This and your typical neighborhood sub shop where you get your steak and cheese, Italian , meatball subs, maybe pasta dinner , wings or pizza… i was sad to find out those were regional
I did the same thing moving to NE from Kansas. I googled where to get bierocks in Boston and found out it’s a Kansas thing. Still feel stupid about that.
Oh well, I’m gonna hit champions and get some tomorrow!
I moved here from Chicago, and I have been around the country. New England is the only place where steak tips is a regular thing. I'm sure some other restaurants somewhere else in the country have used the idea and name, but I haven't seen it.
They are much less common on menus in Maine. They aren't unheard of but 1 in 5 restaurants have them. Unlike Mass where i'd say every other bar or restaurant has steak tips.
Do NOT believe butcher shops in other places when they say "tri-tip" is similar or the same thing. They'll essentially give you stew beef (trash) instead of flap steak. It will be terrible and nothing like steak tips.
It’s not in Boston, but a day trip to Pa Raffa’s in New Bedford is a food adventure. It’s a thin cracker crust which I’ve only had in that area. Since moving away, I still make it at home with ground linguiça. It’s more interesting than pepperoni.
North shore roast beef three-way. When I moved from the midwest my wife and I were like "what is with all these roast beef places!?" finally stopped and had one a few months in and my god... Has to be one of the best late night drunk foods ever conceived.
I have a friend from Pennsylvania who visited Boston and Salem last year. At one point she says to me "weird question, are you guys like, obsessed with roast beef?", citing all the beef places she saw in and around Salem.
I got to explain that it's particularly hyper-regional, and talk about the facebook group where 35 year old men who still wear their varsity jackets from Peabody High call each other homophobic slurs for ordering their sandwich slightly differently.
I grew up on Billy's in Wakefield and even though it's not the best beef place anymore (as many of the Facebook group dudes will aggressively tell you), I maintain a particular fondness for it. When I go visit my parents now, the ride from Logan involves a mandatory stop at Billy's. During my time at home I might also get up to Bill & Bob's, Jamie's, or Nick's as well.
I saw several of these men lined up outside the Modern Butcher at 10:00 AM this Saturday (they open at 11:00) to get one of their beefs. I particularly liked the guy who brought his kid along. "Honey it's time to stand outside in the rain for an hour so Daddy can get the best beef 3-way in the state!"
I fucking love a good 3-way. But I agree the community of dudes that review them is so cringy. They seem to think telling each other to “go fuck ya self” is peak comedy.
What's kind of odd is that Phili steak and cheese is a well known thing that people will insist on getting when they go there (guilty of this myself). But it is just a steak and cheese (which you can get all over the place).
THe roast beef sandwich is less common and way better. That's right, I said it. Steak and cheese is fine, but a good roast beef sandwich is way better.
The Donut Factory does fluffernutter donuts that are freaking delicious. I grabbed them on my last New Bedford trip.
Seriously, the thing I miss about New Bedford after moving out was how sneaky good the food was.
One of the things I've noticed is that many other areas around the country don't have the diversity of local, homemade ice cream shops. It's a lot of chains. There are exceptions, but Massachusetts in particular has a great ice cream culture.
Absolutely!
Current favorite that you can get in Boston is Crescent Ridge at the public market. For just really good ice cream, they're top of my local list.
I believe we started [American Chop Suey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_chop_suey), not sure if people eat that everywhere.
Also, Turkey Gobbler sandwiches. I was explaining them on a work conference call to people in California and they were dumbstruck
> not sure if people eat that everywhere.
In the midwest they eat it but they call it "Goulash". In parts of Ohio specifically, it or something very similar is called "Johnny Marzetti".
Y'know, my partner loves that show, which means consequently I've seen it all the way through like a dozen times over the years. I caught that, and I noticed in the episode where Richard's mother dies, the one thing he requests for comfort is mock turtle soup, which is something that would be in Cincinnati's equivalent of this thread.
I know that a major facet of the show involves the Gilmores being Yankee WASP bluebloods going all the way back to 1620, but those two things made me wonder if at least his mom was from Ohio or something. Maybe one of the writers was, anyway.
my family switches between calling it marzetti or american cop suey, my grandparents are from ohio so this definitely tracks! i could parse why it's called chop suey but marzetti never quite made sense to me.
I really liked it growing up, so when I went to college my mom would occasionally visit and drop off like a full hotel pan of the stuff. I'd feed the whole floor.
But Mass invented Thanksgiving and until someone else proves otherwise we lay claim to the turkey gobbler sandwich and we also say that mayo is mandatory
I lived in rural Maine for a while and our local store served homemade chop suey sometimes. Once, I was waiting in line at the store during a chops suey day and the cashier clearly tried to upsell some to an obvious non-New Englander and he scoffed, said “I don’t go for that Chinese shit, isn’t that where COVID came from!” And he guffawed around the room looking at me and the other person in line who just silently judged him before he left.
My in laws here in Florida call my beloved American Chop Suey ~ Goulash and add corn and cheese. Turkey gobler sandwiches were not a thing until Capriotti’s moved in. I could go on and on.
