# "Midwest" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247 "2010-06-07T04:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/101 "2010-06-08T13:08:02Z")
> [@whiterabbit](#): > > I do not make tacos with browned unspiced hamburger and mayo. I know, right? Hard shell tacos with ground beef, shredded iceberg, and Ortega hot sauce. It’s pure comedy! Edit: I like how this thread turned from Chimera whining about the term Midwest not being technically accurate to everyone dishing on the place. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/102 "2010-06-08T13:20:52Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Best. URL. Shortening. EVER. Oh, [I don’t know…](http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/carrotsglazedwithcum_80467) I have a hard time with the Midwest stretching from the Appalachians to the Rockies, as it’s clearly not all “west”. Really, it’s just “The Middle”. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/103 "2010-06-08T13:21:17Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > I live in Ann Arbor. There are no local yokels. Everyone here eats hummus and arugula. Possibly together. At brunch, on the way to the farmer’s market, where we pick up some heirloom tomatoes and chat with our friends about how horrible we think Republicans would be, if we ever met any. We have hummus and arugula and heirloom tomatoes bought at the food coop or the farmer’s market all the way up here in da UP, too. Really, moving here from Boulder, I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to buy even the basics - cilantro, chiles, tahini, hummus… but it’s just not true. We have 3 Thai restaurants in this town, a couple middle-Eastern, and even a foofy small-plate hipster tapas place. About the only midwestern stereotype in this thread that applies to us is that it’s true, there are no decent Mexican restaurants. But that’s true of anywhere east of Colorado that I can tell. But we never thought of ourselves as midwestern up here anyway. If anything, we think of ourselves as Canadian step-children, or North Coast, or Northern Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/104 "2010-06-08T14:55:35Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I know, right? Hard shell tacos with ground beef, shredded iceberg, and Ortega hot sauce. It’s pure comedy! Damn, I haven’t had one of those in decades! And now I want one! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/105 "2010-06-08T15:18:11Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > We have hummus and arugula and heirloom tomatoes bought at the food coop or the farmer’s market all the way up here in da UP, too. Really, moving here from Boulder, I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to buy even the basics - cilantro, chiles, tahini, hummus… but it’s just not true. We have 3 Thai restaurants in this town, a couple middle-Eastern, and even a foofy small-plate hipster tapas place. > > About the only midwestern stereotype in this thread that applies to us is that it’s true, there are no decent Mexican restaurants. But that’s true of anywhere east of Colorado that I can tell. Well, I’m coming to visit, then. There are many fine Mexican restaurants in Chicago, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/106 "2010-06-08T15:21:09Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > I was being low-key about it, but, yeah, those are both straight-up white people food I assumed he was being a smartass. Did you see my reply? I wasn’t kidding. Thai-Lao, Turkish, and Ethiopian, all in a row, and all delicious. (Also: About a ten-minute walk from my apartment. With two awesome Indian places on the way, though they’re not the best in the city, which is reserved for [Bombay Sweets](http://bombaysweetsmilwaukee.com/) on the south side.) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/107 "2010-06-08T16:15:41Z")
So why is it that when people say “Down East” they mean Maine? ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/108 "2010-06-08T16:50:49Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Well, I’m coming to visit, then. > > There are many fine Mexican restaurants in Chicago, by the way. I’m sure there are, but my point (which I didn’t make very well, I admit) is that Mexican in the west and southwest is ubiquitous - you don’t have to go to a city to find it. Every little town has at least one or two Mexican restaurants, and chances are, they’re pretty good. You just don’t get that in the midwest/north coast/whatever you want to call it area, and I miss it. The Mexican restaurants I have found in this area are almost always disappointing (WTF is a “wet burrito” anyway?!?) And they all seem universally scared of using any kind of hot spice (which is weird, because there are plenty of Thai restaurants in this area that will blow you socks off with