50 States, 50 Arguments: The Local-Approved Best Meal in America, Ranked From Bottom to Top

Ask a Texan to name their state's best meal and you'll get an answer. Ask a Texan, a Mississippian, and a Rhode Islander to rank all 50, and you'll get a fistfight. That's basically what we did — minus the fistfight, mostly.

We combed through local newspaper polls, county fair voting boards, Reddit threads older than some of our staffers, and enough "best food in [state]" Facebook wars to fill a cookbook. The result: one definitive meal per state, ranked from 50 to 1. Disagree? Good. That's the point.

How We Ranked This Thing

Three criteria: local loyalty (do actual residents defend it with their lives?), eatability (can a visitor walk in and order it today?), and the je-ne-sais-quoi factor — the taste that could only come from that patch of American soil.

The Bottom Half (50–26): Great Meals, Tough Crowd

Nothing here is bad — these meals just lost the popularity contest at home.

• 50. Alaska — Reindeer sausage dogs, Anchorage street carts. Cold-weather fuel, not a cult.
• 49. Hawaii — Spam musubi. Beloved, but locals will tell you the poke bowl is the real deal.
• 48. Montana — A huckleberry everything-burger in Missoula.
• 47. Wyoming — Elk chili at a Jackson chuck wagon joint.
• 46. Delaware — The scrapple breakfast plate. Underdog status confirmed.
• 45. North Dakota — Knoephla soup, a German-Russian comfort classic.
• 44. Vermont — A cheddar-laden maple-glazed burger. Cheese state politics run deep.
• 43. South Dakota — Chislic, fried cubed lamb, washed down with something cold in Sioux Falls.
• 42. Idaho — A huckleberry milkshake plus a fry sauce-slathered burger in Boise.
• 41. New Hampshire — The rum-laced cider donut-and-chowder combo.
• 40. Maine — A proper lobster roll. Locals argued it should be top ten; the split on mayo vs. butter cost them votes.
• 39. Oregon — A rogue marionberry pie in the Willamette Valley.
• 38. Washington — Smoked salmon chowder on the Puget Sound.
• 37. Colorado — Green chile smothered burrito, Denver-style.
• 36. Utah — A pastrami-heavy "Cafe Rio-style" burger, aka the Utah pastrami burger. Ask anyone in Salt Lake.
• 35. Nevada — A midnight shrimp cocktail, Vegas vintage. Nostalgia points only.
• 34. New Mexico — Christmas-style enchiladas (red AND green). Should've been higher; the committee got distracted by the chile debate.
• 33. Iowa — A breaded pork tenderloin the size of the plate it's served on.
• 32. Nebraska — A Runza, fresh out of the oven in Lincoln.
• 31. Kansas — Burnt ends, Kansas City. Yes, KC straddles a state line. No, we're not reopening that wound.
• 30. Arkansas — Fried catfish with hushpuppies along the Delta.
• 29. Oklahoma — Chicken-fried steak with cream gravy, Oklahoma City diner style.
• 28. Connecticut — White clam pizza on Wooster Street in New Haven.
• 27. West Virginia — A biscuit-and-sausage-gravy breakfast after a morning hike.

The Contenders (25–11): Now We're Talking

• 25. Kentucky — A hot brown, open-faced and broiled in Louisville.
• 24. Minnesota — A juicy Lucy, molten cheese and all, Minneapolis.
• 23. Indiana — A sugar-glazed pork tenderloin sandwich at a small-town drive-in.
• 22. Missouri — Toasted ravioli in St. Louis, washed down with an actual St. Louisian arguing about it.
• 21. Alabama — White sauce barbecue chicken, north Alabama style. The only sauce that's white and non-negotiable.
• 20. South Carolina — Mustard-based BBQ pulled pork, midlands style.
• 19. Georgia — A peach cobbler and fried chicken plate, Sunday-style, Atlanta.
• 18. North Carolina — Eastern-style whole-hog BBQ with vinegar slaw. The western crowd is furious about the style. That's the point.
• 17. Virginia — Smithfield ham biscuits, country ham and all.
• 16. Maryland — Steamed blue crabs, Old Bay everywhere, newspaper on the table.
• 15. Arizona — A Sonoran hot dog, wrapped in bacon, Tucson.
• 14. Michigan — A Detroit-style square pan pizza, caramelized edges and all.
• 13. Florida — A Cuban sandwich, Tampa. Miami will write in about this ranking. We've read the letters.
• 12. Ohio — A Cincinnati three-way: chili, spaghetti, cheese. Divisive nationally, sacred locally.
• 11. Tennessee — Nashville hot chicken, properly sweating-inducing, properly life-changing.

The Podium Contenders (10–6)

• 10. Mississippi — A Delta hot tamale, a century-old tradition that deserves every vote.
• 9. New Jersey — A pork roll, egg, and cheese on a hard roll. Garden State voters turned out in force.
• 8. Louisiana — A po' boy, fully dressed, New Orleans. Only eighth because Louisiana has five meals that could win and split the vote.
• 7. Wisconsin — A butter burger and brandy old fashioned pairing. The Midwest's finest argument for indulgence.
• 6. Rhode Island — Stuffies and calamari, the Ocean State's proud little powerhouse of a meal.

The Top Five: Meals Worth a Detour

• 5. New York — A slice, folded, from a hole-in-the-wall that's been there since before you were born.
• 4. Pennsylvania — Here's the controversy: we went with the roast pork sandwich with sharp provolone and broccoli rabe, not the cheesesteak. Philly's own local polls back us up. The cheesesteak is the icon; the roast pork is the meal.
• 3. Illinois — A deep dish pizza, Chicago, ordered with a full ten minutes of patience.
• 2. Texas — Brisket, sliced, by the pound, from a smoke shack with a line out the door and no forks in sight.
• 1. California — A fish taco, Baja-style, eaten within sight of the Pacific. Fresh, cheap, iconic, and impossible to replicate anywhere else. That's what a state's best meal should be.

The Real Winner

Honestly? You. Because every single one of these is worth a road trip, and now you have 50 excuses. Pack an appetite and start with number one — or skip ahead and start a fight in Pennsylvania. Your call.