Mapping dominant cuisines across 3,143 U.S. counties (2025 revision; data & methods in comments) [OC]
Posted by piri_reis_
Mapping dominant cuisines across 3,143 U.S. counties (2025 revision; data & methods in comments) [OC]
Posted by piri_reis_
44 comments
**Scope.** One cuisine per county (3,143 incl. LA parishes + AK boroughs) to represent *cultural gravity,* so the tradition with the strongest local footing.
**Primary criteria.** Historical roots (settlement patterns, migration), traditional/unique local practice, enduring dishes/techniques.
**Tie-breakers.** Restaurant/share signals, festivals/markets, community institutions, archival/regional cookbooks, perceived uniqueness to region, extension publications, and direct community feedback from the last viral release.
**Granularity.** County level preserves local identity vs. state averages; border counties often blur.
**Process.** Draft map → community critique → targeted research → county-level adjustments → 2025 revision.
**Caveats.** Not an absolute ranking; urban counties can host multiple strong cuisines; some enclaves are simplified to keep the map legible.
**Render.** Designed for print legibility; current export 7200×5400 px.
What’s new vs the prior version:
Clearer **Gullah/Lowcountry** coastal footprint
Elevated **Detroit’s Middle Eastern** imprint in the urban section
Cleaner split between **Great Lakes Slavic** and **Nordic American** zones
**North Carolina BBQ** handled with regional notes instead of one blanket call
Tweaks along several **border counties** where cuisines blur
Palette & label density tuned for **18×24 / 24×36** print readability
High res prints/downloads/frames [here](https://americanfoodatlas.etsy.com)
Follow the project and give your two cents [here](https://www.instagram.com/americanfoodatlas?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==)
**Design.** Related cuisines grouped into color families for scanability; county granularity; labels tuned for viewing distance; simplified coastlines/independent cities only where needed for legibility.
**Edge cases.** Multi-ethnic metros; tourism-heavy counties; Alaska’s sparse boroughs; Virginia’s independent cities; water-dominant counties.
**Interpretation.** Treat this as a cultural *map of practice*, not strict origin. Local exceptions absolutely exist, so I’m happy to discuss specific counties in the thread if you’re from somewhere you feel isn’t accurately represented.
r/dataisinfuriating. The whole image is too small to read, but don’t worry, there are four more images zoomed in where the text doesn’t necessarily correspond to the quadrant of the map you’re looking at.
This is very interesting. Thanks.
Fairfield County CT needs to be Orange. I cant understand how its listed as portugese as opposed to Italian American. New Haven Pizza would be the most famous export.
When you’re driving cross country and the Waffle Houses become Runzas, welcome to no man’s land
I have nits, but that’s bound to happen when you have one cuisine per county. Some differences aren’t so great and some probably aren’t as dominant in those counties as the map implies. Nevertheless, I’m impressed by the scale.
What a great way of breaking down regional flavor. Thanks for doing this.
Good work. Will be saving this for my travels.
Thank you!
I think this is a good resource, so looking forward to any refinements!
I live in #22 and only a handful of people I know have even tried lutefisk, calling it a key dish is laughable. It might be a part of sweedish heretage the area is familiar with, but it’s irrelevant.
If you want to get a glimpse of what’s actually being eaten in rural areas, getting your hands on church cookbooks will give you better results.
New Mexican Cuisine not including a breakfast burrito is a critical failure that calls into question its whole credibility.
Live in a 26 area wife grew up in 4 and I grew up in a mix of 20 & 58
All very accurate and our normal cooking is a blend of all of these
How close was Sonoma county to category 33? Or was it category 1 all the way?
This is so cool to look at! Thanks for the work!
This is awesome. Do you have a high res version for printing?
Very well done. I’d argue the Appalachian cuisine goes considerably farther east in the lower part of Virginia though
Louisiana is definitely off. Cajun and Creole are so mixed, that like a third or more of the state should just be some kind of checked pattern of the two. There’s a ton of overlap between the two as well. Gumbos, jambalayas, and etoufees feature prominently in either despite what the little blurbs say.
And bananas foster, oysters Rockefeller, and beignets aren’t really Creole. They’re more specific to New Orleans itself (though eaten all over the state) than anything. New Orleans has a ton of Creole food but not all New Orleans food is automatically Creole.
