The US has invented enough delicious dishes and memorable meals to last a lifetime – but we're not interested in fabulous fine-dining feasts here. Instead, we want to give thanks for the iconic fast food favourites that were invented in every corner of the USA. We've ranked each state's most craveable fast food classic, including delectable deep-dish pizza, crispy chimichangas and Oklahoma’s outrageous onion burgers, counting down to the most legendary of all.

Click or scroll through our gallery to discover the most delicious fast foods invented in every US state – how many have you tried, or even heard of?

We’ve based our ranking on the enduring popularity of each food in its place of origin and beyond, and the opinions of a well-travelled (and well-fed) team. This list is unavoidably subjective.

This rugged state is best known for producing high-end ingredients such as oysters, wild salmon and king crab. But, when it comes to fast food, it’s Alaska’s reindeer dog that reigns supreme. The unique sausage generally blends reindeer (or caribou) meat with pork and beef and has a subtle flavour akin to venison. Reindeer dogs are sold at restaurants, food trucks and hot dog carts all over the state with all kinds of toppings. Yeti Dogs and International House of Hot Dogs (both in Anchorage) are said to be the top spots.

When it comes to fast food, the simplest dishes are often the best. A prime example? Arkansas’ signature cheese dip, which historians say was invented at the Mexico Chiquito restaurant in North Little Rock in around 1935. This versatile dip can be used in so many delicious ways – as a topping for fries and nachos or as a simple appetiser with tortilla chips – and it’s on the menu almost everywhere. It’s so popular in Arkansas that the state holds an annual World Cheese Dip Championship. There's even a cheese dip trail, taking in must-visit restaurants such as Heights Taco & Tamale and Stoby’s.

Montana is renowned for its delicious game meat, so it makes sense that the elk burger is this state’s spin on America's favourite fast food. Lean, high in protein and packed with flavour, elk burgers are relatively low in fat, so they're usually served medium rare to keep the patty nice and juicy. To try the best, head to the historic Corral in Gardiner for a gigantic half-pound elk burger accompanied by a huckleberry shake.

One of the original (and certainly one of the most memorable) burger-eating challenges, the gargantuan Octuple Bypass burger is the most famous dish served at the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas. Diners don hospital gowns before indulging in outrageously calorific fare. Burgers don't come any bigger than the towering Octuple Bypass burger, consisting of eight half-pound patties topped with cheese, tomato, bacon, chilli and onions. Still hungry? You can pair your burger with Flatliner Fries, which are deep fried in pure lard.

The tater tot is an Oregon invention, thanks to a 1953 idea by the Ore-Ida potato company to use up its leftover potato scraps. The result was a frozen food icon that endures to this day. Somehow, though, it took people – well, Jim Parker from Oaks Bottom Brewing in Portland – until 2006 to realise that tater tots could be used as a base for a nachos-like feast. Totchos (tater tot nachos) are an infinitely customisable treat, but the basic idea is to smother the tots in melted cheese and enjoy.

A true taste of South Dakota, chislic is a dish consisting of skewered cubes of red meat (usually lamb or mutton) grilled or deep fried to juicy perfection, then seasoned with garlic salt and served with toothpicks. Historians think the culinary curiosity was introduced to the US by John Hoellwarth, who immigrated from Crimea to Hutchinson County in the 1870s. Regional variations exist all over the state. In Pierre, the meat is battered, while in Watertown, ranch dressing may be served on the side. Urban Chislic, in Sioux Falls, is known for its huge range of meat and seasoning options.

Kolaches and Texas go hand in hand. Even though they are basically sweet pastries filled with fruit, soft cheese or poppy seeds, they aren't dainty treats to save for special occasions. Instead, they're found in gas stations and bakeries throughout Texas for everybody to enjoy at all times of day. The iconic sweet snacks came to Texas via Czech immigrants who flooded into the US in the 19th century.

