Sell me your local neighborhood cuisine

[Sci-2]

Grovers Mill Coffee in NJ: Great Apple Cider, good Pumpkin Walnut Bread, good Lemon Cake. Coffee's good too, had it black. Also has some cool decor celebrating the fact that Grover's Mill is where the War of the Worlds scare happened.

[Sci-2]

Some good places in Pittsburgh (have more but gotta get the names as they were deliveries to the workplace):

Peace, Love, and Little Doughnuts - the doughnuts are larger than Dunkin' munchkins, and I'd say the flavors are better too. Bring these into work and you'll be your job's hero.

Square - Got what was probably the best veggie burger I've ever had with great fries. Also had the hazelnut expresso pancakes, where the expresso is baked in.

Il Pizzaiolo - Funghi pasta had mushrooms and delicious sauce, and I loved the doughfried pizza. The veggie antipasto was surprisingly good for being vegetables flavored by oil. Got some fried mozzarella balls as well that I loved. The drink selection is awesome but I only took sips here and there. I recall the stout being really good. Also for nonalcoholic drink the orange aranciata was a good complement to the food.

[aceluby]

36th Ave N & Douglas in Crystal, MN (2 mi from N. Minneapolis), is a little place called Milton's Vittles Vino and Beer. Never had anything bad there. List is:

Best hot wings I've ever had and I have them wherever I go. Spicy, but not lingeringly so, just enough to keep you going back. And full wings, not split.

Rib Nachos. I know what you're thinking, but these are some of the best nachos I've ever had as well.

Ribs with a dry rub and homemade sauce. Even better reheated.

Planked salmon that is absolutely mouthwatering. Sweet, savory, and that great salmon flavor.

Seafood pasta. Pretty standard, but very good nonetheless. They also have mussels that are great.

Different burgers. About a 1/2 dozen different burgers that are all very tasty.

Homemade salad dressing. One is called 'green goddess' which is like a fresh tasting ranch. Really good.

The kale is to die for. They have a balsamic reduction that gives it a sweet flavor.

All of their desserts are awesome. Get the creme brule, though it's not on the menu.

There's more because everything is so good, and reasonably cheap. All of the above (except the rull rack of ribs) is under $20. Most is in the $9-14 range. By far the best place in town.

[DireWolfSpirit]

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.

This is my country,

have been living 45 mins north of Green Bay-https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&fb=1&gl=us&ll=45.091084,-87.600595&z=15&cid=7495571012280122151&q=Marine+House+Tavern

Here for the last 3 years.

My favorite local cusine is all the fish fry meals.

Fresh catch Whitefish, Walleye, Perch at practically every non fastfood establishment locally.

The original village that the surrounding community grew up around was/is a Great Lakes fishing village.

So yeah the pasty's are popular,

but the fresh fish (also the smoked fish!) off the "third coast" is the bomb as well.

[Quorra]

I love going to world market or shopping on Amazon for food from around the world. My interest in what other people eat in other cultures started years ago when I found out that Mentos candies came in different flavors in other countries that you cannot find in the U.S. - like Lemon Cola in Japan.  

 

You can find almost anything online to ship - Japanese Salty Tomato Candy, Matcha Green Tea Kit Kats... 

 

But beyond the snack foods and mass-produced stuff you can't find in just any nation, lots of places have their local specialties, too - and these you can't just always find online, unless you know what you're looking for. 

 

So what are your local specialties?

 

If you were to make a gift basket of local specialties or unique treats from your home town, or the place you live now, what would you put in it? Imagine there are no rules about food preservation and this gift basket can magically appear before the recipient like the food simulators on the Star Trek Enterprise (so the hot stays hot and the cold stays cold and the perishables don't perish.) 

 

My hometown specialties basket would have to include:

 

• Pepperoni Rolls - a West Virginia snack of white bread with pepperoni baked in the middle. They originated as a lunch item for coal miners. The pepperoni bakes into the bread to suffuse it with the meat's spicy oils. 
• A Tudor's Biscuit World biscuit - A WV chain that makes amazingly delicious and enormous biscuit sandwiches
• Stewart's Original Hot Dogs soggy and salty and so, so bad for you. 
• G.D. Ritzy's shoestring fries - crispy and salty and so, so bad for you
• A FrostTop rootbeer float with the 4" high column of soft serve vanilla ice cream standing straight up out of the frosted glass mug. (FrostTop is not truly local in origin but it's been there for so long and it's such a local favorite)
• A pizza roll from The Big Loafer. It's in the mall, it's a sandwich counter, it's been there forever, it's not great, it will never go away. 
• Ramps - they're a wild onion like scallions or leeks. I remember a few ramp festivals

Where I live now, there's so much good food, and lot of local places, and local chains, but a gift basket would not be complete without:

• Imo's pizza - a cracker thin crust with a plastic layer of Provel cheese. It's good if you don't think of it as pizza, and instead think of it as a snack, like nachos. 
• Gooey Butter Cake which originated from an error in mixing up the proportions of butter and flour in the lemon cake batter, resulting in something a lot of people love, and I find nauseating but, there it is. 
• Ted Drewes frozen custard "It really is good guys...and gals!"
• Toasted Ravioli 
• Fitz's Rootbeer
• St. Louis style pork ribs - not defined so much by the rub as by the cut and manner of cooking. 