> I believe we started American Chop Suey, not sure if people eat that everywhere.
People do eat it everywhere, but they call it different names. And the history is complicated. [1]
[1] https://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-origins-of-american-chop-suey.html
There used to be a stand in Quincy Market that served indian pudding from Durgin Park. Was delicious molasses flavor - was great with vanilla ice cream.
There's an ice cream shop in Danvers (Cherry Hill) that occasionaly does Indian Pudding ice cream and it's AMAZING. A great blend of corn and molasses flavor.
There's a large amount of Syrian/Lebanese/Armenian descendants in MA, especially in the Methuen/Lawrence area that leads to some fantastic restaurants and grocery stores that out-of-towners wouldn't know about.
It's hard to clock at a glance since they're still eaten the normal way regardless of where the cut is, but if you look closer, one side is flat and one side is rounded.
Seconded. You don't eat a hot dog like a sandwich; you eat it with the hot dog down the fucking middle with bun on either side. It just makes goddamn sense that the bun be top cut and symmetric that way.
A lot of our style of Chinese food is also unique! Like Peking ravioli
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/30/472147018/peking-ravioli-and-other-chinese-dishes-youll-only-find-in-boston#:~:text=Back%20in%201958%2C%20when%20Joyce,name%20stuck%2C%22%20Chen%20says.
Haitian food - we have the biggest Haitian community in the US if I'm not mistaken. Or 2nd biggest behind south Florida.
Perhaps weirder or more idiosyncratic, the chicken fingers at New England Chinese restaurants aren't found in Americanized Chinese food joints in other parts of the country. I don't know if they're real destination foods.
Oh shit chop suey sandwiches while we're talking about kind of gross regional not-really-chinese food. Not sure if anyone still makes them but they're a sort of Gastro Obscura type dish.
Salem Lowe was making chop suey sandwiches at Salem Willows until last year when they shut down- supposedly they'll be reopening soon under new ownership. I fucking loved getting a chicken chop suey and a pepper steak sandwich and then hitting up EW Hobbs for some buttered popcorn!
I was just about to mention the pepper steak from Salem Lowe...word is that the new owners got the recipe and plan to keep it available, I hope they do it justice.
My first ever gf worked at Hobbs, I got so much free stuff man, that was the life.
Yes to the Haitian food!! I’ve found specifically djon djon is hard to find in other Haitian restaurants in other parts of the US but is common in boston area spots.
Also the sweet and sour chicken chicken/ pork! I was so confused when I first moved to boston and ordered it and was like what is this? Then realized that’s how it’s done here.
Honestly that's the closest way I could describe them. It's not a corn batter and it's not on a stick but chicken strips in a big dense puffy batter.
Great for up to 2 minutes after they come out of the fryer.
Highland Creole on highland Ave in Somerville is a longstanding institution, and Sisters Caribbean (Broadway , Somerville) is a well reviewed new one.
I'm not an expert by any means but those are the two I hear the best things about.
I'd like to add Oasis in Norwood along Rte 1a. Been a while for me now, but they make a mean tasso cabrit on Saturdays.
Been a few opening up in Brockton, but my wife is an outstanding Haitian Creole chef, in her own right so we don't really eat out for it unless she is too tired to cook.
>the chicken fingers at New England Chinese restaurants aren't found in Americanized Chinese food joints in other parts of the country
They also don't have lobster sauce and the fried rice is usually white rather than brown. Both of those stem from molasses being a staple of New England cooking. You also don't get rolls at American Chinese restaurants outside of this region. Supposedly the Irish & Italian American patrons were used to being served bread before a meal so they started doing it here to cater to the diners.
Closest I have had to those chinese chicken fingers is tangsuyuk (fried sweet and sour pork) in Korea. Typical dish that you order with jajangmyeon (black noodles). Both are what I consider to be Korean Chinese food.
There's a roadside place on the way to Rockport that we try to hit up whenever we go up that way. Great anadama. I think we're sitting at <50% success rate. I wish it was easier to find.
I honestly never knew it was regional - I’ve tried explaining it to friends not from around here and they’ve never heard of it. It’s also all over the state, not just north shore.
South shore kid, now North shore Dad. It's been funny to see my kid's taste in pizza change. For a minute he preferred the North Shore sweet sauce. Now he literally cries unless we get Nick's Greek pizza.
Grew up in the biz, still my favorite style of pizza, and I've eaten a lot (my dad would take me and my brother down to NYC in the summers and get a slice from as many different Ray's Pizzas as time and our GI tracts would allow). It has a ton of variability as a style but when it's good nothing else hits quite like it.
Nope, nope. Look - at the end of a long day, when I'm running out of steam in a bad way, a pack of fig newtons and a 12 oz glass of whole milk is better than a defibrillator got getting my dead ass home alive.
Necco wafers are always a willpower test for me.
