what foods does your city have that mine doesn't?

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i live in rochester ny and we have things like white hot dogs, franks hot sauce, a tons of other sauces for chicken wings, meat hot sauce, french onion dip, etc. etc.
my sister came to visit from south carolina. she brought some kinda cheese spread that i wish i could buy up here. it got me thinking that there has to be tons of foods in our country alone that arent in the major grocery chains. so here is the question. where do you live and what kind of foods does your area have? for example, rochester has a thing called a garbage plate. its 2 hots or cburgers with fries, mac salad with meat hot sauce all over it. perfect @ 2am. i'm almost positive that no place else has that. so....is there a spice rub that everyone in atlanta uses or bottled sauce that you can only get in say, utah.?

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I live in the Los Angeles area. I would imagine it is a different as night from day from Rochester NY

I was in Buffalo NY last year. The dinner served us (ox roast?) was something we have never experienced before.

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Arepas, sancocho, smoked lung, aguardiente, tamales in banana leaves...

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Lebanon bologna & sweet Lebanon bologna, Tastykakes, hoagie spread, PA Dutch Chicken Pot Pie and all the UTZ's snack foods I can eat. Plus when deer season is in
deer bologna and deer jerky.

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thankfully we still have regional differences.

if I wanna eat at home - I'll stay at home.

but the mash-up possibilities are interresting. Cinci Chili in Berkeley, fish tacos on the Youper? NOLA Schnitzel? 

I might try 'em.

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Welcome to CH, atom1980.
I've never been to Rochester, so I couldn't say with certainty, but...
Bagels with smoked whitefish
True Neapolitan-style pizza and NY-style pizza slice 

I imagine there are plenty of things that NYC generally does better than Rochester, but as for foods you absolutely couldn't getup there, I bet the list is short.

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what's a white hot dog?

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Currywurst. Döner Kebab. Eisbein mit Sauerkraut. Schrippen (crappy breakfast rolls).

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Cheerwine.

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Pad Thai with ketchup added.

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I worked in Rochester for a bit and had a hard time finding decent Indian or proper vegetarian fare other than the bottomless salad bowl at Olive Garden. But once I returned home to NYC, I was fixated on the garbage plate and white hots. I have been looking for a place ever since then to feed my addiction!

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Actual, authentic, delicious deep dish pizza from guess where! :)

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Green chile, thin or thicker, with or without pork.

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Chitlins...boiled peanuts...Sun Drop.

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I am looking forward to visiting West Virginia this weekend & eating pepperoni rolls. :-D

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Eastern NC bbq (vinegar based)
Mt Olive pickles

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Rattlesnake, locally harvested mesquite honey, cactus pads sold in the produce section, locally grown black sphynx dates (which are positively to die for), olive oil produced from locally grown olives.

We also have Frank's hot sauce though (that stuff is awesome and in my pantry), Lebanon bologna (also awesome), Wisconsin cheese curds.

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Beijing duck

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I moved from Milwaukee to Rochester in 1965 when I was 11. I can still remember going to Don & Bob's for the first time, seeing the white hots on the griddle and thinking, "Cool! They have bratwurst here!" My parents did their best to convince me that I shouldnt order one, but I would have none of that. Well, a white hot is no bratwurst. Their burgers were great (I think--it's been 40 years since I've had one), and fondly recall the counter people yelling back to the grill people, "TWO GROUND, TWO! ONE RED HOT, ONE!"

I also remember ball donuts, something I have not seen in any other city to this day.

While there are brands that are unique to the Milwaukee area (I returned here in 1969), I cant think of any products that are strictly unique. Being a dairy state, there will be more varieties of cheese than average; with a German/Polish heritage, there are more varieties of sausage; the Catholic heritage has left a legacy of Friday Night Fish Fries (and church bingo games). They still brew some beer here.

But I have never had a creme puff like the ones at Wisconsin State Fair anywhere else.

