Sell me your local neighborhood cuisine

[Sci-2]

Take some pride in your neighborhood, or even your city/town/whatevs, and tell me about some of the eateries you enjoy.

For Rutgers, Newark NJ campus area I'd go with the grease trucks. These guys had food trucks when street meat was still something of a dirty word. Mozza sticks, fries, chick tenders, all stuffed into a sandwich. Eating it was delicious but you felt like a stone was inside you.

For Princeton NJ I'd go with Chucks wings, which was next to the Record Exchange so that's always cool. Also PJ's Pancake House and Hoagie Haven. Been years since I was at either so I can't give you specific dishes, though I recall PJ's had good chocolate chip pancakes.

For the Lumberton/Fayetville North Carolina gotta rec Fuller's. Southern buffet at its finest...which some might say at its worst. Biscuits with molasses, buttered greens, chicken steak and mash potatoes...sprinkle some fat back on that meal and you're great to go.

For Philly I'd recommend Abyssinia for Ethiopian. Get one of the mix platters and you should be fine. Also the seven course meal at Marrakesh - chicken, lamb, vegetable dishes - all with a Middle Eastern flare. Incredibly [tasty] but the chances of finishing all the food is slim even though I was in a group of 5.

In Taiwan I liked a few places, will have to scour the net to see if I can recall their names.

[naz]

For Rutgers, Newark NJ campus area I'd go with the grease trucks.

Fat sandwiches! You went to R-Nwk? When? You probably know my brother.

My "neighborhoods":

Montclair, NJ: Mesob for Ethiopian. Veggie Heaven for Chinese.

NYC: Mamoun's falafel (everyone knows this) or the Kati Roll Co. just down the street. I also like Khyber Pass in the East Village for Afghan cuisine.

Hoboken, NJ: La Isla for Cuban. Republic Pizza has excellent mac n' cheese. Taco Truck for tacos and tortas. Pilsner Haus biergarten has an excellent pretzel.

Jersey City, NJ: Hard Grove Cafe for Cuban. Dosa House for South Indian. Tacqueria Downtown for authentic LA Mexican (the owners are transplants).

Teaneck, NJ: Veggie Heaven for Chinese.

[NestorMakhnosLovechild]

I never realized there was so much of a New Jersey connection here. When I was a (skeptically)vegan I used to eat a hell of a lot of Veggie Heaven (Denville though).

[Whitestripe]

When were you in Lumberton, NC? I only escaped by the skin of my teeth. Gawd, I hated that place.

Oh, and we have chicken riggies and half moon cookies.

[kairparavel]

Where we live in MD ( the north west burbs of DC) , we are on the cusp of a plethora of fantastic varieties of Asian cuisine - China (Szechuan, Cantonese and no doubt others that I am missing) Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and on and on. We haven't sampled it all, but what we have has been pretty excellent.

But wait, there's more!

Voted best bargain Indian food for what seems like forever, Bombay Bistrois pretty fantastic. And it certainly doesn't feel bargain.

Voted (by us) best tacos from a gas station, Taco Bar is always busy and always very good. I enjoy the pastor, MC the lengua.

[Theda Baratheon]

Cornish Pasties. They are glorious and wonderful and beautiful and probably really unhealthy, too.

http://www.westcornwallpasty.co.uk/wp-assets/home-pasty-image-1-1240x733.jpg

Traditionally they were given to the miners who would hold the crusts and eat the rest, and they'd be split into two halves, one savoury and one desert, so apple for example. They're really filling and probably made a really good meal down in the mines. Now they're mostly just steak pasties, and you gotta eat the damn crust because it's ace.

I don't eat them too often, but when I do :drool: they're beautiful. that is all.

[wolverine]

Maybe mojjaka with flatbread. Otherwise venison sausage of some sort. Another item would have to be fried walleye.

[Howdyphillip]

My neighborhood here in Dallas absolutely rocks. You can get any type of food here that is sold in the US.

We have by far the best Vietnamese restaurants in the city next door to my house. There are gardens here that grow amazing veggies right next to them.

We have the best Chicago style deli in the hood also that serves amazing sandwiches and keeps me stocked with the best cuts of meats and cheeses money can buy.

I am only a few blocks from the Dallas Farmers market so I always have the freshest veggies I can possibly get, and inside is a food court that serves the best BBQ in Dallas.

There is a Krishna temple that has a restaurant inside that serves the best tasting Indian food you can get here.

