You can't call local specialty foods ethnic food. That's not what the phrase means. Yeah, the BBQ was good, but I didn't get the "best in the world" effect in

You can't call local specialty foods ethnic food. That's not what the phrase means. Yeah, the BBQ was good, but I didn't get the "best in the world" effect in my mouth. I once ate meat cooked by a Texan at a house party, I was seriously impressed and blown away after the first bite. This guy told me that he caters BBQ parties in Texas as a hobby. He told me about his marinade process, it bordered on science. His skill was legit. It's possible that the my Memphis friends directed me to the wrong restaurants. But if I can't trust the locals to tell me which are the best restaurants in their city, who can I trust? Plus, their opinions matched up with what I saw on Tripadvisor. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone. But I've also anecdotally found that some people who brag about their food haven't tasted food around the world, so their frame of reference is a bit limited. For example, I'll never say I've tasted really good Italian food because I've never been to Italy, and my gosh, the descriptions I hear about real Italian food blow my mind (and I think I've been to a few good Italian restaurants in North America). It's just like my high school friend once recommended a bunch of us go to the best sushi restaurant he ever tasted on the last day of school; as we ate there, the rest of us realized he had just unfortunately never been to an actually good sushi restaurant in our city. Either that, or his tongue actually couldn't tell the difference the way a tone-deaf person is incapable of hitting the right notes. I'm not trying to be condescending when I say certain people lack a good frame of reference. It's not their fault. It is what it is. I'm sorry for not being able to figure out a different way to say it.