grew up in northern NJ outside NYC, and can't quite seem to replicate the pizza here, although Italian Store in Arlington is best I found. Biggest lack is the deli, when we go to visit my parents we always have to get a fix. Ditto on the bagels.

[ersatz]

The Walmart by my old apartment made some pretty good okra but Church's was the best. Alas no okra for me here.

Many of the Shoppers Food Warehouse stores have a lunch bar, heavy on the fried foods. I know that the SFW between Franconia-Springfield Metro and Kingstowne used to periodically have fried okra as one of the selections. I no longer work in the area so don't "do lunch" there. I recommend asking the hot lunch counter bar at your local SFW if they serve it.

[scimitar12]

Same here. We moved here from K.C. and feel the food prices here are at least 15 to 20 percent higher than back there.

Originally Posted by Darksword

So true. I came from the Inland Empire of So.Cal and I miss Los Albertos. I also miss In & Out and Fatburger. And Food 4 Less. Groceries out here in northern Virigina cost way too much. Even with their lower sales tax (5% vs. 7.75%) groceries are still costing me about $25% more than what I was paying back in Riverside, CA.

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by onevthoki

I miss my grandmother's fried chicken!

Your statement made me think of all the different ways my mom made caseroles. From all the tater-tot varieteis, tuna caseroles to the hamburger helper varieties. I miss them now.

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by scimitar12

Same here. We moved here from K.C. and feel the food prices here are at least 15 to 20 percent higher than back there.

It depends on where you shop. Try searching for the Korean grocery stores like Grandmart, and those Latin grocery stores who keep the prices down as well.

[Erma]

Originally Posted by onevthoki

I miss my grandmother's fried chicken!

Somehow Grandmothers always made the best of everything. Her chicken, sugar cookies, sandwiches...everything was better at Grandma's!

[Shnoz]

Sorry for the bump on a 2 week old thread, but I think it's an interesting topic.

Coming from Michigan I miss a few things. Pizza, for one. Uno's has my favorite deep-dish but just regular pizza is tough to find. Back home we had tons of chains in addition to all the holes in the wall: Little Caesars, Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Hungry Howies, Cottage Inn, Papa Johns, etc etc.

Second, White Castles. Most people hate 'em but I love them sliders. When I left they still had some of the "Systems" around (Giants, Tel-Way) cookin up tiny burgers.

Third, 24-hour coney islands. Where else is there to go when all the bars let out and you need a gyro and your friend needs strawberry pancakes all cooked up by Greeks?

Fourth, while I'm not from the area, cheese curds from Wisconsin. Every time I visit Milwaukee I always load up on a bag or two of cheese curds from Mars and a bunch of Furthermore and New Glarus beer. Mmmmm.