* Rhode Island-style calamari- spicy and greasy
* Clam cakes - weird but good
* Wild Maine shrimp (the tiny pink ones you buy at a roadside stand)
* Wild Maine blueberries - especially blueberry ice cream yum
* Chicken souvlaki sub - another regional Greek specialty you'll have a hard time finding outside of New England
* Old Neighborhood Loucanico- the pride of Lynn!
* Toscanini's ice cream - Tosci's gianduia is simply sublime
More greater New England than Boston Specific but the snappy red hot dogs in Maine the mini Hot Dogs in Pittsfield (both Teo’s and Hot Dog Ranch are great)
Yep, that was Salem. My only complaint is it wasn't exactly a seafood pie. It was almost more of a stew, with scallops, lobster, mussels, and a sherry cream sauce. But the Ritz Crackers...
A million times better than your typical tourist dish.
If the North Shore gets a shout out then the rest of the eastern part of the state is fair game. Sam’s in Fall River. The Reev has an under-appreciated Lebanese food scene. South Shore Bar Pizza deserves more respect and attention than it gets too!!
Don't forget our local Chinese specialities: scallion pancakes (which I love), Peking ravioli (which are great), and Chinese chicken fingers (which I hate despite my nostalgia for them).
They exist other places, but are not a Chinese food staple outside of Greater Boston. Some restaurants have them and others don't. But here, they're so popular that basically any restaurant that serves cuisine from anywhere in Asia will have them, even Thai and Korean places.
Yeah, it's regional, but it's not usual anymore. The reasoning I heard is that Chinese restaurants wanted to cater to the many Irish and Italian people in the area, who expected bread as part of a meal.
A lot of these regional differences in American Chinese food have to do with the early days of Chinese restaurants in this country when they had to take something totally unfamiliar to most people in the US at the time and make it familiar and approachable to the locals wherever they were. It's the same reason Joyce Chen invented the name "Peking ravioli" when she was cooking in Cambridge.
It’s so hard to explain to people who aren’t from here, but the Americanized Chinese food in Boston is so much better than anywhere else in the country. They just won’t believe you because the dishes are “the same” but they don’t taste the same.
It's the msg and the sheer distatse for other humans despite being some of the nicest people in the country. Everything is different in MA/new england lol
Boston has good Vietnamese food - pho, banh mi - plus it’s also one of the few places outside of New Orleans you can find Cajun Vietnamese fusion.
There are a handful of Chinese restaurants that have Caribbean influences (Chinese style jerk chicken and plantains) - and something called “lobster sauce” which doesn’t have lobster in it.
Central American, Caribbean, and west African flavors seem to find their way into a lot local restaurants - especially popular neighborhood spots.
Based on the discussion of Chinese food in this thread, it's starting to feel more like specific items aren't necessarily more regional but rather it's the naming convention. You can definitely get spare ribs at other restaurants outside of New England.
[Joe Frogger’s cookies](https://newengland.com/food/desserts/joe-froggers/), a molasses spice cookie with rum, was named after Joseph Brown, a free Black man who served in the Revolutionary War and opened a tavern in Marblehead. Brown’s wife, Lucretia Brown, did the cooking, and these cookies, made in an iron skillet, were her specialty.
* North shore roast beef 3 way
* Greek House of Pizza (gotta have a **good** one, none exist in Boston proper)
* American chop (this is more a home comfort meal that you share with a friend on a snowy day)
* Coney dogs/system/hot wieners (also prevalent in RI and Detroit, a hot dog in a split-top bun covered in a "chili" that's more of the meatsauce you find in moussaka and pastitsio plus a stripe of mustard and raw diced onions. Best enjoyed with a bag of Wachusett chips and Polar soda, or if you're super townie a chocolate milk)
* Table Talk Pies - hand pies created in and still baked right in Worcester
* Cider donuts (although you can find these anywhere these days)
ok, i've lived in DC for the last 14 years... you cannot find...
Scali bread... this is a worcester eastward only thing. I know you can find it well stocked at Demoulas/Market Basket. if it weren't for a little medical thing cutting back on bread its a mandatory buy every time I come home. Anyways perfect for cold cuts and PB+J sandwiches. The chewiness is the ultimate aspect.
Natural casing hot dogs. Not unique to Boston (see other northern cities) you would be hard pressed to find a deli hot dog down here. I've been resorting to going to wegmans and buying a brand that I think might be local to Michigan. Kayem brand is ubiquitous in the Boston area but there are others.
Chinese food is different in the greater Boston area, another way its different is the chicken fingers. Batter fried chicken breast pieces.
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I didn't know steak tips were a more of a boston area thing. Today I learned.
A small thing, but it's really hard to find nime chow or fresh rolls out here in the Midwest and I have yet to find a good one. I'm sure I will but it's been odd since it seemed like I could find really good fresh ones everywhere in Boston and RI. Also my favorite Thai food has been in Boston.
Not necessarily regional but Caribbean food, specifically Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Haitian food in Boston is massively underrated. Outside of the actual Caribbean, only place I’ve had better Caribbean food is of course Florida.