Spicy pepperoni and melted cheese are tucked inside a fluffy bread roll to make West Virginia’s most popular snack. Originally created as a meal for coal miners, the pepperoni roll was first sold by Giuseppe 'Joseph' Argiro at the Country Club Bakery in Fairmont in 1927. They didn’t need to be refrigerated for storage, so they could easily be packed as a tasty, one-handed snack for the workers. These days you get them in gas stations and bakeries, and in the late 2000s, the U.S. Army added the pepperoni roll to its First Strike Ration.

One of the more unusual dishes on our list, the St. Paul consists of an egg foo young patty (made with mung bean sprouts and minced white onions) served on white bread with dill pickles, mayonnaise and lettuce. It’s one of the earliest examples of fusion food. Local lore dates the invention of the sandwich to the early 1940s when Chinese American restaurants in St. Louis were looking for a dish to appeal to Midwestern tastes. Plenty of spots in the region still serve the dish, including Mai Lee in Brentwood and Old St Louis Chop Suey in St Louis.

Wyoming’s most famous homegrown fast food chain, Taco John’s, was founded in Cheyenne in 1969 and is known for its 'West-Mex' cuisine, serving dishes like meat and potato burritos and fried chicken tacos. However, its signature creation is the Potato Olé, a deep-fried potato nugget coated with a secret blend of spices and seasonings. First introduced in 1979, these spicy tater tots were originally stuffed with refried beans, sour cream or salsa, but the filling got much too hot when cooked, so the restaurant ended up serving them without – and the popularity of the dish exploded.

If you like your pizza thin and crispy, you’ll love Missouri's signature style, which consists of a cracker-thin crust made with no yeast and sliced into tile-like squares. The story goes that the dish was invented in 1945 when Chicago-born Amedeo Fiore started slinging super-thin pizzas loaded with toppings at his Italian restaurant, Melrose Pizzeria, in St. Louis. The joint has long since shuttered, but it inspired a new wave of pizzerias across the city. These days, you can grab a sensational slice at much-loved local chain Imo’s Pizza, or try old-school pizza shop Monte Bello Pizzeria.

The idea of piling a sandwich high with smoky shredded chicken isn’t unique to Alabama, but the addition of the state’s signature sauce makes this dish a local hero. Unlike tomato-based barbecue sauce, Alabama's tangy condiment is made with mayo, vinegar, horseradish and black pepper. It was invented in 1925 by Big Bob Gibson, the pit master behind legendary barbecue spot Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur. The historic restaurant still does a sensational version of the dish, as does SAW’s Soul Kitchen, which has six locations around Birmingham.

Popular at Jewish delis in Richmond, this city staple is relatively unknown outside of Virginia. The rich and filling sailor sandwich consists of hot pastrami, melted Swiss cheese, mustard and grilled knockwurst sausage served on rye bread. The New York Deli, a Jewish deli founded in 1929, claims to be the originator of the dish, which was apparently a favourite of Navy seamen in the area during the Second World War – hence the name.

It's up for debate who actually invented cheese curds, but Wisconsin sure became famous for making them. In the 1920s, there were some 2,800 cheese factories in the state, and cheese curds were the delicious by-products of the manufacturing process. Soon enough, cheesemakers were bagging up those squeaky curds and selling them directly to devoted Wisconsinites. No one quite knows who first decided to deep fry these balls of cheesy goodness, but now everybody and their mother is doing it across the state.

This old-school Philadelphia speciality is exactly what it sounds like – a soft white bun filled with a split hot dog and a deep-fried fish cake (like a crab cake, but made with white fish). Also known as a Philly combo, the dish was apparently invented by Abe Levis at his restaurant, Old Original Levis Hot Dogs, founded in 1895. Although it has been a part of the city’s culinary landscape for over a century, fans say the fish cake dog is at risk of becoming extinct, with only a couple of joints in the city still serving it. Long-running local favourite Johnny’s Hots is generally considered the go-to spot to try the dish, where it comes topped with a zingy pepper hash.

