4 ms·

> In an era when (white and co) americans devour all kinds of ethnic cuisines I suspect this is the case in big cities, I don't know how broadly it holds in Am

by baddox 11y ago

> In an era when (white and co) americans devour all kinds of ethnic cuisines I suspect this is the case in big cities, I don't know how broadly it holds in America. I've been in San Francisco for 4 years, so I've tried or at least been made aware of tons of ethnic cuisine, but before that I had never tried sushi and had never even seen an Indian or Thai restaurant. Perhaps the rural Midwest is the last place these things spread to. All we really had were tons of Chinese and Mexican restaurants and a smattering of French, Italian, and Japanese places, all undoubtedly as unauthentic as they come.

coldtea 11y ago
I guess it depends -- I think you can find at least one good chinese, vietnamese etc place in most major cities, including e.g. Memphis, Flagstaff, Kansas City, the quad cities etc. At least I had some in all of these. But if we're talking about rural midwest away from big cities, then you'll probably have to drive a few hours to get there. And of course even in the big midwest cities, while a few good place will exist, they wont be as popular as in NY, or SF.
- baddox 11y ago
  That sounds right. I definitely knew people growing up who would travel a couple of hours to "big" cities and visit such restaurants, but even then, it's a fairly special occasion, and not what I would consider a part of their regular diet. Contrast that with myself and my friends and colleagues in San Francisco, where Japanese/Indian/Thai/Vietnamese/etc. are regular candidates for everyday meals.
- lscharen 11y ago
  Hey, even small, remote Hackensack, MN (pop. 308) has a Thai restaurant. So it's not exactly mission impossible to find (Americanized) ethnic food in the Midwest. https://www.zomato.com/hackensack-mn/udoms-thai-restaurant-hackensack https://www.zomato.com/hackensack-mn/udoms-thai-restaurant-h...
- cableshaft 11y ago
  It's changing. I'm starting to see Japanese (well...sushi), Thai, Indian and sometimes Mediterranean restaurants pop up in smaller Midwest cities. Vietnamese still seems to be pretty uncommon, though. In the Chicago suburbs there's tons of ethnic restaurants (not as many as Chicago itself, but still a lot).
Jtsummers 11y ago
They're there, just not where you were I guess. I've seen Indian places in rural Missouri. Tibetan in rural Maine. Vietnamese and Filipino in rural Georgia. People of all nationalities are scattered throughout the US and have opened restaurants with varying degrees of fidelity to their origins in many cities and towns.
- baddox 11y ago
  I don't doubt that. I just question what percentage of Americans have these ethnic cuisines as regular parts of their diet.
- djcapelis 11y ago
  They're usually out there but so few people know where to look or bother to do so that it's pretty frequent that white American families just end up at some chain resturant instead of noticing the little Thai place around the corner. I grew up in a census designated place and there were plenty around where I was. It wasn't a super low density region or anything and a city of a few hundred thousand people was maybe a 15 minute drive. But I can't agree stronger that it isn't like you have to be in SF or NYC to get exposed to cuisines from other countries.
sp332 11y ago
Let's just say the midwest isn't great at seafood.
cbhl 11y ago
San Francisco has a dearth of new restaurant concepts because of the insane real estate market -- new restaurants stick to tried-and-true formulae (artisanal coffee, artisanal toast, $10 ravioli) because they'll go bankrupt otherwise. Local regulations also prevent foreign multinational chains from opening restaurants here, just as they prevent domestic multinationals like Wal-mart. (Din Tai Fung chose to open their new location in San Jose instead of SF.)
- mrgordon 11y ago
  I don't see how SF's anti-chain laws relate to a claimed dearth of new restaurant concepts. In fact, I feel strongly that they have the opposite effect. In fact, the overall assertion that there are a dearth of new restaurant concepts is highly suspect. I can think of recent restaurants that have opened in my immediate neighborhood that are Burmese, Indonesian vegan, Japanese, Southern, Mexican, French, Californian, Chinese / American Fusion, Thai, places where you buy tickets ahead of time versus taquerias, etc. Any city in the world dreams of this diversity in new restaurants. So while I agree that high rents are pushing up restaurant prices, I see it effecting prices rather than the types of restaurants for the most part (unless you simply mean that everything gets a bit more upscale as time goes on). I can't envision any foreign multinational chains opening up a Burmese or Indonesian vegan restaurant in northern California anytime soon regardless of anti-chain laws so we should focus on our local businesses if we want to increase diversity

