re: Is food disappointing outside of La?

I wouldn't say it's disappointing, just different. The thing about LA food is for the most part you're only going to get it in LA.

You can get good food from other cuisines and cultures in most big cities.

At least that's my experience. I've traveled a good bit and recently moved from LA to MN. There's definitely good food around here, but we crave home cooking and it's almost impossible to find.