the heat.) We were in Chicago last November, and we went to Rick Bayless’s restaurant, and it was great. But the funny thing was - Bayless is such a celebrity for bringing Mexican to Chicago, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have really made much of a splash at all had he opened up in, say, Santa Fe, where really good Mexican style food is everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/109 "2010-06-08T17:06:19Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > I’m sure there are, but my point (which I didn’t make very well, I admit) is that Mexican in the west and southwest is ubiquitous - you don’t have to go to a city to find it. Every little town has at least one or two Mexican restaurants, and chances are, they’re pretty good. You just don’t get that in the midwest/north coast/whatever you want to call it area, and I miss it. > > The Mexican restaurants I have found in this area are almost always disappointing (WTF is a “wet burrito” anyway?!?) And they all seem universally scared of using any kind of hot spice (which is weird, because there are plenty of Thai restaurants in this area that will blow you socks off with the heat.) > > We were in Chicago last November, and we went to Rick Bayless’s restaurant, and it was great. But the funny thing was - Bayless is such a celebrity for bringing Mexican to Chicago, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have really made much of a splash at all had he opened up in, say, Santa Fe, where really good Mexican style food is everywhere. Yeah, I know, I’m originally from California. The lack of good Mexican food in the Midwest overall is a disappointment. Rick Bayless is famous for bringing Mexican food to Chicago only in his own mind. There are a million little taquerias and nicer sit-down places\* all over Chicago serving up very nice Mexican food. (Chicago has the second largest Mexican/Mexican-American population in the US, after LA.) I think what makes Rick Bayless’ restaurant unusual - which I’ve never been to, although I’d like to, I hear great stuff about it - is that it’s really fine dining Mexican, which is kind of unusual anywhere, I think. I’ve been to a bazillion Mexican restaurants, from holes in the wall to nice places with cloth napkins, but never to one that people actually dress up for. \*I like Enrique’s in Uptown, by the Sheridan Red Line stop. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/110 "2010-06-08T17:40:21Z")
Moved from The Pit to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/111 "2010-06-08T18:30:14Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So why is it that when people say “Down East” they mean Maine? They’re actually just referring to the easternmost part of Maine, not most of the state. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/112 "2010-06-08T20:23:11Z")
A thread including midwestern food with no mention of (drool) tenderloin sandwiches until post 112? It’s fixed now. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/113 "2010-06-08T21:20:27Z")
[More great Midwestern food.](http://www.honeypiecafe.com/) ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/114 "2010-06-09T02:00:04Z")
Columbus, Ohio travelogue: [Discover Columbus.](http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/05/16/1051955/discovering-columbus.html) From the Buffalo (NY) News off all places, but an excellent comprehensive write-up, IMO. We love [art](http://www.hawkgalleries.com/) [glass.](http://columbusmuseum.org/illuminated/) [A lot](http://fpconservatory.org/). (Lino is my all-time favorite, but the Chihuly exhibit at the Art Museum - as opposed to the permanent collection at the Conservatory 😛 - is my favorite so far). Food, [not really in short supply](http://www.dineoriginalscolumbus.com/). Also, [White Castle headquarters](http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/ohiopix/Image.cfm?ID=723). [Taco trucks](http://tacotruckscolumbus.com/), even. And [food for the more discerning](http://alteatscolumbus.com/) (don’t be thrown off by the pizzeria review that’s the latest post; read down a few posts and you’ll get a better feel for their typical reviews). For the crunchy granola types, there’s [North Market](http://www.northmarket.com/). Also, we have [ice cream.](http://jenisicecreams.com/#) It’s certainly not New York or Chicago or L.A., but there are a lot of non-stereotypical choices. Which is, I think, the interesting thing about the Midwest. You’ll run into lots and lots of people who are originally from small towns (and not-so-small towns) and who have absolutely no interest in any of the above, but there are enough of us [del]snobby-elite[/del] more adventurous types to keep some interesting places in business, including the four or so restaurants within 5 walking minutes of my front door that are probably serving arugula on/in something at this very moment. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/115 "2010-06-09T03:35:46Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > So why is it that when people say “Down East” they mean Maine? > [@Big\_Norse](#): > > They’re actually just referring to the easternmost part of Maine, not most of the state. Given that Maine tends to slant to the northeast, that doesn’t make me feel a whole lot better about the “down” part. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/116 "2010-06-09T03:42:23Z")
