Here in the greater Pittsburgh area the most over rated food item has to be the Primanti Sandwich. These show up on food shows pretty frequently, most recently on Man vs. Food. These sandwiches are large and memorably messy, but I’d never describe them as good. No matter what kind of sandwich you start out with, once they put the cole slaw on it, you have a cole slaw sandwich. The handful of greasy french fries does not improve matters.
Second place goes to anything from Quaker Steak & Lube, also recently featured on Man vs. Food. You have to go to these places because you like the car-centric decor because you can’t be going there for the wings. Really, the quality of the food at these places is uninspiring. They appear to be really popular, though, with younger people.
Maine.
Lobster.
Yuck (mostly).
To counter all the marvelous Mexican restaurants in SoCal, there are an even greater number of really crappy ones. The best way to tell the difference is:
- Look for menudo on the menu, especially as a Sunday Special.
- Try the Chili Relleno. It’s hard to get past “average” with that dish. If it’s good to excellent, odds are the rest of the menu will be as well.
- Shredded beef as the default option.
- A back booth covered with school books and homework. This usually means that the place is family-owned, and Mama is running the kitchen.
I may lose my standing as a native South Carolinian for saying so, but grits and shrimp don’t belong in the same meal, let a lone the same bowl.
St. Louis style pizza, toasted raviolli, and slingers. Ick, to all of 'em.
The Denver Omelette is a relic from the 60’s and 70’s, many Americans first exposure to “spicy” food. Yes, red and green bell peppers smothered with cheese to cut down on the “heat.” There are so many better things to put in an omelette.
Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I saw it on a menu in Colorado. I used to work for a company based in Illinois, and the hotel I would stay at on trips to the office had it as a prominent item.
Jack Daniels. I hate whiskey. Barbecue’s only okay, too.
Deep dish pizza. I’ll have it about two or three times a year, but I far prefer Chicago’s other indigenous style of cracker-crust tavern pizza. Deep dish (either pan or stuffed) are just way, way too doughy for my tastes.
I agree with deep dish pizza. It’s pretty much something we have when we’ve got out of town guests, but left to our own devices, thin or cracker crust is what we order most often.
I’ll also throw Chicago style hot dogs on the pyre. I mean, they’re good, don’t get me wrong, but they’re neither the be all end all of culinary creation, nor even the only way to properly enjoy a hot dog. In the privacy of my own home, I’ve been known to enjoy a hot dog with ketchup on it!
The “Mission” burrito - often as large as a 16-ounce can of beer. Apparently, it’s unusual for burritos to be so large, but around here, it’s normal for them to be so big that you need both hands to hold them, and the foil wrapping is a structural necessity to prevent it from falling apart or exploding.
Some people rave and wax poetic on its fillings and its size, but… it’s a burrito.
I’ve always wondered about the “Mission” style. As far as I can tell it just means “too large for the structural integrity of the flour tortilla, so look forward to messy hands, tin foil stuck in your teeth, and salsa stains on your business slacks.”
I have to agree with the nomination of Chicago-style deep dish pizza. It’s tourist fare, mostly. I only have it when visitors are around and want some. Too doughy, too messy.
I did have one with giardiniera as a topping, though, which actually worked great as a contrast to all of that tomato sauce.
I can’t really weigh in on the whole Chicago hot dog near-religious debate, though, as I’m a vegetarian. I’d probably tell them to hold the hot dog…
That’s the thing…with the salad bar they put on top, I’d probably not notice if the dog was missing!
Grits. I’m sorry, but as a non-Southerner now living in the South I cannot see the appeal of bland corn mush. Tasteless and textureless: bleah. Now, people will tell you the problem is instant grits, which are an abomination unto the Lord, but real grits are good. This is a lie; they are better than instant by a yard, but they still aren’t good if you weren’t raised up on 'em.
I’ll probably have my Canadian citizenship revoked for saying so, but Peameal on a Bun is underwhelming at best and more often than not, just a gristly dried-out piece of back bacon in a ho-hum bun.
And yet, if someone planning a trip to Toronto asks if there’s a definitive Toronto food item, guaranteed that someone’s going to pipe up and suggest the peameal sandwich at the St Lawrence Market. It’s baffling… especially since you can head downstairs to grab a mighty fine eggplant parmesan sandwich (which are good enough that we should adopt them as the city’s signature dish and disown that damned back bacon).
The over-hype is going to get worse before it gets better. How many different shows are there (with more no doubt in the pipeline) chasing around how many legitimately-awesome local delicacies? And since the show doesn’t really work unless the host moans with ecstasy over how good it is, it’s inevitable that more and more humdrum or merely-odd local specialties will get this treatment. Many people didn’t know, till the advent of food shows, that Cincinnati had its own chili. Most still don’t know that it’s pretty bad as chili.
Blasphemy!!!:eek:
I’d have to go with Nanaimo Bars and Sugar Pie. I like dessert but these two are just an excuse for eating sugar.
How could I forget chip-chopped ham? Picture Spam sliced paper thin and you’ll have a good idea what this product is like. The now-defunct Isaly’s chain used to serve this stuff mixed with bottled barbecue sauce on a bun. Absolutely vile. Yet the region is still full of Yinzers who cook up crock pots full of the slop to serve at parties.
Alaska.
Salmon. So sue me.
Now, halibut, crab, scallops … from Alaska. That’s good eats 
Ginger beef. Turns into gristle about 15 seconds after being served.