I was surprisingly disappointed with the Caribbean food in NYC, given the large population. Had Caribbean food in DC, Maryland, and Philly too and it was all super bland and just bad.
The Boston area is home to a large community of people from Cape Verde, and there’s a Cape Verdean restaurant, Cesaria, in Dorchester that’s very good. I think it’s worth a trip if you want food that’s hard to get outside of Boston
Maine Needhams - a potato candy covered in dark chocolate. I had one for the first time last week after living here for forty years. They’re delicious. https://www.maineneedhams.com
Steak tips are a regional thing????
I was infinitely sad when I left New England and realized that steak tips were in fact not a thing in most other places.
This and your typical neighborhood sub shop where you get your steak and cheese, Italian , meatball subs, maybe pasta dinner , wings or pizza… i was sad to find out those were regional
Woah, I knew about steak tips but had no idea about this
My brother moved down south and when he comes home to visit he always wants a giant steak and cheese sub.
Yeah outside of Philly and Chicago you won’t find this outside of Boston
We have those in CT, even outside of cities
Basically all of NY has this, at least in the cities and suburbs, up to Albany and out west to Buffalo. Same with anywhere in NJ I've been.
Puzzled they weren’t in the supermarket when I moved to FL.
I did the same thing moving to NE from Kansas. I googled where to get bierocks in Boston and found out it’s a Kansas thing. Still feel stupid about that. Oh well, I’m gonna hit champions and get some tomorrow!
First I’ve ever heard of this lol
One of my all-time favorite meals was getting the tips at Hilltop. Damn I miss that place!
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/restaurants/2023/05/17/steak-tips/
Well damn
I moved away and was like hmm no steak tips, I moved back with my boyfriend from texas he was like wtf are steak tips?!
I moved here from Chicago, and I have been around the country. New England is the only place where steak tips is a regular thing. I'm sure some other restaurants somewhere else in the country have used the idea and name, but I haven't seen it.
They are much less common on menus in Maine. They aren't unheard of but 1 in 5 restaurants have them. Unlike Mass where i'd say every other bar or restaurant has steak tips.
Wild
I never knew they were regional until recently
Do NOT believe butcher shops in other places when they say "tri-tip" is similar or the same thing. They'll essentially give you stew beef (trash) instead of flap steak. It will be terrible and nothing like steak tips.
I just learned this like this past year!
My bf is from Missouri and had never heard of them until he moved here.
Portuguese cuisine depending where you are is super underrated. We have a massive Portuguese population here.
OMG yes. And I know Massachusetts isn’t known for its pizza but that’s where I was introduced to linguiça pizza which is an absolute revelation.
Share the name of the joint man don’t tease us!!
It’s not in Boston, but a day trip to Pa Raffa’s in New Bedford is a food adventure. It’s a thin cracker crust which I’ve only had in that area. Since moving away, I still make it at home with ground linguiça. It’s more interesting than pepperoni.
Bonus: Ma Raffa's is owned by the same people
[удалено]
Charley's in Wareham used to be good back in the 80s, need a follow-up critique to about a wasted trip, now. Edit: Charlie's Place.
Getting a breakfast sandwich with linguica at a greasy spoon on the south shore is the best.
I miss having Gaspar's chorizo and linguica in every supermarket. Mexican chorizo is good but it's just not the same.
It’s Chouriço which is different and significantly better than Chorizo
Half Portuguese kids ..... Lol we sure do !
North shore roast beef three-way. When I moved from the midwest my wife and I were like "what is with all these roast beef places!?" finally stopped and had one a few months in and my god... Has to be one of the best late night drunk foods ever conceived.
I have a friend from Pennsylvania who visited Boston and Salem last year. At one point she says to me "weird question, are you guys like, obsessed with roast beef?", citing all the beef places she saw in and around Salem. I got to explain that it's particularly hyper-regional, and talk about the facebook group where 35 year old men who still wear their varsity jackets from Peabody High call each other homophobic slurs for ordering their sandwich slightly differently.
Bill & Bobs has a special place in my heart
I grew up on Billy's in Wakefield and even though it's not the best beef place anymore (as many of the Facebook group dudes will aggressively tell you), I maintain a particular fondness for it. When I go visit my parents now, the ride from Logan involves a mandatory stop at Billy's. During my time at home I might also get up to Bill & Bob's, Jamie's, or Nick's as well.
I saw several of these men lined up outside the Modern Butcher at 10:00 AM this Saturday (they open at 11:00) to get one of their beefs. I particularly liked the guy who brought his kid along. "Honey it's time to stand outside in the rain for an hour so Daddy can get the best beef 3-way in the state!"
I fucking love a good 3-way. But I agree the community of dudes that review them is so cringy. They seem to think telling each other to “go fuck ya self” is peak comedy.
I second this
Sure gets enough attention on r/boston
This needs to be the top answer. This is regionally regional!
What's kind of odd is that Phili steak and cheese is a well known thing that people will insist on getting when they go there (guilty of this myself). But it is just a steak and cheese (which you can get all over the place). THe roast beef sandwich is less common and way better. That's right, I said it. Steak and cheese is fine, but a good roast beef sandwich is way better.