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Both my home towns:

Corner Brook, Newfoundland (Canada)-cods' tongues, cod's cheeks, seal flipper pie
Toronto-Butter Tarts, Tiny Toms Hot Donuts

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*Maple candies(ok , you can get these in NH and VT as well, but they're definetly a Northeast thing) One of my favorite sweets...
*Italian sandwiches- don't know why they are called that, but that's what the sub shops in Maine call deli meat, cheeese and veggies in a sub roll with oil, salt and pepper.
*Lobster rolls at McDonald's. 


That's all I can come up with at this moment in time!

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The cheese spread your sister brought up was likely pimento cheese. Very common down here in the South. 

In my hometown in central PA, every Italian resto and family cans their own Italian peppers. These are banana peppers sliced and cooked w/ garlic and spices. Some folks add sliced olives & mushrooms. You then can them w/ an olive oil blend. They are served w/ italian bread to start a meal. They are also eaten on salads and hoagies. I'm fairly certain that you can't find these peppers anywhere else. It's just a regional pa thing. It's funny b/c everyone swears they make the best peppers. People talk about each other's peppers. It's a competition. 

Shoe Fly Pie!

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nyc - the egg cream (but it's going the way of the dodo i fear)

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The only thing Chicago has, that I cant find a good version of anywhere else, is the Italian Beef Sandwich, or the Beef and Sausage Combo, both with sweet and hot peppers.

Many people think Chicago is pizza and hotdogs, I dont.., every city has hotdogs, and pizza, and I dont think Chicago's pizza is anything special.

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NJ sloppy joes.
Pork Roll.
Italian Hot Dogs.
Italian Subs. (HSP let, tom, onion, O&V, S&P, Oregano)

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I'll give a couple of examples of food two cities have that nobody had, but now everyone has. I live in Houston, and in the late 70's and early 80's I visited Rochester and upstate New York on numerous occasions and had heard of Buffalo wings. Naively, I asked in Rochester where to get them, and was told Buffalo, go figure. Anyway, I went to Anchor Bar in Buffalo, wonderful. At the same time, beef fajitas were becoming popular at a hole in the wall called Ninfas, on Navigation Blvd. in east Houston. At the time they were called tacos ala Ninfa and were made with ribeye and would melt in your mouth on wonderful soft flour tortillas. They actually migrated from south Texas/northern Mexico but were popularized here. By the way, there is no such thing as a chicen or shrimp fajita, it is a misnomer, named by whom, I don't know.

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Pig ear sandwiches- never seen 'em outside of Mississippi. Same thing with Koolickles...

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I live in the Detroit area now where Vernor's ginger ale is unique However, I was born and raised in Overland Park, Kansas and I still crave Ott's salad dressing. It is made in Carthage, MO. and there's nothing like it. It's kinda like French or Russian but special. I've never seen it out of the Kansas City area. We mail order it.
Bob

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Pimiento cheese - never met anybody from outside the South who knew what it was - but they take to it on introduction. Brunswick stew. Muffaletta sandwiches. Gumbo. Calas (sweet rice fritters) from New Orleans, chess pie, ramps, grits, country ham, biscuits 'n' gravy with sausage, pralines, chicken-fried steak, catfish 'n' hushpuppies, sorghum pie, fried green tomatoes, deviled eggs, cream of peanut soup, pepper vinegar, cracklin' cornbread, pickled peaches, saw mill gravy, fried pies, beignets, stack cake, breakfast shrimp, she-crab soup, sweet potato pie, Moon Pies, jambalaya, poke, shuck beans, red beans 'n' rice, Key Lime pie. I cheated, in that I didn't limit it to a single city.

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From Buffalo, live on Long Island. Buffalo has better wings than anywhere else (at least true Franks Hot Sauce Buffalo wings -- Rochester has great alternatives like country sweet); also Sahlens/Ted's hot dogs, Anderson's custard and curly-q fries, beef on weck, sponge candy, Friday fish fry with Haddock as the fish. Long Island - Pizza's pretty good, but not really unique.

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The deep-fried cheese curds at the Minnesota State Fair!!!!! They just drip grease but they are heavenly. I find it terribly hard to believe that there are areas of this country that don't have cheese curds but I've heard they exist.

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hot oil pizza at the colony in stamford, connecticut.
it is unique.

