I know tips and links, but what are those two?
Can you go to the beach?
No=New Jersey
Can you go down the shore?
Yes=New Jersey
Can you get a submarine or hero sandwich?
No=New Jersey
Can you get a hoagie?
Yes=New Jersey
(I grew up in South Jersey)
When you go to the store and there’s a line at the checkout counter, do you stand on line?
Yes = NYC and burbs
A Big Baby is a type of double cheeseburger originating on the Southwest Side of the city, usually at joints called Nicky’s. The prime example is at the Nicky’s at Austin & Archer, but the one at 58th & Kedzie also has an early version of it. Around my house, Jackie’s is also well-known for their big babies. They’re a type of double cheeseburger with one slice of cheese between the patties, lots of grilled onions, served on a sesame bun. No lettuce or tomato in what I would consider the canonical version of it, but I have seen a Nicky’s or two do it. I would consider it wrong, as the whole point of it is the greasy onions, and the rabbit food takes away from the experience.
If you want to read more, look here, or if you want to hear WBEZ’s Curious City episode on it: https://play.acast.com/s/curiouscity/46593860-eca0-11ec-86ef-8f368b3d6611
I grew up with the darned things. Some North Side joints started fancifying the things up.
As to mild sauce, that’s more straight-up South Side, African-American community and businesses for the most part, like Harold’s Chicken and Uncle Remus, though BBQ joints will have it to. There doesn’t seem to be a singular recipe for it, but it’s basically ketchup, BBQ sauce (often Open Pit-based), and hot sauce mixed together.)
Several commercial versions of it exist now, but I’ve only seen it in the last couple of years or so. Harold’s now bottles and sells their own, for example.
For more obscure foods on this side of the city, there’s also the “Jim Shoe” or “Jim Shoo” or “Gym Shoe,” https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/illinois/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-chicagos-gym-shoe-sandwich/
We also have the mother-in-law, a Tom Tom Tamale and chili in a hot dog bun with hot dog condiments; a humdinger, same with cheese also. Hell, if you know what a “Tom Tom” is, we know you’re from at least Chicago, if not the South Side (though they can be found across Chicago.) If “Steak and lemonade” rings a bell for you, you’re probably South Side (see: Baba’s Steak and Lemonade.) “Italian beef” is distinctly from the Chicago area, which I found out in college. A “combo” (Italian beef with Italian sausage), too. We have a type of giardiniera that is different than what you might be able to find nationally. Are “double dogs” a thing anywhere else? (Two hot dogs in one bun?)
Can you drive on the road that inspired the song “Hot Rod Lincoln”?
Yes = Idaho. The “Spiral Highway” in Lewiston, Idaho.
No, not Southern California.
It’s a very steep, insanely curvy road.
Or they say Cali, or Frisco or San Fran, or Las Angle-eese.
Bringing in a couple of keys.
Can you drive around your state and find a submarine sandwich called a hoagie, a torpedo, a bomber, a po’boy, a speidie, a hero, a Cuban, an Italian, or a wedge?
Will you be mocked if you call it by the wrong name?
Where else but New York?
Yep, left hand sideways above right hand, thumb sticking up becomes the Keewenau peninsula.
The UP resembles hands I’ve seen in the ER on the 4th of July.
Do you have signs like this near you?
Yes = Pennsylvania
Also Ohio and Wisconsin and Iowa.
The Amish use buggies in Ohio but I don’t know if they have those signs. Many states allow horse drawn vehicles to be used on the public roads also, but the image on the sign is clearly based on an Amish style buggy.
Do you know what Taylor Ham is? New Jersey
Do you know what Pork Roll is? New Jersey
Do you want to smack the people who say Pork Roll instead of Taylor Ham? North Jersey
Do you want to smack the people who say Taylor Ham instead of Pork Roll? South Jersey
more like
Yes, I seem to recall seeing at least one. The image may have been slightly different, but it was that kind of sign.
Definitely had these in Southern Maryland (St Mary’s County) in the 1990s and early 2000s when we lived there.
Not just the buggies, but the signs as well.
Buggies on a 50 mph highway, quite terrifying as trucks swing into the left lane to pass them!