There is no food more closely associated with the US than the hamburger. It's amazing what chefs across the States have been able to do with a minced beef patty and a bun. Burgers are ubiquitous in diners and fast food restaurants, but they’re also a common sight in fine dining establishments too, with creative chefs experimenting with different minced meat blends, premium breads and buns and ingenious combinations of cheese, condiments and other toppings.
If there's one place burger fans should try at least once, it’s Louis' Lunch, which bills itself as the birthplace of the hamburger, a claim that’s backed up by the Library of Congress. The restaurant still serves its hamburger sandwich in the same style it started with in 1895, using slices of white bread rather than a bun. The patty is made of a special hand-rolled blend of five cuts of meat and is topped with nothing but cheese, tomato and onion.
While there is some controversy surrounding the origin of key lime pie, this tart and creamy dessert is inextricably linked to the Florida Keys, even though the small citrus fruit hasn’t been grown there on a large scale for almost a century. The secret to a traditional key lime pie is using tinned condensed milk rather than cream, since the latter spoils easily in the Florida heat.
While you can get a good slice of key lime pie in Miami, there’s no better place to eat it than the Florida Keys at an old school shop like Kermit's. Founder Kermit Carpenter, also known as “Mr Key Lime Pie” can often be seen decked out in his green chef outfit to match his famous pies. The traditional key lime pies are topped with a ring of whipped cream. The shop also ships its pies and key lime juice across the US.
Once a regional novelty, Nashville hot chicken has become a regular sight in cities across North America. The dish itself is quite simple: chicken coated in a blend of spices and hot sauce, fried, often drizzled with more hot sauce, and served with white bread and pickle slices to temper the heat. What makes it unique is the sheer level of heat — to be called Nashville hot chicken the sauce needs to be face-meltingly hot. Many places offer varying heat levels, but be warned, you're still going to feel the burn with "mild".
Legend has it, Nashville hot chicken was invented in the 1940s when founder Thorton Prince was fed a meal of ridiculously spicy chicken by a jealous lover looking for revenge. The plan backfired because Prince loved it and started his own restaurant serving the dish. All these years later, Prince's Hot Chicken Shack is still the go-to for Nashville hot chicken. Now run by Prince’s great niece, the restaurant serves chicken that ranges from "plain" to “xxx hot”.
You might think hot wings have been around forever, but their history is relatively recent, having been invented in 1964. The “Buffalo” part doesn’t have anything to do with bison. Rather, these hot sauce-drenched chicken wings, which are usually served with a side of celery sticks and blue cheese dressing to cut through the heat, first came from the northern city of Buffalo in New York.
Buffalo wings were invented at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, when owner Teressa Bellissimo whipped up a late-night snack of fried chicken wings and hot sauce for her son and his friends. According to Teressa's husband, the bar had been sent a large shipment of wings, and didn't initially know what to do with them. There are now Anchor Bar outposts all over the country, but wing fans like to pay homage to the flagship Buffalo location. The bar serves wings in a variety of different flavours, but you must try the original hot wing sauce.
Not really what most people think of when they hear the word “steak”, the Philly cheesesteak is a gloriously sloppy sandwich consisting of thinly sliced beef, melted cheese (provolone, Cheez Whiz and American cheese are all acceptable), and the option of fried onions (order “wit” or “wit-out”), all served on a hoagie bun. You will sometimes see other toppings like green peppers or mushrooms added, often to the horror of Philly purists.
The Philly cheesesteak was invented in 1930 by Pat Olivieri, and while there are arguably just as tasty versions of the sandwich across Philadelphia (and huge rival, Geno's, is just across the street), the sandwich at Pat’s King of Steaks is the original. Open 24-hours-a-day for those late-night cheesesteak cravings, Pat’s is still owned and operated by the Olivieri family. The restaurant does serve some variations on the original sandwich (yes, with peppers!) and gives customers three options for cheese.
Doughnuts are popular all over the United States, but this fancier version of fried dough pastry is closely connected to New Orleans. The beignet’s roots lie in France: they were brought to North America by French settlers who first went to Canada, then migrated to Louisiana. The choux pastry delicacies, usually square-shaped and generously dusted with icing sugar, are now the signature snack of New Orleans’ famous French Quarter. The perfect beignet is impossibly light and pillowy and is ideally served with a café du lait.
There are many good beignets to be had in New Orleans, but Café du Monde is the ultimate for a delicious and historic experience. The original coffee shop opened in 1862 and its traditional menu consists solely of coffee with chicory (served black or au lait), milk, orange juice and beignets, though soft drinks and iced coffees were added in the 1980s. There are now multiple locations around New Orleans, but the original French Market location is the one to go to.
While fish tacos were invented in the Mexican state of Baja California, they feel very American and have an association with the laid-back surfer culture in San Diego. Served with either grilled or deep-fried fish, these tacos are lighter than ones with more traditional slow-roasted pork or beef fillings. The tacos are made even fresher with additional garnishes like avocado, cabbage and tomato.
Fish tacos were widely popularised in the US by the fast-casual Rubio’s chain, but the best place to get them these days is at a smaller restaurant or food truck in San Diego, preferably one that’s by the beach. Oscar’s Mexican Seafood is one of the city’s most popular, which has allowed the business to expand to multiple locations. In addition to its classic battered fish tacos, Oscar’s makes a smoked fish taco that has gained a dedicated local following.
Pizza is an Italian concoction, but Americans have adopted it with gusto and many regard New York-style pizza as the nation’s gold standard. NYC-style pizzas are a little thicker than their Neapolitan equivalents, but are still classed as having a thin crust. The pizzas are also large, resulting in big, floppy slices best eaten folded over to keep the cheese from sliding off.
