by: Niki Coate

What is “American” cuisine? There’s no shortage of restaurants offering “American” menus. Ever been to an “American” restaurant abroad? Did you sit in sparkly red booth and find a tooth-pick version of Old Glory claiming stake in your gigantic cheeseburger? But even within the country, the milkshake-and-fries stereotype conjures the American Dream, while, in reality, only revealing a sliver of the nation’s culinary culture. How, then, should we define the American culinary experience? Surely the country’s 300 million inhabitants don’t all eat at shiny diners or backyard grills, do they?

While all countries offer a diverse array of culinary traditions, the sheer vastness of the United States means an incredible variety of regional cuisines, all of them blending together on the fringes and speckled throughout with influences of countless and ever-shifting immigrant populations.

Within Foodtrekker’s United States pages, you’ll find your own way to define American food. We’ll point you to the places to find time-honored specialties. We’ll show you how to find the most classic New Jersey diners and then introduce you to the latest new spin on the old tradition. We’ll show you where in Boston to taste the best New England clam chowder, and point you to its most fit West Coast contender in San Francisco. Looking for the tastiest slice in New York? Or the oldest hot-dog stand in Chicago? In search of the most authentic Carolina barbecue? We can help.

But what’s even better is that we’ll show you how to find the culinary treats you’ve never even heard of. Through our network of local experts, you’ll learn about back-alley breweries, family-run coffeehouses, countryside fruit stands, and self-sustainable bakeries.

Looking for some action in your culinary adventure? You’ll find where to pick your own mushrooms in Oregon, stomp grapes in California, and learn to cook over an open fire in Texas.

Whether you’re in Chicago or Charlotte, New York or New Mexico, Denver or Dallas, Foodtrekker can take you wherever your greatest tastes desire, serving as your guide on the quest to defining “American” cuisine.