What to Eat in the United States
There is no single American cuisine. The Northeast has chowder and lobster rolls, the South has gumbo, fried chicken and shrimp and grits, the Midwest has chilli and barbecue, the South-West has chillies and fry bread, and the West Coast has cioppino and poke.
American cooking varies by region more than by anything else. A guide to regional food names lobster rolls and clam chowder in the Northeast, shrimp and grits and gumbo in the South, Skyline chili and barbecue in the Midwest, Hatch chillies and fry bread in the South-West and cioppino on the West Coast.
The same guide says shrimp and grits and gumbo have roots in Black and African American communities, and that fry bread was born of hardship among Indigenous peoples forced onto reservations in the 1800s.
A food site that picks one dish for each of the nine census divisions chooses clam chowder, soft pretzel, fried cheese curds, chislic, shrimp and grits, fried chicken, chicken-fried steak, Rocky Mountain oysters and poke.
How a day of eating goes
Weekday breakfast, about 6 to 10 am, is often eaten on the go. At weekends it is a sit-down meal of pancakes, waffles or bacon and eggs, and brunch, about 11 am to noon, is a long restaurant meal.
Lunch, about 12 to 2 pm, is light for working adults, often soup, a sandwich or a salad.
Dinner, about 6 to 8 pm, is the main hot meal and comes earlier than in much of Europe.
Breakfast and brunch
Weekday breakfast is quick and weekend breakfast is a long sit-down meal, often with pancakes or eggs.
Pancakes with maple syrup
Fluffy griddled pancakes with butter and maple syrup, a weekend breakfast.
Biscuits and gravy
Tall buttery biscuits split and covered with a peppery sausage and milk gravy; a Southern breakfast.
Eggs Benedict
Poached eggs and ham on a toasted muffin under hollandaise, a brunch classic.
New York bagel with lox
A boiled and baked bagel with cream cheese and cured salmon, from New York.
Breakfast burrito
Eggs, potato and chilli wrapped in a flour tortilla, popular in New Mexico and Los Angeles.
Shrimp and grits
Prawns over creamy grits, a dish of the Southern coast.
Street food and snacks
American street food is the sandwich and the slice, eaten standing up.
New York pizza
A large thin-crust slice, folded in half and eaten from a paper plate.
Cheeseburger
A griddled beef patty with melted cheese in a soft bun, found nationwide.
Philadelphia cheesesteak
Thinly sliced beef and melted cheese in a long roll, from Philadelphia.
Lobster roll
Lobster meat in a toasted split-top bun, served cold with mayonnaise or warm with butter.
Po' boy
A New Orleans sandwich of crusty French bread with fried seafood or roast beef.
Pastrami on rye
Hot sliced pastrami on rye with mustard, from New York's Jewish delis.
Starters and small plates
Starters and sides are often fried, cheesy or served with a dip.
Buffalo wings
Fried chicken wings tossed in a hot sauce and butter mix, with celery and blue cheese dressing, from Buffalo, New York.
Macaroni and cheese
Pasta in a cheese sauce, baked or stirred on the hob.
Collard greens and cornbread
Collard greens slowly braised with smoked pork, with cornbread to catch the juices.
Poke
Cubed raw fish dressed with soy, seaweed and sesame, from Hawaii.
Maryland crab cakes
Lump crab bound lightly and fried or grilled, from the Chesapeake Bay.
Soups and stews
Soups are regional: creamy in New England, roux-dark in Louisiana, chilli-red in the South-West.
Gumbo
A Louisiana stew thickened with dark roux, with sausage, chicken or seafood, served over rice.
New England clam chowder
A thick cream soup of clams, potato and bacon, from New England.
Chili con carne
Beef and dried chillies cooked slowly, without beans in the Texan version.
Green chile stew
A New Mexico stew of pork and green chillies.
Cioppino
A San Francisco seafood stew in a tomato and wine broth.
Main dishes
Mains are barbecue, fried chicken and one-pot rice dishes, each tied to a place.
Texas brisket
Beef brisket smoked for many hours over oak, sliced thick.
Southern fried chicken
Chicken soaked in buttermilk, coated in seasoned flour and fried until crisp.
Jambalaya
A Louisiana rice dish with sausage, chicken and shrimp, red with tomato in the Creole version.
Carolina pulled pork
Pork shoulder cooked until it pulls apart, with a vinegar or mustard sauce, from the Carolinas.
Kansas City ribs
Pork ribs glazed with a sweet tomato barbecue sauce.
Red beans and rice
Red beans simmered with smoked pork and served over rice, a New Orleans Monday dish.
Nashville hot chicken
Fried chicken coated in a hot cayenne paste, served on bread with pickles.
Desserts and sweets
Desserts are pies, cakes and cookies.
Apple pie
A double-crust pie of spiced apples.
Chocolate chip cookies
Soft butter cookies with chocolate chips, from Massachusetts.
Key lime pie
A lime and condensed milk pie in a biscuit crust, from the Florida Keys.
New York cheesecake
A dense baked cream cheese cake.
Pecan pie
A pie of pecans in a set syrup custard, from the South.
Drinks
The classic American drinks are sweet, iced and often from the South.
Sweet tea
Strong black tea sweetened while hot and served over ice, a Southern staple.
Mint julep
Bourbon, sugar and mint over crushed ice, the drink of the Kentucky Derby.
Lemonade
Fresh lemon juice, sugar and water, served cold.
Egg cream
A New York soda-fountain drink of chocolate syrup, milk and soda water, with no egg or cream.
Root beer float
Root beer poured over vanilla ice cream.
What is changing
Toast's Q1 2026 data, published in July 2026, put the average tip at 19.3 per cent in full-service restaurants, 15.8 per cent in quick-service and 13.7 per cent on takeout. The federal minimum wage for tipped staff is still $2.13 an hour, unchanged since 1991.