re: Is food disappointing outside of La?

I've lived in Massachusetts and North Carolina for several years apiece, so I can only speak to those two locations.

Both have some very good places to eat. Both have places that I still crave to this day, but neither place had the volume per capital that Louisiana has. Louisiana also has so much variety in food that many other places (excluding major cities like Boston or Durham) simply don't have.

Although Cheerwine is the best soda of all time and Cook-Out should be considered a national treasure. So North Carolina wins there.