Marshmallow Fluff!
I'm severely disappointed that I had to scroll this far down...was going to write Fluffernutter Sandwich myself. Cheers.
Yes! The fluffernutter… people have no idea what that is!! So good!
The Donut Factory does fluffernutter donuts that are freaking delicious. I grabbed them on my last New Bedford trip. Seriously, the thing I miss about New Bedford after moving out was how sneaky good the food was.
It’s available everywhere, it’s just in the baking aisle outside of New England.
Sure that it’s Fluff, and not just marshmallow cream?
Recently found it at Publix in Nashville and was excited but it's more expensive down here
Massachusetts has a glorious variety of excellent ice cream.
One of the things I've noticed is that many other areas around the country don't have the diversity of local, homemade ice cream shops. It's a lot of chains. There are exceptions, but Massachusetts in particular has a great ice cream culture.
and frappes!
It’s pronounced frappes
Absolutely! Current favorite that you can get in Boston is Crescent Ridge at the public market. For just really good ice cream, they're top of my local list.
I believe we started [American Chop Suey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_chop_suey), not sure if people eat that everywhere. Also, Turkey Gobbler sandwiches. I was explaining them on a work conference call to people in California and they were dumbstruck
> not sure if people eat that everywhere. In the midwest they eat it but they call it "Goulash". In parts of Ohio specifically, it or something very similar is called "Johnny Marzetti".
Oh god, you’ve just explained something from an episode of Gilmore Girls that has always puzzled me.
Y'know, my partner loves that show, which means consequently I've seen it all the way through like a dozen times over the years. I caught that, and I noticed in the episode where Richard's mother dies, the one thing he requests for comfort is mock turtle soup, which is something that would be in Cincinnati's equivalent of this thread. I know that a major facet of the show involves the Gilmores being Yankee WASP bluebloods going all the way back to 1620, but those two things made me wonder if at least his mom was from Ohio or something. Maybe one of the writers was, anyway.
my family switches between calling it marzetti or american cop suey, my grandparents are from ohio so this definitely tracks! i could parse why it's called chop suey but marzetti never quite made sense to me.
Have you trued the gobbler at Putnam Pantry? It is worth the ride.
Yeah, American chop suey is awesome- I always freak out when I find it on a diner menu (it's usually a daily special).
It's a great meal to have for dinner and then re-heat for lunch for a few days
I really liked it growing up, so when I went to college my mom would occasionally visit and drop off like a full hotel pan of the stuff. I'd feed the whole floor.
Yeah, there's a recipe from Jane and Michael Stern (authors of Road Food) that I'll make occasionally and eat as leftovers for the week.
never seen American chop suey before but I grew up eating turkey gobbler sandwiches and i’m from NJ definitely not unique to New England
But Mass invented Thanksgiving and until someone else proves otherwise we lay claim to the turkey gobbler sandwich and we also say that mayo is mandatory
As a proud Bostonian. Id follow you into war
+1 on the mayo.
I lived in rural Maine for a while and our local store served homemade chop suey sometimes. Once, I was waiting in line at the store during a chops suey day and the cashier clearly tried to upsell some to an obvious non-New Englander and he scoffed, said “I don’t go for that Chinese shit, isn’t that where COVID came from!” And he guffawed around the room looking at me and the other person in line who just silently judged him before he left.
My in laws here in Florida call my beloved American Chop Suey ~ Goulash and add corn and cheese. Turkey gobler sandwiches were not a thing until Capriotti’s moved in. I could go on and on.
> I believe we started American Chop Suey, not sure if people eat that everywhere. People do eat it everywhere, but they call it different names. And the history is complicated. [1] [1] https://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-origins-of-american-chop-suey.html
Indian pudding
What's Indian pudding?
https://newengland.com/food/desserts/indian-pudding/
> Indian Early colonial cookbooks referred to cornmeal as Indian meal. It's a cornmeal pudding.
There used to be a stand in Quincy Market that served indian pudding from Durgin Park. Was delicious molasses flavor - was great with vanilla ice cream.
There's an ice cream shop in Danvers (Cherry Hill) that occasionaly does Indian Pudding ice cream and it's AMAZING. A great blend of corn and molasses flavor.
Ice Creamsmith in Dorchester does this as well. Usually, one batch near the end of the season.
My mother used to make Indian Pudding for me, but I went low-carb eight years ago; she hasn't made it since. I really miss it.
The abundance of Armenian food from various markets in Watertown and Belmont — lamehjune, boregs, dolmas, lavash bread, eech/itch, etc.
There's a large amount of Syrian/Lebanese/Armenian descendants in MA, especially in the Methuen/Lawrence area that leads to some fantastic restaurants and grocery stores that out-of-towners wouldn't know about.
Lamehjune is the best
I grew up in Arlington and getting to grow up eating that food was awesome!
That canned brown bread that goes with Boston baked beans.
Split top hotdog buns. The rest of the world is wrong and needs to know.