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Quorra, me and my daughter just got back from the farmer's market. Got some blueberry and blackberry jams, delicious. And this lady was selling pepperoni rolls that looked like cinnamon rolls. Never seen em like that before. They were out of this world. Had a few people visit from out of state and a pepperoni roll is the first thing the want when they come back. Everyone should try it once. You haven't lived til you have. We have 3 or 4 fire halls that do a ramp dinner every year. Ramps and fried potatoes, you can't beat it.

[S John]

If either of you two above me finds yourself in Wheeling, get a Coleman's fish sandwich.  I always associate pepperoni rolls with WVU football games, seems like I always find one during tailgates, but I don't typically eat them other than that.

 

Where I live now in Austin there is good food everywhere.  Just go find a taco truck or something.  Veracruz on E. Cesar Chavez is an excellent one.  Obviously BBQ abounds as well.  There are some world famous places here for BBQ and I have tried most of them and all are great.  My recommendation though?  Just go to Rudy's.  Yeah, it is a chain inside a gas station but it is consistently solid BBQ and you don't have to wait in line in 100 degree heat for four hours like an asshole.

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Will do S. John! Love fish sandwiches!

[HexMachina]

Pease pudding. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pease_puddingMost commonly seen up here in a ham and pease pudding Stottie.
Saveloy dips. (A smoked saveloy sandwich where the bread is dipped in the sausage fat and/or gravy + additions of your choice - mustard,mp ease pudding, etc.)
Panaculty (didn't know this was local though). Corned beef, onion, sliced potatoes and stock, baked.

Unfortunately I don't actually like any of these dishes anymore >_> but I loved them as a little girl. Nothing beat coming home after a day playing outside during the Christmas holidays to a saveloy dip or a steaming plate of panaculty

[Astromech]

This is my country,
have been living 45 mins north of Green Bay-https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&fb=1&gl=us&ll=45.091084,-87.600595&z=15&cid=7495571012280122151&q=Marine+House+Tavern
Here for the last 3 years.
My favorite local cusine is all the fish fry meals.
Fresh catch Whitefish, Walleye, Perch at practically every non fastfood establishment locally.
The original village that the surrounding community grew up around was/is a Great Lakes fishing village.
So yeah the pasty's are popular,
but the fresh fish (also the smoked fish!) off the "third coast" is the bomb as well.

Ah, the Friday Night Fish Fry. I'm in Milwaukee and have had my fair share of whitefish, walleye and perch. I'm not a huge fan of whitefish but walleye and perch are very good. 

My parents have  a summer place in Egg Harbor right across the bay from you. Door County having a heavy Scandinavian influence, fish boils are pretty popular in the summer.

 

Closer to home in Milwaukee there is a heavy German influence in the cuisine. Mader's is one of the best for German cuisine but can be pricey. With the State Fair just around the corner, how about some cheese on a  stick or other assorted skewered treats. http://www.travelwisconsin.com/blog/fairs-festivals/wisconsin-state-fair-favorite-food-on-a-stick

[Michael Seswatha Jordan]

Panaculty (didn't know this was local though). Corned beef, onion, sliced potatoes and stock, baked.

My mom used to make that same dish but with cabbage also. Love it. We just called it cabbage and potatoes though.

ETA: sorry, ours wasn't baked though. It was a soup type dish. And, man that brings back childhood. Might just have that for dinner tonight, actually. Thank you

[Quorra]

If either of you two above me finds yourself in Wheeling, get a Coleman's fish sandwich.  I always associate pepperoni rolls with WVU football games, seems like I always find one during tailgates, but I don't typically eat them other than that.

 

Where I live now in Austin there is good food everywhere.  Just go find a taco truck or something.  Veracruz on E. Cesar Chavez is an excellent one.  Obviously BBQ abounds as well.  There are some world famous places here for BBQ and I have tried most of them and all are great.  My recommendation though?  Just go to Rudy's.  Yeah, it is a chain inside a gas station but it is consistently solid BBQ and you don't have to wait in line in 100 degree heat for four hours like an asshole.

I will do that! There is a BBQ place in Kansas City that is basically inside a gas station but it's supposed to be one of the best in the city for KC-style BBQ. 

[Quorra]

For some mysterious reason, the Pinellas County, Florida public schools served a sort of Shepherd's Pie but they called it Potato Turbate. Mashed potatoes, ground beef, onions and seasonings. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

I wish I could take the rest of the summer off and dedicate a long roadtrip to tasteing all these dishes.
Wait isn't that what Guy Fieri is already doing? Imagine getting paid TV money to do that!

[PyroclasticFlow]

Blue Point Oysters (Long Island, NY). These bad boys were the rave back in the day (Legend has it Her Majesty Queen Victoria would only eat Blue Points). Not the same now, with pollution and storms, although a company did start up 20 or so years ago and replenished the bay bed. 

 

There's also fresh seafood EVERYWHERE. Montauk Point on the east end of the island has one of the top fishing spots IN THE WORLD for striped bass. Caught a 32lb'er a couple of years ago and ate it for dinner that night. Just some olive oil, onions and seasoning. Delicious  :drool:

 

Every town along the south shore probably has 2-3 Italian restaurants, so there's that as well.