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As an ex-NYer now living in Central FL...the humble NYC hard roll.

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You're not too far from Buffalo, where we've got real chicken wings (sadly not those at Anchor Bar), real frozen custard (such a hard find elsewhere!), Weber's mustards, and of course Beef on 'Weck! 

I used to live in Lafayette, LA, where we had Turducken for Thanksgiving and boiled crawfish with special dipping sauce every day from February through June...Also, some good dirty rice with a deep, dark roux-based gumbo? Delicious!

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In Rochester you folks actually do pretty well. What in the world is out there that you can't get at Wegmans? Hmmm.

You can't get decent fried clams, that's for sure.

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Do you have Taylor Ham ? It is also known as Pork Roll.

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Smoked Goldeye,......... From the Province of Manitoba, Canada

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Japanese food and Indian food. Rochester has it, but it's not that great. 
I lived in the ROC for about 7 years and I really miss The Flour City Diner and Pellegrino's. 
Oh yeah, you have greek places that we don't. Although I heard Mykonos went to new management and is now half italian/half greek and all bad, true?

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Olympic Peninsula, WA: Salmon Jerky. Not as vile as it sounds. 
Lotsa places also serve freshly shucked oysters in a silo cup with very horserashy cocktail sauce layered in. SO good.

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Vegemite
Meat pies
Chicko rolls
Pine Lime Splices
Chokito bars
Violet Crumble
Yabbies
'Roo
Emu
Buffalo

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I cannot believe that someone from St Louis has not mentioned Provel Cheese....unique to "St Louis Style Pizza" which is to die for. (Unless you're not from St Louis, in which case you'll find it vile.)

Alas, I live in Arizona now and have to have my St Louis Style pizza with Provel cheese FedEx'd to me.

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Easter North Carolina BBQ baby! And the best damn Eastern European food this side of Berlin at J Betskis.

Steve Chernick, Raleigh, NC

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Tucson has its own style of Sonoran Mexican food. It's a little bit different everywhere else. Not to say that it's al the same everywhere else- every area has its own style.

Does anybody have a cheese tostada/cheese crisp (big flour tortilla broiled or fried with melted cheese and sometimes green chiles on top) available at restaurants? It's served on a raised tray over the center of the table. Huge gut bomb and it's the absolute best.

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Los Angeles - Sand Dabs = a West Coast fish of the Flounder family. Not fantastic, but very enjoyable. I've done a food search for it on Menupages in NYC and no place has it.

Next Time you watch the "Spirit of St. Louis" with Jimmy Stewart, you see the head of the airplane manufacturer co. cooking them up on a piece of sheet metal using a blow tourch.

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i'm not in america can i still play? obviously here in oz we have vegimite, tim tams, vanilla slices, lamingtons, ausome meat pies, sausage rolls, sausage sizzles, etc but here in Melbourne we can get fresh castlemaine dips with 100% real ingredients (there hummus is mostly chickpeas with just a little garlic and lemon) and we have some awesome local cheeses such as meredith dairy producers (oh my the feta) and holy goat goat cheeses, and we have lots of amazing artisian and organic bread makers ( phillipas, purple goddess you probably know what i mean!) and we have some beasutiful fresh fish such as blue grenadier and nile perch as well as sydney rock oysters and tassie ones too! Go Melbourne!

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Salt fish & potatoes w/ pork scraps; old style Maine, hard to find today. Fried calms, lobster roll, bean hole beans, red snapper hot dogs.

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Meat Pie floater. Chunky steak meat pie in a bowl of pea soup, brilliant

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Another vote for pork roll
and of course Disco fries

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OK, here's some more: smoked shark, roasted white maize (on sticks), sandwich Cubano, borojo drinks (a foul fruit that makes you "strong"), champurado, and pan de bono made from cassava. Worst is "salsa rosada" a nationally manufactured "pink sauce" that is a mixture of mayo and ketchup. Best is that people know how to eat whole fish - although it is often deep fried tilapia.

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Middletown, CT is the home of steamed cheeseburgers and scacciata (Melilli, Sicily is our sister city).