Oregon’s answer to the corn dog, the Pronto Pup is a traditional carnival treat found at county fairs throughout the Midwest. Made with pancake batter and not so sweet as a corn dog, it was invented by husband-and-wife team George and Versa Boyington in the late 1930s. The duo ran a small hot dog stand in Rockaway Beach. When rain came along and ruined their buns, George came up with the idea of cooking the sausage and ‘bun’ all together. Today, the original recipe is used by franchises all over the country, but the original Pronto Pup still stands.

A mouth-watering cheeseburger topped with sliced pastrami, this dish is a huge deal in Utah, and its origin story shows what a culinary melting pot America is. It’s the invention of Greek immigrant James Katsanevas, who started topping burgers with pastrami at his California restaurant in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, he moved to Salt Lake City and founded local legend Crown Burgers, adding Utah’s famous fry sauce to his burger recipe. Today, it's a staple at Salt Lake City’s many Greek-style burger spots, from Apollo Burger to Olympus Burgers.

Fleischkuekle, which translates as ‘meat pie’ or ‘meat cake', is a popular dish among the many Russian-German immigrant families that call North Dakota home. It’s a deep-fried meat turnover with roots in the historic communities of Black Sea Germans, but locals have very much made the dish their own. To make it, hamburger meat and spices are stuffed inside flaky pastry and fried to crispy perfection. It’s usually served with gravy or ketchup on the side, and you can try it at restaurants and diners across the state.

There's almost no end to what you can do with the humble hot dog to make it unique, and many states have a take on what they think is the best sausage-and-bun combination. In Washington DC, it's the hefty half-smoke. That's a seared pork and beef sausage served with onions, mustard and chilli sauce, all dished up on a steamed bun. Ben’s Chili Bowl is the place to sample this local icon, with even former president Barack Obama making the pilgrimage to try it in 2009.

New Jersey’s legendary breakfast sandwich may not be the most elegant dish, but it sure is tasty. Combining fried pork roll, egg and American cheese, all on a hard roll, it’s a local obsession, served at no-frills joints such as Johnny's Pork Roll and Coffee Too in Red Bank or Jovo's Deli in Brick Township. The most crucial element of the sandwich is the pork roll, which is also known as Taylor ham. Highly specific to the region, it's a type of smoked processed pork developed in 1856 by John Taylor.

This unique depression-era burger was invented in North Mississippi – arguably, with Corinth as its headquarters. The name refers to the fact that it used to cost a nickel (‘slug’ being slang for a five-cent piece). Slugburgers are traditionally made with a combination of meat (usually pork or beef) bulked out with a cheap ‘extender’ such as potato flour or soy grits to get more patties per pound, then deep fried in canola oil. Although they’re an acquired taste, slugburgers still have a dedicated local following, with fans flocking to Corinth’s annual Slugburger Festival.

A mouth-watering mashup of kielbasa sausage, French fries, barbecue sauce and coleslaw, Ohio’s feast of a signature sandwich is frequently hailed as one of America’s finest. The sausage is typically grilled, but some joints deep-fry the sausage after grilling for even more indulgence. It's generally agreed that Polish boy pioneer Virgil Whitmore invented the sandwich in the 1940s when he combined the ingredients on a whim at his restaurant, the original Whitmore's Bar-B-Q in the Mount Pleasant area of Cleveland.

Also known as frickles, these classic Southern bar snacks consist of slices of snappy dill pickle, battered and fried until crispy. They were supposedly invented in Arkansas in the 1960s when Bernell ‘Fatman’ Austin started serving the unusual fried treat at the Duchess Drive-in in Atkins. The restaurant has long since closed down, but you can still grab a taste of pickle perfection at joints across the state, including Little Rock food truck The Prickly Pickle, which has a following for its delicious take on the recipe.

You’ll find some form of this iconic sandwich at cafés, sandwich spots and restaurants all over Vermont. The exact ingredients vary from place to place (usually with some combination of locally sourced turkey, ham and Cheddar), but the one constant is the addition of sliced green apple. The sandwich was reportedly created in the 1990s by Jason Maroney, owner of the now-closed Sweetwaters American Bistro in Burlington, to showcase Vermont’s underused locally grown apples.