We have a plethora of Middle Eastern restaurants where I can get my lamb and hummus fix.

There is a place called Two Parders that has amazing soul food

This sits right next door to a Jamaican place that serves oxtails

For the taste of the south, we have The Dixie House that still serves a mean Chicken fried steak.

There are no less than three place to buy designer burgers.

For fine dining, there are no less than three 5 star restaurants within two miles.

We have an amazing Sushi house around the corner

We have the best greasy NY stile pizza in town that delivers in 20 minutes.

All of this, and I have not even started to mention Mexican and Tex Mex foods... There are too many to count and 99% of them are better than anything you get when you travel north,

All and all, I am extremely happy with the culinary selection that my neighborhood contains but that now puts me in an all too common dilemma. writing about this makes me hungry, and with so many selections, I find it incredibly hard to choose.

[Gertrude]

We have a glorious Farmer's Market here - well, pretty much anywhere in Iowa you can find fresh produce throughout the summer. Sweet corn season is coming soon ... :drool:

[Ramsay B.]

I live minutes away from New Haven in Connecticut which is pretty famous for pizza(I guess). Pepe's, Modern Apizza, Bar. A lot of the local, more unknown bars make great pizzas around here too. Prime 16 in New Haven makes great burgers.

In walking distance is a great BBQ place but also the normal fast food places.

[davos]

Cornish Pasties. They are glorious and wonderful and beautiful and probably really unhealthy, too.

http://www.westcornw...-1-1240x733.jpg

Traditionally they were given to the miners who would hold the crusts and eat the rest, and they'd be split into two halves, one savoury and one desert, so apple for example. They're really filling and probably made a really good meal down in the mines. Now they're mostly just steak pasties, and you gotta eat the damn crust because it's ace.

I don't eat them too often, but when I do :drool: they're beautiful. that is all.

Love me a good pastie. Interestingly Cornish miners immigrated to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (usually just referred to as the UP, its people as Yuppers. Its an sparsely populated place with a culture all its own) and adjoining parts of North-Eastern Wisconsin. They brought pasties with them. They remain very distinctive to that region, not being found much south of Green Bay. When I lived up that way I would eat them frequently. There is a place in downtown Madison, WI though, that was founded by a Yupper, that has been making them for many years.

[Theda Baratheon]

Love me a good pastie. Interestingly Cornish miners immigrated to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (usually just referred to as the UP, its people as Yuppers. Its an sparsely populated place with a culture all its own) and adjoining parts of North-Eastern Wisconsin. They brought pasties with them. They remain very distinctive to that region, not being found much south of Green Bay. When I lived up that way I would eat them frequently. There is a place in downtown Madison, WI though, that was founded by a Yupper, that has been making them for many years.

Hah! That's awesome! Of course they took the pasties with them :P I love it.

[Sci-2]

Fat sandwiches! You went to R-Nwk? When? You probably know my brother.

Oh it was just for a spell, during a cool people convention Model UN thing.

When were you in Lumberton, NC? I only escaped by the skin of my teeth. Gawd, I hated that place.

When I was in Uni I did some charity Spring Break stuff with a guy who runs a community action center there.

You been to Fuellers?

[Tears of Lys]

We rarely go out to eat anymore. :( I made the mistake of cooking too well for my husband and me.

[drawkcabi]

We have a glorious Farmer's Market here - well, pretty much anywhere in Iowa you can find fresh produce throughout the summer. Sweet corn season is coming soon ... :drool:

Eastern shore Maryland is all about the farmers' markets and roadside produce stands. Of course there's the seafood restaurants too, but that's once you get to Ocean City, I'm 40 miles out and my neighborhood is on a stretch of highway with about a dozen produce stands and markets each only a couple miles apart.

Right now locally grown watermelons is the thing :drool:

We've got tomatoes (half a dozen different kinds) cucumbers, lettuces, cabbage, carrots, squash, strawberries, pears, plums, grapes, melons. In later seasons apples, corn, pumpkins. It's great.

[Mya Stone]

Right now I am addicted to this place called "How We Roll."

They make comfort food in egg rolls. Homemade mac and cheese, chicken dinners, PB/Nutella/Banana, banana bread, etc. It's amazing. Seriously amazing.

We don't really have food trucks here. This is the first one I can think of, and I stalk it daily. :P

[BLU-RAY]

I had a fat sandwich last week, it was spectacular and I thought I was going to die (as usual).