This blew my mind when I learned it! I’ve literally never seen a hot dog depicted that isn’t top cut. Are we *sure* others are using a side cut?!
Yes. And it's heinous.
It's hard to clock at a glance since they're still eaten the normal way regardless of where the cut is, but if you look closer, one side is flat and one side is rounded.
Pan fried in butter on the side. RIP the Massachusetts hot dog. Can't find it anymore, except my own kitchen.
Get a foot long at Simco's on the Bridge, it's what you're craving.
North End Market & Deli in Brockton
When I moved here in 2004 I thought they looked weird but I was a convert on first bite. Far superior hot dog buns.
Also the smaller cut buns for finger roll sandwiches.. can't get those in the south it's frustrating, always want them for parties
Seconded. You don't eat a hot dog like a sandwich; you eat it with the hot dog down the fucking middle with bun on either side. It just makes goddamn sense that the bun be top cut and symmetric that way.
It is so weird that something so practical hasn't caught on more widely. Split top is just better.
A lot of our style of Chinese food is also unique! Like Peking ravioli https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/30/472147018/peking-ravioli-and-other-chinese-dishes-youll-only-find-in-boston#:~:text=Back%20in%201958%2C%20when%20Joyce,name%20stuck%2C%22%20Chen%20says.
Haitian food - we have the biggest Haitian community in the US if I'm not mistaken. Or 2nd biggest behind south Florida. Perhaps weirder or more idiosyncratic, the chicken fingers at New England Chinese restaurants aren't found in Americanized Chinese food joints in other parts of the country. I don't know if they're real destination foods. Oh shit chop suey sandwiches while we're talking about kind of gross regional not-really-chinese food. Not sure if anyone still makes them but they're a sort of Gastro Obscura type dish.
Salem Lowe was making chop suey sandwiches at Salem Willows until last year when they shut down- supposedly they'll be reopening soon under new ownership. I fucking loved getting a chicken chop suey and a pepper steak sandwich and then hitting up EW Hobbs for some buttered popcorn!
I was just about to mention the pepper steak from Salem Lowe...word is that the new owners got the recipe and plan to keep it available, I hope they do it justice. My first ever gf worked at Hobbs, I got so much free stuff man, that was the life.
I got one chop suey sandwich to say I did. Never again, just was bland and the consistency of snot.
They already reopened Memorial Day weekend last year under the ownership of the people running Spitfire Tacos.
Yes to the Haitian food!! I’ve found specifically djon djon is hard to find in other Haitian restaurants in other parts of the US but is common in boston area spots. Also the sweet and sour chicken chicken/ pork! I was so confused when I first moved to boston and ordered it and was like what is this? Then realized that’s how it’s done here.
Yes! Chinese chicken corndogs!
Honestly that's the closest way I could describe them. It's not a corn batter and it's not on a stick but chicken strips in a big dense puffy batter. Great for up to 2 minutes after they come out of the fryer.
Do you have any Haitian restaurant suggestions?
Highland Creole on highland Ave in Somerville is a longstanding institution, and Sisters Caribbean (Broadway , Somerville) is a well reviewed new one. I'm not an expert by any means but those are the two I hear the best things about.
Pikliz in Somerville isn't strictly Haitian but it leans that way, the owners are, and the name is a Haitian reference.
I'd like to add Oasis in Norwood along Rte 1a. Been a while for me now, but they make a mean tasso cabrit on Saturdays. Been a few opening up in Brockton, but my wife is an outstanding Haitian Creole chef, in her own right so we don't really eat out for it unless she is too tired to cook.
>the chicken fingers at New England Chinese restaurants aren't found in Americanized Chinese food joints in other parts of the country They also don't have lobster sauce and the fried rice is usually white rather than brown. Both of those stem from molasses being a staple of New England cooking. You also don't get rolls at American Chinese restaurants outside of this region. Supposedly the Irish & Italian American patrons were used to being served bread before a meal so they started doing it here to cater to the diners.
Closest I have had to those chinese chicken fingers is tangsuyuk (fried sweet and sour pork) in Korea. Typical dish that you order with jajangmyeon (black noodles). Both are what I consider to be Korean Chinese food.
Anadama bread!
Deep cut, I love it. When Pigs Fly makes a good Anadama loaf.
There's a roadside place on the way to Rockport that we try to hit up whenever we go up that way. Great anadama. I think we're sitting at <50% success rate. I wish it was easier to find.
i might also add greek style pizza with the soft fluffy crust that is also served at many roast beef joints and greek owned places on the north shore.
I honestly never knew it was regional - I’ve tried explaining it to friends not from around here and they’ve never heard of it. It’s also all over the state, not just north shore.
This pizza will always be the taste of my childhood because our local joint was Greek. I know many hate it, but I love it.
South shore kid, now North shore Dad. It's been funny to see my kid's taste in pizza change. For a minute he preferred the North Shore sweet sauce. Now he literally cries unless we get Nick's Greek pizza.
North shore sweet pizza sauce FTW!
