American must-try foods?

aemsley05
aemsley05 Posts: 151 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm from the UK (Scotland) and am heading over to the States for the first time next week - going to LA and will mostly be in the Hollywood area. I'm looking for suggestions on what foods (could be ingredients, dishes, cuisines or specific restaurants and chains) that I absolutely must try while I'm over there. Currently on my list are Halo Top and all things pumpkin.

I don't have any food intolerances or dislikes and am open to trying pretty much anything so any and all suggestions are welcome - thanks!
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Replies

  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    YepItsKriss wrote: »
    Do they not have pumpkin things in Scotland?

    Not pumpkin spice things (neither does Australia...)
    Pumpkin is more of a savoury thing here, although pumpkin pancakes are becoming more popular.
  • aemsley05
    aemsley05 Posts: 151 Member
    YepItsKriss wrote: »
    Do they not have pumpkin things in Scotland?

    Nope - currently there are pumpkins in the supermarkets purely for the kiddies to carve for Hallowe'en. I did buy one and roast and puree it to make my own pumpkin-based goodies, but otherwise we have nothing. Well, we do get Pumpkin Spice Lattes now but even that's a relatively new thing.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,752 Member
    aemsley05 wrote: »
    I'm from the UK (Scotland) and am heading over to the States for the first time next week - going to LA and will mostly be in the Hollywood area. I'm looking for suggestions on what foods (could be ingredients, dishes, cuisines or specific restaurants and chains) that I absolutely must try while I'm over there. Currently on my list are Halo Top and all things pumpkin.

    I don't have any food intolerances or dislikes and am open to trying pretty much anything so any and all suggestions are welcome - thanks!

    We holidayed round parts of the US a couple of years ago and spent a week in Santa Monica. I can't say there was anything overly memorable about the food there compared to other places we went. There was heaps of decent food though, and lots of delicious healthier options. I also spent a lot of time looking around the supermarkets there, as we had an apartment and made quite a few of our own meals. I did stock up on all sorts of weird and wonderful sweets, chocolate, cereals, pop tarts, snack foods etc to bring home as it was the end of our trip.
  • aemsley05
    aemsley05 Posts: 151 Member
    gearhead426hemi wrote: »
    Wish you were headed up to Washington I would have TONS of suggestions for you. What made you chose California to visit? My family went to Scotland a year ago and traveled over 1200 miles in 9 days. We hiked to the summit of the Three Sisters and the view was amazing. What a beautiful country with great food, scenery, and such rich history there. Where are you from in Scotland? We started in Glasgow, then Glencoe, Isle of Skye, Ullapool, Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburg then back to Glasgow. We are already planning on going back in 2019 to visit some of the Northern isles we didn't get to see.

    Sorry got side tracked. Food I would recommend is any sushi place on the coast that has local catch. If you are going to southern Cali I would suggest Mexican food place.

    Sounds like you've probably seen more of Scotland than I have, lol! I grew up on one of the Scottish islands (the Isle of Arran, which is the most southerly major Scottish island) and now live over on the other coast near Aberdeen. Hope you tried some haggis while you were over here! Some people are grossed out by it but I love it.

    Cheers for the recommendations - I'm hoping to get my unadventurous boyfriend to try sushi for the first time so sounds like Cali will be a good opportunity for that!
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    Get some BBQ. Try some hot sauces. Our tex mex is a bit different than how the UK does it, so go to an american Mexican place for sure.

    Also good to find in cali is seafood galore. You will get different fish than at home. I'd say sushi but also try an "everything is fried" kind of place.
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
    Agree about the tex mex or mexican restaurants. Try trip advisor for some good recommendations. California has a lot of food trucks, and those are usually good for a small meal, and it's pretty cheap.

    I don't get the Halo top craze. I love ice cream and find I'd rather have a full fat, super premium scoop of ice cream rather than a pint of ok tasting ice milk. Just my opinion.

    Are you going with other people? That will make it easier to try a variety of foods/dishes. Have fun!!
  • Monkey_Business
    Monkey_Business Posts: 1,800 Member
    Found this out from our friends and relatives from the Isles.

    Love Tex Mex and you should really try it. Will caution you though, our spicy hot might be more then you are used to. So you might consider going mild with some of the hot sauce on the side.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Try to get recommendations to real local places vs. some of the chains that are most famous, many of which are pretty mediocre (local foodie sites or local alternative weeklies may have reviews -- unfortunately I know nothing about southern California so don't know the best sources). I was so sad when someone from the UK posted on MFP generalizing about US food after a vacation in NYC where she'd apparently gone to a bunch of chains available everywhere in the US and that no one thinks of as all that good (IMO).

    Southwestern/Cal style Mexican for sure, probably local seafood (don't know what's available now). Pumpkin, yes, but everything is pumpkin-spiced (and "pumpkin spice" often does not mean it has pumpkin, it means "spices like they use in pumpkin pie") and much is awful and cloying, try to get a real (and well-made) pumpkin pie, maybe.

    Now I will back out and let the locals advice.
  • madwells1
    madwells1 Posts: 510 Member
    Shrimp tacos!
  • Sunnybrooke99
    Sunnybrooke99 Posts: 369 Member
    A Rubio’s original fish taco.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    Definitely get some Mexican food. So Cal will have excellent options. Also, swing through an In N Out burger and get a Double Double with fries and a chocolate shake. You can ask for it animal style and they will skip the bun if you care about such things.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    madwells1 wrote: »
    Shrimp tacos!

    And also this.
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
    JeepHair77 wrote: »
    In Hollywood? I guess you need to eat some In 'n Out burger. Those Californians love their In 'n Out burger.

    Hubby travels to LA quite often and there's an In N Out right near LAX. It's only the proper thing to do to hit it after landing and before departure. The only way to travel to CA, IMO.

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