re: LA ranked 4th best state in US for food/drink

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To add so Salmon's point, I'm about to go to lunch here in Houston and I can pick from..
sushi
indian
Chinese
lebanese
burgers
bbq
authentic mexican
tex-mex
southwestern
american delicatessen
oysters
pizza
Italian
seafood
cheese steak
steak house
Brazilian steak house
British Pub

just off the top of my head and all what I would consider true "restaurants" and not franchise type places. And within 10 mins drive from where i am.

Not sayin its the greatest but you cant throw a rock around here without hitting a damn good place to eat.

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I guess it all depends on how you value the sheer variety of food options when ranking cities in terms of best food scene. It seems to me like most major US cities are going to have a lot of options. Hell, from where I'm sitting in Baton Rouge right now, I can pick from pretty much all the places you listed within 15 minutes. And BR is by no means a major city.

I think the more important question is what unique food culture Houston has and what sort of innovation are they bringing to the table. I haven't eat there enough to really comment.

Also, Mike is definitely one of the most knowledgeable food posters on here IMO, but some reason I don't get the impression he has much respect for ethnic food.

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I think the more important question is what unique food culture Houston has and what sort of innovation are they bringing to the table.

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Agreed. In almost every major city you will be able to find damn good versions of just about any variety of food.

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I have to agree on the Ramos Gin Fizz at the Sazerac Bar. I just had one there last week. A great drink.

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Yup - fantastic drink.

Tenn., Kentucky, and Alabama are 3 states that I would not have anywhere near the top of my list.

I guess Tenn. makes sense as it has nashville, knoxville, memphis, chattanooga but 8 seems really high even with those. Nashville has some quality restaurants and obviously memphis has bbq but what else is there?

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decent list. a shame that Illinois is rated so high IMO. take Chicago out of there and it falls into the abyss.

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You mean the 3rd biggest city in America? Yeah, probably. Where would Louisiana be on this list without New Orleans?

I can assure you that the state of La. has more backbone, style, cultural, excellent food than just nola, even though it certainly is the leader and flagship. Go work and travel the state of Il. and not get close to Chicago. By the time you got back, you'd think Herby K's was Commanders Palace.

I don't disagree, but my point was that the editors and writers of a website called thrillist aren't exactly venturing out to DI's Cajun Food or even Latil's Landing. Louisiana's ranking there is solely based on New Orleans, and I'm sure Illinois' is solely based on Chicago.



And Herby K is far better than Commander's Palace.

You're too old to be getting this worked up. Have another boudin link.

I disagree that La's ranking is solely based on NOLA. Once you get out of NOLA there is plenty of excellent and original cuisine. NO is basically Creole, the rest of the state, at least the southern part, is Cajun based, lot's of similarity, but not the same thing.

Reading what is published and produced for TV nationally, I'd say it's 50/50.

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Where would Louisiana be on this list without New Orleans?

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Still pretty damn high. Look at the cuisine across the state. Jamabalya, boudin, gumbo, grillades, andouille, ponce, maque choux, red beans, crawfish boils, cochon de lait, etouffee, I could literally go on for hours -- I was raised on all that shite and it's indigenous not just to New Orleans, but the entire state.

Look at the rules they used for ranking -- what you produce, what you're known for, booze, and cities. Strike NOLA from LA, you're still scoring high in at least the first two, and we can only speculate about what would happen to LA cocktails without NOLAs contributions. There'd still be a booze friendly culture, though, or so I'd expect.