Which State Has The Best Food?

Image: Jim Cooke

Do you consider your hometown dish to be the best food in the United States of America? We'll see about that.

Albert Burneko wrote an article over at Deadspin where he ranked the best and the worst of signature food from all 50 states of the USA. Did your favorite food make the list? Did Burneko fail to rank your state's food appropriately? Why did he rank Ohio's Cincinnati Chili lower than "being hit by a car"? I mean, worse than Alaska's whipped seal oil and berries delicacy known as akutaq? And what happened to Nevada's state food, anyway?

But first, the 10 best regional food in America:

1. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (Illinois)
2. Shirmp and grits (South Carolina)
3. Mission-style burrito (California)
4. Crab cake (Maryland)
5. Peach pie/cobbler (Georgia)
6. Gumbo (Louisiana)
7. Key lime pie (Florida)
8. Fried green tomatoes (Alabama)
9. Stacked enchilada with green chile (New Mexico)
10. Marionberry pie (Oregon)

... then we'll skip down to the bottom 10:

41. Michigan pasty (Michigan)
42. Chislic (South Dakota)
43. Green Jell-O with carrots
44. Lutefisk (North Dakota)
45. Salt water taffy
45. Handheld meat pies (Nebraska)
46. Akutaq (Alaska)
47. Boiled dinner (New Hampshire)
48. Nothing (Nevada)
49. Steamed cheeseburger (Connecticut)
50. Cincinnati chili (Ohio)

What's your state food and did it rank correctly in the list? Read the full list over at Deadspin

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Newest 5 Comments

It has cinnamon and chocolate in it -two flavors that do not belong in chili.

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I'm most interested in the two "worse-than-nothing" options. I can imagine a steamed cheeseburger being pretty awful, but what's going on with Cincinnati chili?

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So true. And the political thing always kills me when the voters of the state constantly prove that they are far less liberal than residents of Washington, Colorado and Oregon. We voted down legalized marijuana and gay marriage. People just assume what they see about LA applies to the entire (and totally massive) state.

I think you're right though, this guy doesn't even have his own opinions, he's just trying to be funny based on what he's heard other people say. Which is honestly just sadder than having a wrong opinion of your own.

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Most people who proclaim some universal hatred for California that I've bumped into seem to fall into two overlapping categories, those that have certain political beliefs that feel the need to distance themselves from nearly every aspect of the state, and those don't want or know how to seek out an appropriate social circle and are unhappy with what they get keeping to themselves (e.g. the type who say you can't find friends in LA).

Actually, there is a third, someone imitating those two thinking that is what you do about some places, which might be what this guy is actually doing. Considering he over inflates a controversy about the Cuban sandwich, and then says Tampa sucks so it doesn't matter. Even if I agree the key lime pie is more iconic for Florida, the modern Cuban sandwich is pretty much a Florida dish and exceptional even when done wrong.

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Yeah, his declaration that all of California is just awful makes me think he's never been here more than 10 minutes.

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