When I grew up in West Texas, no one, and I mean _no one_, considered us to be Southwest. _Maybe_ El Paso and that area, _maybe_, but certainly not up near the Panhandle where I was. But in trips back there as a young adult, I started seeing a lot of tourist merchandise – coffee mugs, T-shirts and the like – using a Southwest theme, even to the extent of adopting that “howling coyote” logo I used to see in New Mexico when I lived in Albuquerque. Obviously, at some point someone decided to promote Texas as being in the Southwest in order to cash in some tourist dollars, but I ain’t buying it. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/117 "2010-06-09T04:00:47Z")
You don’t like “midwest”? How do you feel about “fly over”? (born in OH, came of age (kinda) in IN - and got the hell out of the “place” as quickly as possible) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/118 "2010-06-09T04:05:51Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > When I grew up in West Texas, no one, and I mean _no one_, considered us to be Southwest. _Maybe_ El Paso and that area, _maybe_, but certainly not up near the Panhandle where I was. But in trips back there as a young adult, I started seeing a lot of tourist merchandise – coffee mugs, T-shirts and the like – using a Southwest theme, even to the extent of adopting that “howling coyote” logo I used to see in New Mexico when I lived in Albuquerque. Obviously, at some point someone decided to promote Texas as being in the Southwest in order to cash in some tourist dollars, but I ain’t buying it. Sheeeeeit. West Texas ain’t nothing but Hell’s foyer. Especially up around O’donnell. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/119 "2010-06-09T04:10:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Sheeeeeit. West Texas ain’t nothing but Hell’s foyer. Especially up around O’donnell. Amen, Brother! ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247/120 "2010-06-09T04:37:45Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > “Midwest” is a general term to describe the region of the continental United States that is flat, yellow-brown, hot in the summer and cold in the winter, routinely flooded once or twice a decade, and in which all permanent homes have a basement shelter where you go when the tornado sirens go off. It also has bland Mexican food, boiled vegetables, deep-fried Chinese takeout, and a drive-in with soft serve ice cream (or frozen custard in Wisconsin) in every small town. People in the Midwest get all excited about cars going round and round in a circle really fast, but don’t understand all the excitement about football (which they call “soccer”). The TV programming in the Midwest is one hour earlier so they can go to bed quicker. People in the Midwest look at suspicion at any state that has a city named “Portland”, and are morally convinced that their Springfield is the one true Springfield. There are a lot of Civil War reenactments in the Midwest in which neither side wins, but the Indians always lose, and they still name their sports after terrorists and vanished native nations. In the Midwest, the gas is cheaper, the corn is taller, and the cows have the vote. The Midwest is full of pleasant, clean, generic mid-sized cities that are named confusingly after a potpourri of Romans, Greeks, Germans, Poles, Indians, and cities in other states. _Escape From New York_ was filmed in the Midwest. Sailing in the Midwest consists of towing your Sunfish out to the local reservoir and going around and around in circles until the wind dies, then skulling your way back to the boat ramp. People in the Midwest live in fear of some very odd things, such as (but not limited to) hummus, electric vehicles, sharks, New York-style pizza, Eastern Europeans, Donald Trump, arugula, Red Army troops hiding in salt mines under Lake Michigan, dark chocolate, Japanese tourists, and bug-eyed aliens mutilating their livestock. > > You may naysay me, but sir, I have lived in the Midwest. I know of what I speak. And as flat and uninteresting as it is, I’d rather live there than in the South. Especially Florida. That place is messed up. > > Stranger I live in the midwest… and this post is now my favorite of any I’ve ever seen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/midwest/542247.md?page=7)