# Lesser Known Local Foods **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [January 15, 2026, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704 "2026-01-15T05:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/121 "2026-01-16T14:39:18Z")
For the last total eclipse, we visited Lake Erie about 30 miles south of Buffalo, and I tried beef-on-Weck for the first time… I found it very disappointing. Dry roast beef on a dry roll, and that was it. Maybe I just had a bad example. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/122 "2026-01-16T14:48:26Z")
The noble [geoduck](https://www.tastingtable.com/1243152/geoduck-name/) of the Pacific Northwest. Pronounced “gooeyduck.” Not being a clam eater, I can’t speak to the taste. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/123 "2026-01-16T14:50:26Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > NYC also has the rainbow cookie, a lesser-known (and more colorful) cousin to the black-and-white cookie: Wait wait, are you saying the rainbow cookie is a lesser known food only local to NYC!? It’s sold in every supermarket, bakery, deli, that I’ve ever gone to in NYC and Long Island. I buy them like once a month, as a kid they were my favorite dessert. I have always thought it was just a standard bakery item. Is the rainbow cookie not sold in other places? I’m honestly shocked at that. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/124 "2026-01-16T15:46:16Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not my intention, and I doubt anyone but you took it that way. Then what was your intention? Because the idea that jambalaya “isn’t really found elsewhere” is silly. You can find it anywhere. So either you’re giving a poor example (and I’m not the only one saying so) or you are suggesting that any jambalaya dish you find is “not a proper one” outside of New Orleans. Any decent-sized grocery store will have something like this: > **[Zatarain's® Jambalaya Rice Mix, 8 oz](https://www.mccormick.com/products/zatarains-jambalaya-rice-mix-8-oz)** > > Zatarain's® Jambalaya Rice Mix is perfect for easily creating a hearty, flavorful, and authentic New Orleans-style dinner. Just add your favorite protein. Popeye’s is a nationwide fast food chain. While they no longer serve it, for years they had jambalaya. Sit-down restaurants with Cajun food are pretty common all over the country, and they’re all going to serve jambalaya. It’s not something that’s obscure or hard to find at all. Etouffee and po’ boys, granted those aren’t nearly as common and I’d concede those as being pretty good examples. But jambalaya is something you could find in a restaurant in any major city, most mid-sized cities, and any good-sized grocery store. It’s a pretty mainstream food item these days. > [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Wait wait, are you saying the rainbow cookie is a lesser known food only local to NYC!? It’s sold in every supermarket, bakery, deli, that I’ve ever gone to in NYC and Long Island. When I saw the picture with that cookie, I was just reminded of all the times I’ve eaten one as part of a cookie medley since I was a kid. And I live very far from NYC (other side of the country). ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/125 "2026-01-16T15:49:09Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Michigander here, born and raised. I’ve been all over the state and thought I had heard of most of the regional Michigan specialties, but I’m not familiar with the olive burger. I’ll have to try it next time I grill burgers! I suggest keeping it simple if you do: The sauce should just be mayo and diced green olives, a splash of brine to make it slightly runny. Maybe some garlic powder. Then the best olive burgers have very little else on them to get in the way of the olive sauce. Maybe a slice of American cheese melted on the meat, maybe some shredded lettuce. But no ketchup, no mustard, no tomato, no pickles, no onions. You want the olive sauce to be the star. Some of my best homemade olive burgers are just the sauce and the meat on a bun, with the sauce dripping onto the plate below as I eat it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/126 "2026-01-16T15:51:44Z")
The kinds of lesser-known local foods discussed here is getting rather trivial if we start including not just pizza in rectangular shapes but even pizza that’s circular but cut up into square pieces. Things like pupusas, half-smokes, chicken booyah, garbage plates, muskrat casserole, kolaches, cassata cakes, etc. are interesting in that they are items that taste like nothing you’ve tasted before or puts together foods that aren’t put together anywhere else. But why is rectangular pizza interesting? It’s just food you’ve eaten a lot in a different amount. So would a restaurant that offers soft drinks only in 1.47609-ounce, 5.8910882-ounce, 67.4065891-ounce, and 6738761.48714096887440345-ounce sizes be interesting? Why is circular pizza cut into square pieces ineresting? That means that the pieces are various different sizes and the people sitting at a table will fight over which pieces they get. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/127 "2026-01-16T15:54:52Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > We also have a local restaurant chain called Mr. Hero, which sells something called the [Romanburger](https://mrhero.com/menu/romanburger/). “Burger patties, grilled salami and Italian luncheon meat, Swiss American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, and Mr. Hero’s house dressing.” hell yeah. I’d put the Romanburger up against any fast food burger in the country ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/128 "2026-01-16T16:01:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Square-cut pizza is popular in some Ohio cities. FWIW, that was an option at Domino’s everywhere in the 1980s. I remember the order-takers symbol for it was a hash tag. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/129 "2026-01-16T16:10:10Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > FWIW, that was an option at Domino’s everywhere in the 1980s It’s still an option at Domino’s now. Just for fun, I logged into the Domino’s web site, started to do an order, picked “build your own pizza”, and then went through the list of options. Here is a screenshot just now from the site: [![](https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render/00-853hJen_IE3Y8EgiSSvyXoqjB288pGW02iOVOopvW3r9f_wAXOFFWQCNyVQBFIlCUnDnu4gHHWpfyYq5WwzmNg?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1768579754581) ](https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/render/00-853hJen_IE3Y8EgiSSvyXoqjB288pGW02iOVOopvW3r9f_wAXOFFWQCNyVQBFIlCUnDnu4gHHWpfyYq5WwzmNg?cn=THISLIFE&res=medium&ts=1768579754581) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/130 "2026-01-16T16:13:52Z")