Here's some steamed cheeseburger history for ya! My uncle's place (Alfredo's Riverside, now closed) used to make them. Brian O'Rourke of O'Rourke's Diner still does.
http://davescupboard.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-praise-of-steamed-cheeseburgers.html

And that's one more thing Middletown has that your city may not--the best little hometown diner in the world--one that literally rose from the ashes after a tragic fire, rebuilt with help from the local community who rallied to make it so. Brian O'Rourke has an exceptionally creative culinary mind and a big heart...a part of which goes into all of his creations. As you'll hear him say about his specials, "There's a lot of love in that dish!"
http://www.roadage.com/portfolio/subpages/editorial/dne-orourkes.html

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Atom, I lived in Rochester for two years as a child and my memory is that sometimes Rochestarians didn't necessarily eat different foods but sometimes called them by different names (different to my Midwestern ears). A hot dog was a hot or a Texas hot. A doughnut was a fried cake. There were wonderful sandwich steaks called Dream Steaks and a frozen confection called Frosted Malted that I have never found anywhere else. At a bakery my mother used to buy spice cake with chocolate icing, something else I've never run into since, and very good. And all the kids I knew ate salt on apples and pretzels with ice cream. Re the cheese your sister brought, I wonder if it may have been Pimiento Cheese, very popular in the South. If so, I can post a recipe for it.

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SOUTHERN-STYLE PIMIENTO CHEESE: Process in Cuisinart 8-12 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese with 3 oz cream cheese, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 1/2-1 tsp dry Coleman's mustard powder, a pinch of hot red pepper. When it's smooth, add 1/2-1 cup canned pimientos and process briefly to whomp them up. Taste and correct---should taste intensely cheesey and have a little bite to it. This is addictive. You will not be able to walk past the refrigerator without grabbing some.

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Have'a Chips.

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Montreal, land of poutine, smoked meat, tourtiere, steamed hot dogs, maple syrup - sugar - butter, REAL bagels,

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I scratched my head reading through this thread, and I have to say, as enormous as the Greater Toronto Area is (population around 6 million), I can't think of anything that is uniquely Toronto. Other posters have mentioned peameal (or "back") bacon, but that is available all through Ontario, and certainly didn't originate in Toronto. Ditto for butter tarts (and the best aren't found in Toronto, as a search through the Ontario board will show). 

We have a wide variety of tremendous food in Toronto from all corners of the globe, but the closest thing I could think of to a truly unique Toronto food was the apple fritters at Tim Horton's pre-Wendy's. They were big, filled with apple chunks, and delicious. The smaller version with less fruit now available is a pale comparison to the original.

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These are somewhat more regional than city-specific, but a few I thought of are Maid-Rite sandwiches in Iowa (Rosanne called them loose meat sandwiches); horseshoes in Decatur, IL (open faced sandwhich - usually hamburger or ham - topped with french fries and drowned in chees sause, aka melted CheezWhiz); toasted ravioli in St. Louis. 20 years ago there used to be a lot more, but now it seems like you can get almost anything anywhere.

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Albuquerque. The Frontier Restaurant on Central Ave across from UNM: a bowl of green chile or a green burrito for breakfast. Soppapaillas and green chile stuffed soppappailas. We will be there this Saturday!

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sand dabs
real cobb salad
real french dip sandwiches (just at COle's or Philippes)
Koji truck tacos with bulgoki
Grapefruit Cake (brown derby style)
date shakes

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Unless you live in East Asia, your city probably doesn't have an okonomiyaki place where you cook it yourself on a teppan grill!

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Fiddleheads
Caesar (Bloody Mary with clam juice)
Poutine (French fries, cheese curds and gravy - OK, this is mainly Québecois)
Fish and Brewis (Ditto, from Newfoundland - absolutely poisonous, salt cod, hard bread, and pork bits and fat - but delicious!
Peameal back bacon - not the stuff called "Canadian bacon" in the US)
Coffee Crisp

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i'm a lifelong californian, but lived temporarily in utah from january through mid-may. i discovered fry sauce, which i have never seen anywhere else. it's a ketchup-mayo mix with spices served with french fries. it's sold in stores there and served in all restaurants. families even have their own recipes.