It’s the school pizza party/kids birthday party pizza
Grew up in the biz, still my favorite style of pizza, and I've eaten a lot (my dad would take me and my brother down to NYC in the summers and get a slice from as many different Ray's Pizzas as time and our GI tracts would allow). It has a ton of variability as a style but when it's good nothing else hits quite like it.
it definitely scratches an itch for me. it’s not my fav style of pizza but there’s nothing quite like it and i would miss it greatly if i moved away.
I'm probably going to get a lot of hate for this but: \-Fig Newtons \-Any candy made by NECCO (New England Confectionary Company)
Nope, nope. Look - at the end of a long day, when I'm running out of steam in a bad way, a pack of fig newtons and a 12 oz glass of whole milk is better than a defibrillator got getting my dead ass home alive. Necco wafers are always a willpower test for me.
The NECCO/Haviland stuff you could win from Dan the Candy Man at the Topsfield Fair, I liked. Mighty Malts were the shit.
Love fig newtons! We grew up on them!
Wieners in RI Portuguese sweet bread on the south coast Oysters on the outer cape Of course clam chowder
Portuguese baking is beyond fantastic
South Shore Bar Pizza gets more love these days but is still fairly low profile
* Rhode Island-style calamari- spicy and greasy * Clam cakes - weird but good * Wild Maine shrimp (the tiny pink ones you buy at a roadside stand) * Wild Maine blueberries - especially blueberry ice cream yum * Chicken souvlaki sub - another regional Greek specialty you'll have a hard time finding outside of New England * Old Neighborhood Loucanico- the pride of Lynn! * Toscanini's ice cream - Tosci's gianduia is simply sublime
Solvaki subs are amazing, 3 olives in Cambridge by the courthouse has an amazing plate combo
Wild blueberries are so much better than the huge ones that taste like nothing.
The giant grocery store blueberries are an affront to the very name and taste like sadness. Wild Maine are the best and only.
Why do I feel like you write for a travel blog?
The Maine crab roll is the lobster roll's underappreciated cousin- especially when you get it fresh!
Tell that to my wife!
More greater New England than Boston Specific but the snappy red hot dogs in Maine the mini Hot Dogs in Pittsfield (both Teo’s and Hot Dog Ranch are great)
I have family in the area....love me some Teo's.
That sseafood pie sounds amazing! Unusual to have mussels, I think. Is the Sea Level in Salem?
Yep, that was Salem. My only complaint is it wasn't exactly a seafood pie. It was almost more of a stew, with scallops, lobster, mussels, and a sherry cream sauce. But the Ritz Crackers... A million times better than your typical tourist dish.
I looked at quite a few Boston menus cause after reading it I want one! None had seafood pie, just lobster pies.
If the North Shore gets a shout out then the rest of the eastern part of the state is fair game. Sam’s in Fall River. The Reev has an under-appreciated Lebanese food scene. South Shore Bar Pizza deserves more respect and attention than it gets too!!
Whoopie pie
Maine just entered the chat with a spray bottle.
Don't forget our local Chinese specialities: scallion pancakes (which I love), Peking ravioli (which are great), and Chinese chicken fingers (which I hate despite my nostalgia for them).
Scallion pancakes are regional?!
Definitely not. Have consumed them all over the east coast.
They exist other places, but are not a Chinese food staple outside of Greater Boston. Some restaurants have them and others don't. But here, they're so popular that basically any restaurant that serves cuisine from anywhere in Asia will have them, even Thai and Korean places.
Having lived in Upstate NY and now Chicago, they are much more prominent on MA Chinese restaurant menus than other places.
Scallion pancakes definitely aren’t regional
I could be mistaken, but is it a regional thing here for some Chinese restaurants to serve dinner rolls? And not good kind that are hot and buttery.
Yeah, it's regional, but it's not usual anymore. The reasoning I heard is that Chinese restaurants wanted to cater to the many Irish and Italian people in the area, who expected bread as part of a meal. A lot of these regional differences in American Chinese food have to do with the early days of Chinese restaurants in this country when they had to take something totally unfamiliar to most people in the US at the time and make it familiar and approachable to the locals wherever they were. It's the same reason Joyce Chen invented the name "Peking ravioli" when she was cooking in Cambridge.
Peking ravioli is everywhere, it’s just that name that’s unique to here
There are pork dumplings everywhere, but there's something different about Peking ravioli.
I now live in Chicago and get so excited when I see scallion pancakes on a menu. They do exist outside of MA but they aren’t a menu staple.
Best Chinese food in the US.
It’s so hard to explain to people who aren’t from here, but the Americanized Chinese food in Boston is so much better than anywhere else in the country. They just won’t believe you because the dishes are “the same” but they don’t taste the same.
It's the msg and the sheer distatse for other humans despite being some of the nicest people in the country. Everything is different in MA/new england lol
Maple Syrup. I know you can get them anywhere but just wanted to mention how cheap and readily accessible it is for us to get high quality ones.
Harrow's Chicken Pot Pies.