A number of old school New York pizzerias are still in operation, including John’s of Bleeker Street, which has been around since 1929. Founder John Sasso immigrated to the US from Naples, so he knew his pizza and made it the old-fashioned way with a coal-fired brick oven. Today, John’s has a distinctive New York flare and, unlike many other legendary NYC pizzerias, does not sell pizza by the slice — if you want to try it you have to commit to a whole one.
Regular fried chicken has a long history in America, but the combination of crispy chicken and fluffy waffles is a phenomenon that’s gained huge popularity across the country over the last decade. The dish comes exactly as advertised, with pieces of Southern-style fried chicken either sitting on or next to a waffle, usually with a side of sweet syrup and the possible addition of gravy. The earliest version of the combo is thought to be the invention of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
The modern soul food take on chicken and waffles first gained popularity at the Wells Supper Club in Harlem, New York, but eventually found its way to Los Angeles in 1975 with the opening of Roscoe’s House of Chicken ‘n’ Waffles. Roscoe’s became hugely popular with a number of celebrities and has grown to eight locations. President Obama has even visited the restaurant and has a dish named after him (three chicken wings with the choice of a waffle, fries or potato salad).
Basically the Hawaiian version of a mainland diner meal, the Hawaiian plate lunch is a filling combination of proteins (most likely sliced beef or pork, breaded chicken or loco moco), rice and macaroni salad, usually served on a disposable plate. The dish originated as a cheap and easy way to feed workers harvesting pineapple or sugar cane and has become a comfort food classic that reflects Hawaii’s diverse population.
While plate lunches started as a roadside meal, they’ve long been available in restaurants like Honolulu’s Rainbow Drive-In, which has been serving tasty meals since 1961. The restaurant started as a place for locals and beach-goers to get a quick inexpensive bite, but it’s since become the go-to for tourists looking for a real plate lunch or other specialties like Spam sandwiches or gravy-smothered roast pork. There are now five locations, all in southern Oahu.
Also known as a “beef dip”, a French dip is a roast beef sandwich served on a crusty roll, and dipped in a bowl of broth or gravy between each bite. The sandwich is often served with fries, which can also be dipped in the broth. Despite its name, the sandwich is a wholly American invention, with two competing restaurants in Los Angeles — Cole’s and Philippe the Original — both claiming to have created the dish in the early 1900s.
While Cole’s is also definitely a worthy stop on a sandwich tour of LA, many locals prefer Philippe the Original, and there is some evidence to show it's the true home of the French dip sandwich. The restaurant’s roots go back to 1908 and it’s been in its current location since 1951. Unlike in most places across America, the French dips here are pre-dipped in jus rather than coming with the broth on the side. In addition to beef, the restaurant offers alternative meats like lamb, pork and pastrami.
There is perhaps no greater or more argued about American food tradition than barbecue. At its most basic, barbecue is smoked meat, but this style of cuisine has roots going back to pre-colonial Caribbean cooking. The best way to enjoy barbecue is to buy meat by the pound (450g) or the piece, sampling different cuts, sauces and sides all served casually on a big tray with paper napkins and some white bread to mop up the juices.
With different styles in Texas, the Carolinas, Kansas City, Tennessee and beyond, there is no one single definitive restaurant that serves the best barbecue in America, but Franklin is definitely an impressive one to cross off any food explorer’s list. Patrons line up for hours every day to try pitmaster Aaron Franklin’s meat, with brisket, ribs, pulled pork, turkey and sausage all on the menu, along with pinto beans, potato salad and slaw.
Sourdough bread is of course not exclusive to San Francisco, but the Bay Area’s climate has allowed bakeries there to develop a signature bread that is crusty and rustic on the outside and delightfully soft and pillowy in the inside, with just a hint of lactic acid tang. While it certainly can be used for sandwiches or dunking in soup, a slice of San Francisco sourdough is perfect on its own with a generous smear of salted butter.
San Francisco’s famous Boudin Bakery set up shop in 1849 during the peak of the gold rush — rumour has it founder Isidore Boudin got the bakery’s original sourdough starter from a migrating gold miner. The bakery remains one of the most famous businesses in the city, with its flagship bakery right down at Fisherman’s Wharf. The Wharf location has a marketplace and café as well as a full-service restaurant that serves sourdough pizza.
Mexican food is extremely popular in the US, as is fried food, and those two things come together beautifully in the form of the chimichanga, a deep-fried version of a traditional burrito. Chimichangas are typically stuffed with chicken, roast pork, or pulled beef. While there is some disagreement over who exactly invented the chimichanga, the consensus is that it’s an American creation first concocted in Tucson, Arizona.
El Charro Café, a Tucson restaurant chain celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022, claims its founder Monica Flin invented the chimichanga when she accidentally dropped a burrito into the fryer and exclaimed the nonsense word “chimichanga” to prevent herself from swearing in front of her nephews. The restaurant’s multiple locations still serve Tia Monica’s original chimichangas, allowing customer to opt for a fried version of its various burritos.
One of America’s first fast foods, the modern hot dog is a cousin of the German frankfurter, which was introduced to America by German immigrants to New York in the 1860s. Since then, many American cities have developed their own take on the humble hot dog, topping them with anything from sauerkraut and mustard, to cheese sauce and chilli. While hot dogs are a common sight on backyard barbecues, you'll also find stands selling them all over the country.
Many Americans will argue the best place to eat a hot dog is at a baseball game, but for hungry travellers looking for a historically significant lunch, there’s no better place to stop than the original Nathan’s Famous at Brooklyn’s Coney Island. The shop opened as a smaller hot dog stand in 1916 and even though it’s grown to become an international brand, the original location has a special ambiance.