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I live in the U.P of Michigan, and it would have to be cudighi's and pasties!

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Stewart's ice cream, yum! I love the carrot cake flavor! Afghan cuisine, also very yum! Savory crepes, that you can't find anywhere south of Monteral. And White Eagle hot dogs with the sheep casings yummmm..... the hot dog so good it doesn't need anything on it.

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OPIHI!!!!

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Knott's Boysenberry punch
Boysenberry pie
Clearmans cheesespread. Okay so it's available in markets now but it started in the area. 
http://www.clearmansrestaurants.com/cheesespread.html

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This is an old post, but I'm from Halifax and need to add donairs to the list. Other places have something they call donairs, and some people say it is the same as a Gyro, but anyone from Halifax will tell you they are not the same anywhere else. It is the sauce that is different, as here it is sweet and vinegary but NOT garlicy at all. Yum!

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Christmas every day of the year! In New Mexico, if one is asked if they prefer red or green chile on their enchilada, burrito, stuffed sopaippila, etc. and one answers, "Gimme Christmas", it means both read and green chile.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Dumkeg

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Des Moines area;
Taylor's Maid-rites in Marshalltown, Pella Dutch letters & ring bologna, AE cottage cheese, dips, sour cream, etc. (I ship to my sis in Vegas), Grimes sweet corn. Maytag bleu from the farm-store in Newton. 

IMO, the best local is Graziano Brother's Itailian sausage and South Union Bread.
Hammy

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Stamford, Connecticut has the Colony Grill. The Colony is a neighborhood bar that came up with a cracker thin, hot oil pizza.

The Colony has been around since the 1930's. They sweep the place out every now and then. 

Edited to add: seems I responded a few years back.

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Shrimp and grits. Delicious.

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That "some kind of cheese spread" your sister brought up is likely pimento cheese. Always better homemade than bought. A search here on Chowhound should produce great recipes for you to try.

That is... in case you haven't already in the last three years. ; )

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Gardena, CA
A suburb in Los Angeles with some of the best delicious/authentic hawaiian and japanese food in the states including hand rolled udon, homemade tofu, yakitori from every part of the chicken imaginable, Takoyaki something usually not found outside of Osaka, shabu shabu, fresh cut sushi from Marukai market. For Hawaiin food we have King's (hawaiin bread french toast!), Bruddahs, and a locals only place at Gardena Bowl. I'm not even asian but I miss my hometown foods :-)....live in boston now

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When I lived in Adelaide, South Australia, the locals were fond of pie floaters, especially after the pubs closed and you needed food in you prior to going home. Take a traditional meat pie, flip it upside down on top of pea soup and splash tomato sauce (catsup) on top. Yum. When I get the craving I go to the Tuc Shop in NYC and ask them to float my pie. Heaven.

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Toronto - The Jamaican beef patty. Ground beef and spices in a yellow semicircle pastry. Cheap, tasty and ubiquitous .

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Completely forgot... (old thread though)... chili size. (just a few places still serve this).
that's all. a dish called "chili size."

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In the town I live, Clams (for the picking, if you so desire)Oysters and Lobsters right off the boat. Arguably the best pizza is in nearby New Haven, with white clam casino pizza a local specialty.

Foxon Park sodas, made in East Haven- still made with real sugar

Hot buttered lobster rolls in CT and all seafood, often fried, are regional staples.

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Lubbock, Texas:

August Fried Pies in about eight different flavors

Goodart's Peanut Patties

Lots of good, but not spectacular BBQ

Chicken fried steak was supposedly invented 50 miles south of here in Lamesa. It's certainly a local fav, and many places make a very good CFS.

According to many well traveled Texans, Lubbock has the best Thai food in the Lone Star State.

Green chile chicken linguini at Orlando's on Avenue Q.

The pizza at One Guy's on 50th.

Carnitas at Cancun on Slide.

The Smokin' Mad Jack sandwich at Gardski's Loft.