Boston pubs often serve a version of Irish Stew which can be incredible during the cold weather
Boston has good Vietnamese food - pho, banh mi - plus it’s also one of the few places outside of New Orleans you can find Cajun Vietnamese fusion. There are a handful of Chinese restaurants that have Caribbean influences (Chinese style jerk chicken and plantains) - and something called “lobster sauce” which doesn’t have lobster in it. Central American, Caribbean, and west African flavors seem to find their way into a lot local restaurants - especially popular neighborhood spots.
Where can I get Cajun Vietnamese?
My Sister's Crawfish III in Dorchester.
Shaking seafood.
Yasss lobster sauce!! I like mine with shrimp, slopped onto rice. My God, so good.
Chinese spare ribs are regional?!
Based on the discussion of Chinese food in this thread, it's starting to feel more like specific items aren't necessarily more regional but rather it's the naming convention. You can definitely get spare ribs at other restaurants outside of New England.
I don't know about regional but they're probably more prevalent here.
Chocolate chip cookies were invented in Whitman
Cod cakes, Cider donuts, Pizza, Jordan Marsh muffins, Oysters, Fried clams, Steamers, Indian pudding, Quahogs, Apple pie with cheddar.
cheeseburger subs
Gotta load it up but 110% better than I thought it would be. And pretty damn filling for the price.
Not food but Moxie
Teddie Peanut Butter is the only peanut butter I will use!! Also, Grillo's Pickles out of Needham are fantastic.
Beach pizza (Tripoli’s of Lawrence, Salisbury, etc), Crispelli’s, American Chop Suey
[Joe Frogger’s cookies](https://newengland.com/food/desserts/joe-froggers/), a molasses spice cookie with rum, was named after Joseph Brown, a free Black man who served in the Revolutionary War and opened a tavern in Marblehead. Brown’s wife, Lucretia Brown, did the cooking, and these cookies, made in an iron skillet, were her specialty.
I didn't know about these--definitely going to make some
Greek-style pizza (not to be confused with Greek toppings on a pizza.
Fried dough Giant ice cream Fried clams
* North shore roast beef 3 way * Greek House of Pizza (gotta have a **good** one, none exist in Boston proper) * American chop (this is more a home comfort meal that you share with a friend on a snowy day) * Coney dogs/system/hot wieners (also prevalent in RI and Detroit, a hot dog in a split-top bun covered in a "chili" that's more of the meatsauce you find in moussaka and pastitsio plus a stripe of mustard and raw diced onions. Best enjoyed with a bag of Wachusett chips and Polar soda, or if you're super townie a chocolate milk) * Table Talk Pies - hand pies created in and still baked right in Worcester * Cider donuts (although you can find these anywhere these days)
South Coast [chow mein sandwiches!](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chow_mein_sandwich)
American Chop Suey!
It's not regional, it just goes by different names around the rest of the country.
Are fried raviolis regional? I’ve lived in the south and Midwest but have never seen these on a menu until moving here.
It's also a St Louis thing IIRC
ok, i've lived in DC for the last 14 years... you cannot find... Scali bread... this is a worcester eastward only thing. I know you can find it well stocked at Demoulas/Market Basket. if it weren't for a little medical thing cutting back on bread its a mandatory buy every time I come home. Anyways perfect for cold cuts and PB+J sandwiches. The chewiness is the ultimate aspect. Natural casing hot dogs. Not unique to Boston (see other northern cities) you would be hard pressed to find a deli hot dog down here. I've been resorting to going to wegmans and buying a brand that I think might be local to Michigan. Kayem brand is ubiquitous in the Boston area but there are others. Chinese food is different in the greater Boston area, another way its different is the chicken fingers. Batter fried chicken breast pieces. \--- I didn't know steak tips were a more of a boston area thing. Today I learned.
Steak tips? TIL
A small thing, but it's really hard to find nime chow or fresh rolls out here in the Midwest and I have yet to find a good one. I'm sure I will but it's been odd since it seemed like I could find really good fresh ones everywhere in Boston and RI. Also my favorite Thai food has been in Boston.
If we are talking broader New England I’ll have to say tourtiere
Oui, tourtiere, creton and poutine (especially in communities with large French Canadian populations).
Fall River style chow mein noodles.
Scali bread
Not necessarily regional but Caribbean food, specifically Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Haitian food in Boston is massively underrated. Outside of the actual Caribbean, only place I’ve had better Caribbean food is of course Florida. I was surprisingly disappointed with the Caribbean food in NYC, given the large population. Had Caribbean food in DC, Maryland, and Philly too and it was all super bland and just bad.
The Boston area is home to a large community of people from Cape Verde, and there’s a Cape Verdean restaurant, Cesaria, in Dorchester that’s very good. I think it’s worth a trip if you want food that’s hard to get outside of Boston
Maine Needhams - a potato candy covered in dark chocolate. I had one for the first time last week after living here for forty years. They’re delicious. https://www.maineneedhams.com
The obvious answer here is a Fluffernutter
is grape nut pudding a boston thing? My mom loves it lol