Should've gone to Hoagie Haven last week, never had that.

Morris Plains, NJ - Time For a Bagel has the best bagels I've ever had, including NYC. Lovey's Pizza is probably the best slice shop I know and they make an excellent chicken parm. Thai Nam Phet in Rockaway for Thai food.

NYC- just everything, really. Concerning the lower Upper West Side in particular, Vie for Italian, Bar Boulud for brunch (less likely to be a shitshow wait than the trendier Sarabeth's, and the food is great), Jacob's Pickles for awesome Southern food (particularly the fried pickles, fried chicken and honey with pickles sandwich, and grits), and Amsterdam Alehouse for really good standard American/bar food (particularly the burgers, sandwiches, and sweet potato fries).

Stanford/Palo Alto - Osteria for Italian, Pluto's for salads (oh my God, Pluto's for salads), that one taco joint in Mountain View that does great al pastor, the Counter for burgers, all of the Thai places. Somehow I never developed a go-to sushi spot.

Lexington, KY - Charlie Brown's for a burger,

Tampa, FL- haven't really hit the Cuban food yet. TBC

[wolverine]

My neighborhood here in Dallas absolutely rocks. You can get any type of food here that is sold in the US.

We have by far the best Vietnamese restaurants in the city next door to my house. There are gardens here that grow amazing veggies right next to them.

We have the best Chicago style deli in the hood also that serves amazing sandwiches and keeps me stocked with the best cuts of meats and cheeses money can buy.

I am only a few blocks from the Dallas Farmers market so I always have the freshest veggies I can possibly get, and inside is a food court that serves the best BBQ in Dallas.

There is a Krishna temple that has a restaurant inside that serves the best tasting Indian food you can get here.

We have a plethora of Middle Eastern restaurants where I can get my lamb and hummus fix.

There is a place called Two Parders that has amazing soul food

This sits right next door to a Jamaican place that serves oxtails

For the taste of the south, we have The Dixie House that still serves a mean Chicken fried steak.

There are no less than three place to buy designer burgers.

For fine dining, there are no less than three 5 star restaurants within two miles.

We have an amazing Sushi house around the corner

We have the best greasy NY stile pizza in town that delivers in 20 minutes.

All of this, and I have not even started to mention Mexican and Tex Mex foods... There are too many to count and 99% of them are better than anything you get when you travel north,

All and all, I am extremely happy with the culinary selection that my neighborhood contains but that now puts me in an all too common dilemma. writing about this makes me hungry, and with so many selections, I find it incredibly hard to choose.

That is really one thing I feel I miss out on living in such a rural area.

[Sci-2]

Great stuff guys. Nice to see an NJ connection through food. Will have to Maid up from TTNE to comment as well.

Do you guys have specialty chocolate shops? Naked Chocolate in Philly is just incredible, though try to go to the Center City one as the one in University City seems to give you less bang for your buck.

Also they have a blooming tea, where a dried up flower blooms in front of you when they pour boiling water over it. Worth seeing IMO.

@Skunkbelly: So the moon cookies the origin of the Black & White cookie? Interesting...

@Thea: That idea of a pastie that's half dinner and half desert intrigues me. Also reminds me of empanadas and (I think Jamaican) meat pies, both of which were awesome in DC.

@Kairpavel & Howdy Phillip: Lived in Texas and D.C, cool to see so much variety in foodstuffs. Sad I missed some of the DC ones.

In general want to say I'm enjoying everyone's posts. Might have to Google some of the places, as the second link Mya mentions makes How We Roll sound pretty awesome:

The menu changes daily, but so far egg rolls have been stuffed with shepherd's pie, spaghetti and meatballs and the French dish duck confit.

[Tormund Ukrainesbane]

The Pork Shop. A butcher shop that only does pigs. My dog loves their dried pigs ears and I love all 12 kinds of bacon and 20+ kinds of sausage. Their best is the sausage-stuffed pork chop wrapped in bacon.

Queen Creek Olive Mill. 20ish varieties of olive oil made on site with olives grown out the back door. Their deli/cafe does amazing pizza on fridays and saturdays and their sandwiches are to die for. A great selection of local brews and Arizona and California wines.

Los Favoritos. The best 1:00 AM I've-had-too-much-to-drink burrito ever. Also good breakfast burritos.

Morenos. Salmon Enchiladas. Bliss.