The Chicken 65, Chili Chicken and spinach pakoras at Sri Maharaja. I've been to Indian restaurants all over the western hemisphere, and I'm not sure I've found a better one than Sri Maharaja. 

There are many classic Texas burger stands in Lubbock. A classic Texas burger features a thin, wide patty; lots of mustard; diced onion; minced iceberg lettuce, and a slice or two of tomato on a lightly toasted bun. Samburgers makes the best example of this specialty, IMO.

The enchiladas here are superb. Plain ol' beef or cheese are featured.

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Boiled peanuts. All over Georgia.

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Green chile...with or in basically everything.

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I love this topic and strive to try all of the regional specialities whenever I travel. It sounds like there are so many delicious places I have yet to visit. That said, although it is mentioned previously in this thread, I think we have many unique options in and around my home in Pittsburgh. The most distinctly mentionable, to me, would be:

Primanti's Sandwiches - originally devised in the Strip District, as a handheld meal for truckers, this sandwich consists of meat, cheese, fries, coleslaw and tomato, all between two thick slices of Italian bread.

Chipped Ham - Isaly's deli serves their deli ham, which is not particularly distinctive, sliced thinly and chopped. The preparation of the ham is unique to Pittsburgh and is the definitive choice for another Pittsburgh tradition: ham BBQ, which is Isaly's chipped ham stewed in BBQ sauce and served as a sandwich, in a burger bun, often with a slice of American cheese.

Turkey Devonshire - This open face turkey sandwich is very similar to the Hot Brown out of Louisville and consists of roast turkey on a slice of toast smothered with cream sauce and topped with several slices of bacon.

Heinz Ketchup - The Heinz company has gone global, so to speak, but they started here, still make their corporate headquarters here, and make the only ketchup worthy of consumption.

Klondike Bar - this chocolate-coated vanilla ice cream bar has also found its way across much of the country at some point in the not-too-distant past, but the treat originally called Pittsburgh home.

City Chicken - is actually pork skewers, usually breaded and baked. This should've never become a thing.

Iron City Beer - The main brewery, here in Pittsburgh, is actually not operational, though several plans to restart it have been discussed, but the beer has a strong heritage in Pittsburgh. Iron City Lager, IC Light, and their related brands, are all actually produced about 30 miles away, in Latrobe, PA, at the original Rolling Rock brewery.

Duquesne Beer - "The Prince of Pilsner." It's back, baby!

Pittsburgh Salad - This behemoth of a salad includes greens, meat, french fries, cheese, bacon, hardboiled egg, onion, tomato, bread crumbs, and often a host of other ingredients, usually with a healthy dose of ranch dressing.

Pittsburgh Rare - is a common way to order steak. It's not particularly unique to the city, but the term has gained general acceptance throughout much of the country, in my experience. The steak is scorched, actually burned, on the outside, bloody and rare on the inside.

Wedding Soup - I doubt the veracity of this, but I have heard Italian Wedding Soup described as a dish originating in southwestern PA. It's basically greens cooked in chicken broth with meatballs and, oftenly, small pasta such as pastina.

Wedding Cookies - This food tradition, which consists of tables full of cookie trays set out at weddings, is certainly unique to this region. 

Smiley Cookies - A staple of Eat n' Park, a Pittsburgh institution, the cookies are sugar cookies with white icing and a smiley face painted on with icing.

Fried Fish Sandwiches - are particularly loved around here. Usually it's cod, battered and deep fried. The filet is usually around a foot in length and overhangs the traditional hamburger bun substantially. Most often the sandwich gets a healthy dose of tartar sauce.

Eastern European foods - are, generally, much more prevalent around here than elsewhere in the nation. Specifically, I'm thinking of pierogies, kielbasa, haluski, stuffed cabbage, and sausage & peppers. 

Clark Bar - this chocolate-coated candy bar was created by the Clark Co., here in Pittsburgh.

Pepperoni Rolls - while not unique to Pittsburgh, I think the dish actually orginated in the region but further to the south, the delicious cheese and meat creation, baked in pizza dough and served with marinara sauce for dipping, is certainly popular here, and Mancini's makes a great variation.

