Taste Of America: The Most Loved Cuisines Across States

When it comes to American food culture, the United States is often described as a melting pot, soup bowl, or salad—each of these metaphors reflects the vast diversity of cultures found across every state, introducing a new cuisine or flavor to the country. From fine dining to fast food, international restaurants offer endless arrays of delicious meals and snacks. But which ones are most popular?

Despite our country’s amazing diversity, American cuisine is the go-to choice in 46 states, reflecting the nation’s love for classic, hearty dishes. This down-home cooking and quick restaurant style offers abundant options all over the country. However, a few states picked something else as their top choice.

Mexican food ranked the highest in four states: California, New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. It is no surprise that Mexican dishes are a staple in these regions since they have a very high population of people with roots in Central America. Likewise, Hawaii also diverged from the expected path to pick native Hawaiian food as its favorite, with about 673 authentic restaurants offering diverse Hawaiian delicacies.

The popular cuisines understandably have the most restaurants across the country. Naturally, states with higher populations have more eateries and a broader range of cuisines.

When it comes to dining out in the US, American food tops the list with a whopping 124,102 restaurants nationwide. Here is a look at the states where the highest restaurant numbers are found:

• California: 11,375
• Texas: 8,448
• Florida: 8,117
• New York: 7,406

The next most popular is Mexican food, which also enjoys higher representation in big states such as:

• California: 16,518
• Texas: 14,197
• Florida: 3,601
• New York: 3,189

Following American and Mexican cuisines, the next top three most popular cuisines by restaurant numbers are Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. Italian and Chinese have approximately 36,000 locations each, while Japanese boasts 19,618 restaurants across the country. 

When you consider the top 10, a few unexpected contenders sneak into the list: Mediterranean, Vietnamese, and Southern-style cooking. The diversity in food choices continues when we look up the top 20 list. For example, Korean has 6,294, Cajun has 5,456, and Soul Food and Middle Eastern have 3,899 and 3,508 restaurants, respectively.

While the ‘most popular’ designation included what many United States residents consider standard fare, less common cuisines also get considerable recognition. Upon considering the cuisines represented in the US, 24 are the most highly-rated in at least one of the 50 states. The findings were diverse and fascinating, with no clear winner emerging. 

For instance, Ethiopian food came out as a favorite in five states. Meanwhile, four states each picked Middle Eastern, Puerto Rican, Peruvian, and Venezuelan foods. Latin American cuisine, in particular, shines brightly, with 18 of the highest-rated cuisines across the United States, found primarily in the West and South. There is no doubt that Latin American cuisine’s popularity is a result of the influence of southern immigrants throughout US history till date.

In Nevada and Idaho, German food claimed the top spot. Remote Alaskans and the region of Wyoming favored Himalayan/Nepalese dishes, perhaps indicating a preference among colder, more sparsely settled regions of the world. 

Surprisingly, some unexpected cuisines emerged as the most highly-rated in certain states: Polish food in Connecticut, Egyptian dishes in California, and Ukrainian cuisine in Illinois.

Interestingly enough, some of the most popular cuisines in the USA did not score the highest ratings in terms of enjoyment or quality. In terms of the number of restaurants, American, Mexican, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine took the highest spots. However, some were also on the lowest-rated list alongside Cantonese, Tex-Mex, and Mongolian dishes.

The highest-rated cuisines came from the list of uncommon options. Polish cuisine led with an impressive average rating of 4.52, followed by Ukrainian, Venezuelan, Uzbek, and Ethiopian cuisines. It seems as though the lack of popularity of these dishes contributes to the fewer number of restaurants trying harder to offer high quality to stand out.

The soaring popularity of food trucks across the United States makes them a key player in our explorations and findings about international cuisine. These mobile kitchens, often found in bustling urban centers with higher populations, serve a wide variety of dishes to a diverse clientele. Unsurprisingly, American and Mexican cuisines top the charts, being the only two with food truck representation in all states plus Washington, DC.

American cuisine, the most popular overall, also shines in the food truck arena. The highest rating came from Minnesota at 4.93, down to 3.64 in Kentucky. Texas had the most American food trucks – 107, undoubtedly influenced by its large population.

The least represented cuisines for food trucks include:

• Taiwanese: 9
• Afghan: 9
• Persian/Iranian: 7
• Ethiopian: 7
• Portuguese: 1 in Hawaii
• British: 5
• Canadian: 2 in Oregon
• Irish: 1 in Tennessee

With the vast range of diverse cuisines all across the United States, there are several surprises. Although Americans, Mexicans, Italians, Chinese, and Japanese dominate the food scene in the US, the country’s melting pot of culture offers so much more. Here are some fun facts that can open your eyes to new opportunities in your area or possibly uncover an untapped market.

• Caribbean cuisine has 4,362 restaurants spread across the entire country. Wyoming is the only state without a single Caribbean restaurant; Idaho has only one - Bearlake Munchies, while Alaska, despite its remoteness, has two.

• Hawaiian food, a top 20 contender, has more dining establishments in California than in its native Hawaii. South Dakota has no Hawaiian restaurant at all, which makes sense as not many native Hawaiians move to this cold and remote northern state , while Wyoming has just one - Honolulu Poke & Ramen.

• North Dakota shares a problem similar to Hawaii. Only one Korean restaurant called SOHO 23 exists with no Middle Eastern cuisine at all. In general, food from the Middle East is not very popular outside major population centers. South Dakota and Alaska have only one each - Khorasan Kabob House in Sioux Falls and Shiva Boom in Homer.
  

• Greek food ranked 16th on the restaurant list but has a minimal presence in some states. South Dakota and Wyoming each have only one Greek restaurant - Nick's Gyros in Sioux Falls and Renzios Greek Food in Cheyenne. Vermont has four, North Dakota has six, and Delaware boasts eight.

• French food sits at number 22 on the total restaurant numbers list, but only one exists in South Dakota: the Belle Fourche Bakery.

• Bengali food holds the title of the least popular cuisine type in the USA, with only five existing in the whole country. New York has two, while Arizona, Texas, and Michigan have one each.

The distribution of international cuisine mirrors immigration patterns and population numbers. It makes sense that a state with more residents from a specific part of the world would naturally have more eateries owned, operated, and visited by those residents. However, in this great melting pot of a country, adventuresome diners can find unique fare almost everywhere.