What State Has the Best Food? Americans Have Spoken (But Will You Like the Answer?)

Guess which one is the most “smug?”

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A new survey commissioned by the meal kit company HelloFresh found that Americans feel California has the best food in the country. So, I guess we’re just lucky that nobody in California has a huge ego and a sense of superiority that could be fueled by this information, right?

The question was part of a survey that asked 5,000 Americans – spilt evenly among all 50 states – about their preferences and attitudes about home cooking.

The rest of the top five states turned out to be New York, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. And Louisiana was reported to be the most confident in their own cuisine, as 94 percent declared their state as the best. (Personally—as a Californian who’s eaten some of my favorite meals of all time in New Orleans—I think their confidence is completely justified.)

But what is California cuisine, anyway?

While many of the answers of California must have come from other states, what do Californian’s think of their own cuisine? Well, the survey also asked each state’s respondents what flavor or dish they thought best represented their state. And their response wasn’t some fancy fusion cuisine or Beverly Hills dish, but just “Mexican food,” “burgers,” and “shrimp tacos.” And as someone who spends a sizeable amount of my life in line at Del Taco and In-N-Out, I have to agree.

If you’re curious, the Louisiana respondents listed “crawfish, Cajun cuisine, and gumbo” which definitely tracks. Most of the other responses were pretty standard, like Vermont’s “pancakes with maple syrup” or Illinois’ “deep dish pizza and Chicago-style hot dogs.” Idaho just has “potatoes,” which is very on brand.

But the most intriguing entry for me was Minnesota, which listed one of their dishes as a “Juicy Lucy,” which turned out to be type of stuffed-cheese burger popular in Minneapolis. Sounds like California might need to step up its burger game.