Coney Dogs - this tradition is actually from a bit to the north, New Castle, to be specific, and not terribly distinctive. There are similar forms of this hot dog with meat sauce creation to be found in Cincinnati, New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, and in many other places throughout the country, BUT ... the meat sauce is absolutely unique to New Castle.

Big Mac - McDonald's signature sandwich was invented less than ten miles north of the city, in the North Hills of Pittsburgh.

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No one is speaking up for Nag's Head, North Carolina. It's not my city, but when I visited and went to just the local little cafe on the pier that had no tourist draw, I had not only I believe rice grits but eggs with either herring roe or the local blueback herring - (maybe not local anymore but still eaten), which had been preserved by salting and then soaked for use. Wasthe most japanese tasting non-japanese thing i've ever eaten.
And delicious.

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Ikra ... the Romanian/Israeli version of taramasalata. It's a spread or dip that tastes like cream cheese and lox. What it actually is is a mayonnaise, only made with minced onions and tiny fish eggs instead of chicken eggs.

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Cretons, but many cities in New England with large French Canadian populations have this. More of a regional thing than a city thing.

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Pasties and cudighi here in the U.P.

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Nashville -- hot chicken

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Uh, "candied scorpions?"

Hunt

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this posting is 4 years old and i never put my two cents (or 2 dollars) in on behalf of hawaii?

first we have spam. now i know you all think you have spam too. But in Hawaii we actually like it and put it in everything from musubi to saimin to omelets. Nothing like a spam and egg sandwich.

Then there are all the modern adaptations of traditional hawaiian foods. Lau Lau, kalua pork (steamed pork), pipikaula (jerky), poke (chopped seasoned raw fish) haupia (coconut pudding).

Then we have the hapa (mixed) foods like saimin, chicken long rice, lomi salmon, etc.

Then there are things that may be in your city but aren't too common like chinese cracked seed, pickled dried fruit, etc. I think Hawaii has more unique food per capita than almost any place else in the world.

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Pretty sure Rochester probably isn't a hotbed for...

Uni (we can even get it at our local farmers markets)
Carne Asada burritos (meat + guac + pico, no rice, no beans)
California Burrito (same as above exept with french fries added)
Craft beer capital of the U.S.
Lamb barbacoa + huitlacoche tacos & quesadillas

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Here in Tampa, Crab Chilau is one of those old recipes which is rarely cooked...

Here's one recipe, via Andy Huse... 

http://cltampa.com/dailyloaf/archives/2010/05/06/tampa-bay-foodways-crab-and-community-simmered-by-the-beach-with-a-recipe-for-crab-chilau#.UAZ0avmet_4

Also Crab Croquettes/cakes, and our version of the Cuban sandwich.

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Seattle style hot dogs -- polish sausage with cream cheese, sriracha, and grilled onions. Sometimes bacon bits, several other condiments/toppings are also available. Cream cheese is the most definitive part of it though. Sold at hot dog stands around the city, most frequently eaten by the post-clubbing 2am drunk crowd.

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Well in Quebec we have dish called poutine. Not sure if it has become popular where you live. It is home fries, curd cheese and topped with steaming gravy.

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One of the most delicious things to ever come out of West Virginia - pepperoni rolls.

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Pasties. At least in the UP. More dutch things near Grand Rapids.

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Manhattan Special Espresso Coffee Soda

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Here in Phoenix, which is currently being flamed in another thread (rightfully so) for it's crappy airport eats, we have the Sonoran Dog. As far as I know, you have to leave the airport to get it. 
It originated in Tucson, but can be found here. A bacon wrapped wiener with beans, diced tomatoes and onion, jalapeno sauce, mayo and mustard. A delicious heart attack on a bun.

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Crabcakes. Otterbein's cookies. Pit beef sandwiches. Fastnacht. Stuffed ham. Silver Queen corn.

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Hamburger with cheese wings, as far as I know Shady Glen in Manchester CT is the only place that makes them. http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/02/hamburger-america-shady-glen-in-manchester-connecticut.html

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Korean tacos
Kimchee pancakes

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what foods does your city have that mine doesn't?

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