Map: The most distinctive menu items in every state

Minnesotans order walleye. Pennsylvania eats a lot of hoagies. Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas really love ranch dressing. Fast Company magazine's FastCo.Design and food trend tracker Food Genius teamed up to make this map of the most distinctive food on restaurant menus in every state:

(Gus Wezerek/FastCo.Design with Food Genius data)

These aren't the most popular foods in every state, but the foods that are much more common in menus in those states than they are in the rest of the country. (Here's why interesting maps need to rely on this kind of methodology.)

The interactive version, at Fast Company's website, is much richer — it adds the most distinctive descriptors and preparation methods, as well as menu items. So in Nebraska you're more likely to order something "creamy," "smothered," and "delicious," whereas in California you're more likely to be offered something "vegetarian" with "avocado" or a "green salad."

We're here to shed some clarity

One of our core beliefs here at Vox is that everyone needs and deserves access to the information that helps them understand the world, regardless of whether they can pay for a subscription. With the 2024 election on the horizon, more people are turning to us for clear and balanced explanations of the issues and policies at stake. We’re so grateful that we’re on track to hit 85,000 contributions to the Vox Contributions program before the end of the year, which in turn helps us keep this work free. We need to add 2,500 contributions this month to hit that goal. Will you make a contribution today to help us hit this goal and support our policy coverage? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via