by baddox 11y ago

coldtea 11y ago

I guess it depends -- I think you can find at least one good chinese, vietnamese etc place in most major cities, including e.g. Memphis, Flagstaff, Kansas City, the quad cities etc. At least I had some in all of these. But if we're talking about rural midwest away from big cities, then you'll probably have to drive a few hours to get there. And of course even in the big midwest cities, while a few good place will exist, they wont be as popular as in NY, or SF.

baddox 11y ago
That sounds right. I definitely knew people growing up who would travel a couple of hours to "big" cities and visit such restaurants, but even then, it's a fairly special occasion, and not what I would consider a part of their regular diet. Contrast that with myself and my friends and colleagues in San Francisco, where Japanese/Indian/Thai/Vietnamese/etc. are regular candidates for everyday meals.
lscharen 11y ago
Hey, even small, remote Hackensack, MN (pop. 308) has a Thai restaurant. So it's not exactly mission impossible to find (Americanized) ethnic food in the Midwest. https://www.zomato.com/hackensack-mn/udoms-thai-restaurant-hackensack https://www.zomato.com/hackensack-mn/udoms-thai-restaurant-h...
cableshaft 11y ago
It's changing. I'm starting to see Japanese (well...sushi), Thai, Indian and sometimes Mediterranean restaurants pop up in smaller Midwest cities. Vietnamese still seems to be pretty uncommon, though. In the Chicago suburbs there's tons of ethnic restaurants (not as many as Chicago itself, but still a lot).

Jtsummers 11y ago

They're there, just not where you were I guess. I've seen Indian places in rural Missouri. Tibetan in rural Maine. Vietnamese and Filipino in rural Georgia. People of all nationalities are scattered throughout the US and have opened restaurants with varying degrees of fidelity to their origins in many cities and towns.

baddox 11y ago
I don't doubt that. I just question what percentage of Americans have these ethnic cuisines as regular parts of their diet.
djcapelis 11y ago
They're usually out there but so few people know where to look or bother to do so that it's pretty frequent that white American families just end up at some chain resturant instead of noticing the little Thai place around the corner. I grew up in a census designated place and there were plenty around where I was. It wasn't a super low density region or anything and a city of a few hundred thousand people was maybe a 15 minute drive. But I can't agree stronger that it isn't like you have to be in SF or NYC to get exposed to cuisines from other countries.

sp332 11y ago

Let's just say the midwest isn't great at seafood.

cbhl 11y ago

San Francisco has a dearth of new restaurant concepts because of the insane real estate market -- new restaurants stick to tried-and-true formulae (artisanal coffee, artisanal toast, $10 ravioli) because they'll go bankrupt otherwise. Local regulations also prevent foreign multinational chains from opening restaurants here, just as they prevent domestic multinationals like Wal-mart. (Din Tai Fung chose to open their new location in San Jose instead of SF.)

mrgordon 11y ago
I don't see how SF's anti-chain laws relate to a claimed dearth of new restaurant concepts. In fact, I feel strongly that they have the opposite effect. In fact, the overall assertion that there are a dearth of new restaurant concepts is highly suspect. I can think of recent restaurants that have opened in my immediate neighborhood that are Burmese, Indonesian vegan, Japanese, Southern, Mexican, French, Californian, Chinese / American Fusion, Thai, places where you buy tickets ahead of time versus taquerias, etc. Any city in the world dreams of this diversity in new restaurants. So while I agree that high rents are pushing up restaurant prices, I see it effecting prices rather than the types of restaurants for the most part (unless you simply mean that everything gets a bit more upscale as time goes on). I can't envision any foreign multinational chains opening up a Burmese or Indonesian vegan restaurant in northern California anytime soon regardless of anti-chain laws so we should focus on our local businesses if we want to increase diversity