Zoomed in a bit more and realized you have it right, southwest Ohio is primarily German-inspired.
Every iteration is getting better and better! This is excellent, thanks for taking the time to make these, it seems like quite a lot of work.
Baffled that smoked salmon is included in “rural American traditions” and not “indigenous cuisines”
Love the idea, the text is unreadable.
Imperial County in southeastern California would be more accurately categorized as Sonoran style. This is evident when also comparing Mexicali to the coastal cities of Tijuana and Ensenada on the other side of the border.
How can I purchase a copy of this for either a poster size – or other? Open to ideas
Pretty cool, can the source image link be posted? It’s a pixelated mess for me.
Also what does the roll-up version look like? Interested to see what you high level categories would look like if they were the colors.
As a ten year resident of Las Vegas I have a few thoughts.
Casino buffets: Few casinos have them anymore and they they are very expensive. Many buffets have been replaced by food halls.
Prime rib: There are a few places around but it is not ubiquitous. Few locals go out of their way for prime rib.
Shrimp cocktail: Is that even a thing anymore? I wouldn’t know where to go to get one. I work in one of the big casinos and no tourist has ever asked me where the best shrimp cocktail is at.
That said, street tacos are pretty popular with locals, and, IMO, there is a lot of good, reasonably priced asian dining when you get away from the tourist areas.
Did this inspire XKCD, or did XKCD inspire this?
https://xkcd.com/3142/
I want to buy this as a poster
“Hearty, indulgent, festive ”
Goddamn I miss pastys and trenary toast
WOW what a great map. I’m a geographer by trade.
The data density and volume are great.
I’m interested in the NOVA/DMV area. There is an extremely diverse food culture, especially a lot of Asian, middle eastern, African, and African American cuisines. Chesapeake influence is definitely huge in Maryland and eastern Virginia, but I think there are other cuisines that are much more representative of the DMV area.
I’d love a poster of this
A small addition, central jersey has fantastic mexican places all over
This is good stuff, thanks very much for all the wonderful places to start researching.
I want to make one for indian cuisine now. So beaufiful
I live in a region labeled 38 and most people are not eating gator and mullet 😅. They’re more like special dishes that you have once in while, maybe once a year. The everyday diet is close to cuisine 41.
Well its 100% accurate to everywhere I’ve spent any appreciable amount of time. Is the Chesapeake region the only one that has a name-brand product listed? I’m not complaining btw, Old Bay is far and away the most popular.
This is basically the most accurate version of the regional culture map that Redditers have been trying to make for years
As someone who lives in a 33 zone, that food description in no way describe what is current eaten. I don’t even think we grow Hazelnuts here.
This is super cool spent at least 10 min looking through everything.
Map is super clean, easy to read and visually well organized with the legend. I can’t remember a time where I liked a legend so much.
10/10
Also, where’d you get the data from, your travels/research or something more “official”
This is honestly very well done, and at least in my local area, very accurate.
What’s the basis? The link on the map where I’d hope to find information on methodology just goes to a store selling the map, and the instagram feed pointed to in one of your comments doesn’t add anything.
Naturally I take issue with the local designations (for me that’s 33 and 62), but with no way to figure out the basis or methodology it’s a little pointless to comment. I will say claiming Pinot Noir as fundamental to Central Valley cuisine is way off base; it doesn’t really grow here (more coastal), and it is nowhere near the most popular grape or wine and is in no way fundamental to local cuisine. Same with hazelnuts; they don’t really grow here, and they aren’t a noticeable part of local cuisine. I’m trying to come up with any time I’ve encountered them; extremely rare, if ever, other than as a syrup flavoring for boba or something. And artisanal cheese? I wish; that’s more Napa/Sonoma/Marin, but then the description given for region 33 appears to be much more accurate to those counties than the area it is actually applied to.
That said, the map does okay capturing that there is an arm of more Bay Area influence extending to Sacramento; I’m just not sure the description for the Bay Area is much more relevant than the one for the Central Valley.
#One of the key dishes in the San Francisco Bay is *Chop Suey*.
I feel like this may be 75 years out of date.
Hartford county 26 instead of 20?
Going to go ahead and say that’s a big miss.
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