No trip to the NYC area is complete without at least one trip to Queens. I could gladly live there.
Very cool
If I was visiting NYC, I would probably eat most of my meals in Queens.
I used to think this was true (i.e. Queens being the food capital of the world), but having spent a good deal of time in Southern CA (meaning both LA and OC), I tend to think while Queens may be the food capital, Southern CA is the food epicenter of the world.
San Francisco has more restaurants per capita . Though you could argue both .
Itâs not really about the number of restaurants (either on a per capita basis or an absolute one), but rather the diversity and depth of that diversity â this is what separates SoCal from so many other cities in the world. Granted SoCal is less of a city and more of region.
I agree with you although Iâve spent practically no time in the LA area. I chuckle (with envy) when I see yâall debate who has the best this or that. âDepth of diversityâ indeed.
In Southern California, when someone says I want, âMexicanâ or âChineseâ
Thatâs not enoughâŚ
Okay but what region of Mexico/China?
Or even âBurgersâ or âDonutsâ. We have both of those in every price range and different styles.
Also $.
You can eat for a $1 or $$$.
The depth of regional cooking is incredible, especially Chinese/Mexican/Korean/Thai/Japanese/Vietnamese with each of these having multiple cities representing a variety of regional food.
When people visit LA. They do Hollywood, but just a little east is Thai Town, most of those restaurants have 1-3 items that they specialize from a particular region. Go southeast, you have Koreatown, with so much more than BBQ and who would have guess it the best Peruvian Roast Chicken. Then even more south you got a LA original, Dinos, but on the same street you got food from Mexico and Central America, then a little more southâŚLA has a Belizean neighborhood? Go west from there and you got Soul Food, then go northwest you got Japanese, Brazilian, and Oaxacan. Maybe you want to see a Dodger game or eat something before Staples/Music CenterâŚwell you got Chinese via Chaozhou via SE Asia, the classic Philippeâs for dipped sandwichrs, or you can get Nashville Hot Chicken but before that you can get a cup of fresh sugarcane juice and a bowl of Hong Kong Wonton Noodles.
And Orange County, just a short drive from DisneylandâŚLittle Saigon, more regional cooking. Again this covers multiple cities.
I once pulled out a map of LA/OC for a friend and I circled each city that has a large population of this type of cooking. It blew his mind.
I also canât wait to eat my way thru the 7 Train!!
FWIW, Iâm going to toss in the fact that I could never live in LA because of the traffic. A âfood crawlâ? You bet. But day in and day out, no way. Whereas Queens you wouldnât need a car. Off-topic but still.
Although youâre being very naughty upstaging a thread about NY, that was a great post!