Pizzas have been square cut at Kukar’s House of Pizza in San Jose since the late 50s. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/131 "2026-01-16T16:58:12Z")
From your description, that sounds like a bad example. My wife is from Buffalo, and when we first visted her home town when we were dating almost 20 years ago, I went with the intention of trying every Buffalo wing I could. Then I discovered Charlie the Butcher and their beef on weck. It was the best pure beef sandwich I’ve ever had. Perfectly cooked medium-thick slices of beef with plenty of pink, juicy, a kaiser roll that’s been dipped in jus, studded with large salt crystals and whole caraway seed. Add a bit of horseradish on there and I was in heaven. It was my favorite food experience in Buffalo. (That and Ted’s hot dogs. Wings were in third place for me as far as Buffalo food goes. Still really good, but no weck or Ted’s.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/132 "2026-01-16T17:02:56Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Perfectly cooked medium-thick slices of beef with plenty of pink, juicy, a kaiser roll that’s been dipped in jus, studded with large salt crystals and whole caraway seed. Add a bit of horseradish on there and I was in heaven. See, this is why: > [@Atamasama](#): > > I will have it someday before I die. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/133 "2026-01-16T17:03:55Z")
I didn’t realize it was unusual until I went to college here in the Chicago area and a bunch of people from all around the States made fun of our weird “party cut” pizza. The circular-pie-in-square-cut seems to be most popular in the Midwest. St. Louis does it commonly. Chicago every tavern pizza place does it that way. That’s the default. I suppose you can ask for a pie cut on a thin crust here, but I’ve never seen it done with the local style of pizza (only places that do NY Style or similar.) You see it in Milwaukee, Minnesota, and I’ve seen it as far east as Columbus. I guess there are pockets of places that do it square, too, but they seem to be the exception, not the rule, outside the Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/134 "2026-01-16T17:09:34Z")
I found some Charlie the Butcher’s photos from 2006 (the trip I mentioned): [![](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo7.jpg) ](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo7.jpg) [![](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo10.jpg) ](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo10.jpg) [![](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo6.jpg) ](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo6.jpg) [![](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo5.jpg) ](http://www.peterpawinski.com/lth/buffalo5.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/135 "2026-01-16T17:11:47Z")
That looks so freaking delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/136 "2026-01-16T17:14:25Z")
Hey, I give! You’re right on all counts; it was a plot to undermine the board and all it stands for. ::falls on sword:: ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/137 "2026-01-16T17:19:18Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > But why is rectangular pizza interesting? Not because it’s rectangular, but what makes the different types unique. Maryland style and St. Louis style pizzas might both be thin crust pizzas cut into approximately the same size squares, but they aren’t made the same way. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/138 "2026-01-16T17:37:44Z")
But the Maryland is a sheet-pan style pizza, right? Like a Sicilian or what I (and others) call a “grandma pie.” NEPA (Northeast PA) also has a lot of this sheet pan style, and Buffalo and upstate NY has that as an option too. I’d say sheet pan pizza is fairly common, with many differences depending on the area. We’re saying circular pizza in a square cut is somewhat regional. I see that Domino’s has it as an option, but I only see it regularly served this way by default in the locations I mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/139 "2026-01-16T17:39:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > But the Maryland is a sheet-pan style pizza, right? Like a Sicilian It’s sheet-pan style, but it’s thin crust. And it’s a flaky, pastry-like crust, not crispy. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2026, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704/140 "2026-01-16T17:47:13Z")
Yeah, I’d be curious to replicate it as I saw your links above – the flakiness intrigues me. Sounds a good bit different than other sheet pan pies I’ve had. Another hyper-regional style of pizza is Quad-Cities pizza: > **[Quad City-style pizza](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_City-style_pizza)** > > Quad City-style pizza is a variety of pizza originating in the Quad Cities region of the states of Illinois and Iowa in the United States. > Characteristics of Quad City-style pizza include malt in the crust, tomato sauce made with red chili flakes or cayenne pepper, toppings placed under the cheese, and being cut into strips instead of triangular slices. > The first person to bring pizza to the Quad Cities was Tony Maniscalco Sr. in 1952. Born of two immigrant parents from Sicily, Maniscalco came ... There’s even a place that opened up in Chicago called Roots that specializes in it. The key features of it are the malt used in the dough, the use of crumbled Italian fennel sausage instead of chunks or slices of sausage, a pretty heavy blanket of cheese, and the oddball cut they do. They cut it in half, and then into strips. So you have one vertical cut, and then like 5 or 6 horizontal ones. Whenever I’m in the area (I used to drive to Iowa City a few times a year), I try to stop by and get a pizza from Harris or Frank’s. The Wikipedia picture is terrible. Here’s a better one: [![](https://www.foodandwine.com/thmb/pHiaeCFdQ3Hf6TmCKAtJDOt-nOs=/750x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/quad-cities-pizza-2-FT-BLOG0518-f0646acadbd6474dae7ae4451f8ff7e6.jpg) ](https://www.foodandwine.com/thmb/pHiaeCFdQ3Hf6TmCKAtJDOt-nOs=/750x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/quad-cities-pizza-2-FT-BLOG0518-f0646acadbd6474dae7ae4451f8ff7e6.jpg) Note the browned edges. That’s from the malt used in the dough. It gives the crust a bit of a sturdier character and nuttier taste. I’ve also seen this cut elsewhere. There’s a place in NW Indiana that escapes my mind that cuts their pizza into strips like this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lesser-known-local-foods/1026704.md?page=8)