Yes, they are different. Originally Mr. Vickie’s and just the Malt Vinegar Miss Vickie’s were made (originally by hand) by a company in a small town north of Toronto. They were bought out by Frito-Lay (IIRC) or other big company, which did keep a high level of quality and some good new flavours. Mr. Vickie’s were sold in a blue bag with a bow tie and kind of a unique vinegar-paprika(?) taste during the 1980s and 1990s.
And those people would be correct. All right-thinking folk know that true barbecue can only be found east of Goldsboro, North Carolina. South Carolina Lowcountry mustard-based 'cue is an acceptable substitute, when Wilber’s or Parker’s can’t be had, but the tomato-based concoctions that go by the name “barbecue” in Georgia and Tennessee and such, are mere wannabes. As to those heathens in Texas and Kansas who barbecue cows, the less said of them, the better.
Let me know if you find a decent barbecue joint in the OBX - I’ll be there in two weeks, and I’m always on the lookout for a good place. Part of the ritual for our annual trip to Hatteras is to stop at Wilber’s in Goldsboro for dinner. King’s in Kinston isn’t bad, either. (If you’re in the mood for a good fish camp/dive bar, that’s popular with the locals, try Pop’s Raw Bar in Buxton.)
Same with me. I appreciate California’s own tri-tip, and other styles, but to me “barbecue” means Eastern NC style. Sometimes you might find a barbecue restaurant in California with something on the menu that they call “Carolina style” or something like that, but it isn’t. Sure, it will contain pulled pork, but then they’ll go and add some generic barbecue sauce to it, and not the vinegar that defines Eastern NC style.
I’m originally from Chicago, and after reading this thread I am now jonesing for decent Italian beef (as well as a Maxwell Street Polish).
Fortunately, I had been to Chicago in mid-February, and was able to get my Paczki fix while I was there.
Yeah, I haven’t had a Chicago IB sandwich in like 10 years. 
This thread made me google for it locally and I see there’s a place in San Jose near me. I’ll have to swing by when I’m up in Silicon Valley.
More like a salt and vinegar chip, a ketchup chip, and a barbecue chip. A friend works at Frito-Lay, and says that’s the combination of flavours they’re putting into All-Dressed chips.
Twin Cities. I have never seen them anywhere near here.
Is that what they are? Good to know. Like knowing the cola nut gives little flavour to Coke - a combination of lemon-lime-orange, vanilla and cinnamon.
I think tortillas probably are available in most mainstream supermarkets all over America. (And even if they’re not, there are ethnic markets in many places that specialize in Mexican foods.)
There’s great barbecue in Carolina, Nashville, Memphis, Kansas City… South Africa, Argentina and Brazil are devoted to meat. The barbecue culture in Canada is improving but too often hot dogs and frozen hamburgers. They don’t have the variety of US dogs, but in Quebec the buns are top sliced and “all dressed” (see article below). Not in Ontario where buns form a top and bottom piece.
When I was a kid, there were Dixie Lee chicken restaurants around. They were the second string competition to KFC.
Because of the name and the fact they served fried chicken, I always assume the chain had originated in the south and had moved up into northern New York. But it was the exact opposite. Despite its name, Dixie Lee started as a Canadian chain and they moved south down into New York.
They’re pretty much all gone now. There’s only one Dixie Lee restaurant still operating in the United States.
So many New England foods that I didn’t realize were regional until I moved away. Brown bread in a can, red snapper hot dogs, coffee milk, fluffernutters, whoopie pies…the list goes on.
This thread has made me realize I need to find some dinner. 
Tortillas are definitely in pretty much all major grocery stores now, if not in the bread aisle with multiple varities I always see even discount shops have those boxes of Old El Paso “Taco Kits” where they give you tortillas along with taco seasoning and hot salsa in a single box for 99 cents.
Tortillas are everywhere. But they are not nearly as good as the freshly made ones in Mexico. And I cannot find blue masa locally, although it’s advantage is just cosmetic - many dishes just look cool if you divide the recipe in halves and use yellow masa in one half and blue in the other.
I’ve had it at San Antonio foods on Hwy 7, a store in Coxwell village that sadly no longer exists, Tre Rose bakery on Kipling has a lady on weekends who will do it occassionaly (and a pasta il forno that is to die for!) And an unknown sandwich shop in Maple that was bought by a client. (To clarify - the sandwich, not the shop!)
Woodbridge is your best bet, I know I have had others, possibly Parmigiana on Weston (temp. Closed due to covid.). Most sandwich shops will happily do it if asked!
Nowadays I always do it myself, so my info may be a bit dated!
Ahhh, also Mr. Smileys on Vic Park used to. Now townhouses, sadly. And I used to get them about 20 years ago at Chk’n’Burger on Kingston
I’m guessing they’re a lot like this, minus the creamy gravy.
I had country/chicken-fried steak once, but that was a long time ago.
Don’t forget smoked meat sandwiches.
I actually didn’t get around to getting any today; Ms. P walked the length of the Duck boardwalk, stopping for drinks along the way. Tomorrow I plan to try High Cotton, which is at the end of 158. It’s supposedly the best.
What do you think of Lexington BBQ? Folks who are less enlightened may think that everything east of Interstate 77 is the same, but I’m sure you know they are in error. Growing up I had a Grandma in Salisbury and a Grandmother/Grandaddy in Sanford. What I got in each place was certainly different. Also, I grew up near the legendary Ridgewood BBQ in Bluff City, TN. I won’t have anyone dissing it. Several years ago, I got a NC BBQ sandwich at Eastern Market in DC. My expectations were low, but when I bit into it I wept.
We actually had a pretty good Chinese restaurant in our town, and in retrospect it was probably kind of unusual for a smallish town in NC to have one at the time. For Mexican food we had to drive to a bigger town, and of course that was the Americanized Tex-Mex variety. Of course now they’ve got multiple Chinese and Mexican restaurants, and Japanese, and Thai. I’m not sure if Indian food has made it there yet. I didn’t have Indian food until I moved to Raleigh for college, and it seemed really exotic at the time.