Looking for a Colorado classic? Try mountain pie, a hearty pizza with a distinctive thick, honey-sweetened crust that's perfect for holding a hefty load of sauce, cheese and toppings. Legendary Idaho Springs restaurant Beau Jo's pioneered what's known as Colorado-style pizza in the 1970s, and it's still the best place to feast on these gigantic pies. They're traditionally served with a side of honey for dipping and drizzling.

This Mexican American favourite consists of small, rolled, deep-fried corn tortillas filled with everything from shredded chicken to ground beef, cheese and vegetables. The exact origins of taquitos are contested, but many believe they were invented in 1940s San Diego when tortilla factory owner Ralph Pesqueria Sr. was asked by local workers to create a portable lunch item. These days, taquitos are as popular as ever and can be found at Mexican restaurants and street stalls all over the country. In San Diego, El Indio, a historic spot founded in 1940 by Pesqueira Sr., serves up some of California’s finest.

Some people say Portland, Oregon doesn't have a signature dish – but they can't have tried jojos. Or maybe they have and dismissed them as steak fries or potato wedges. In fact, jojos are a uniquely Portland treat that are a staple of dive bars, gas stations and grocery stores in the area. They're battered and seasoned potato wedges that are pressure-fried in hot oil to deliver a cheap and satisfying snack. Those in the know say the Reel M Inn serves the best ones in the city.

For a real taste of fast food history, head to Louis’ Lunch in New Haven. The legendary joint invented the hamburger sandwich in 1900 in response to a customer's hurried request for a meal to go. This tiny family-run diner first opened in 1895, and its famous sandwiches have barely changed in over a century. The burger patties are cooked using the original vertical gas broilers from 1898 and are served to a strict recipe. They always come on white toast, with a choice of onion, tomato or cheese, but no sauce.

The main ingredient that sets the Seattle hot dog apart from countless other regional variations is the unusual addition of cream cheese – often squirted on with a pistol-grip sauce dispenser by food cart vendors throughout the city. It’s a fairly new invention, said to have been created in the late 1980s by bagel seller Hadley Long. A classic Seattle dog consists of a Polish sausage on a pretzel roll, with sautéed onions and plenty of cream cheese smothered on the bun. For a taste of the best, head to Dirty Dog or Dog In The Park.

A cross between a calzone and a stromboli, the Nic-o-boli comes packed with ground beef, pizza sauce and a special cheese blend. It's the signature dish at the much-loved pizza joint Nicola Pizza in Lewes. First invented in 1972 as an easy, filling dish for employees to tuck into behind the scenes, it proved such a hit that owner Nicholas Caggiano trademarked his new creation and began selling it over the counter. Over the years, the dish has attracted attention from the likes of George and Barbara Bush, who had Nic-o-bolis at the White House.

The Cubano is one of the country’s most loved sandwiches, and it's easy to see why. The combination of ham, juicy roast pork, melted Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, toasted between buttered slices of crunchy Cuban bread, is hard to beat. The dish is thought to have originated in diners serving Cuban workers in Key West or Tampa in the late 1800s or early 1900s. Cubans later introduced the sandwich to Miami, where it quickly became the city's quintessential dish. Cozy Little Havana café Sanguich de Miami is famous for its classic version, as is hole-in-the-wall joint Enriqueta’s. 

Unique for its tropical taste and clever design, Hawaii's favourite hot dog started life in 2000 at Puka Dog, a little blue beach shack on the island of Kauai. To make one, a puka (or hole) is created in the centre of a fresh soft roll using a hot rod, which toasts the inside to create a contrast of textures. The hollowed-out bun is then filled with a lemony garlic sauce and a tropical relish made from local fruits such as mango and papaya, followed by a Polish sausage. The crowning glory of the dog is a generous drizzle of passion fruit mustard. 

To create Idaho’s must-try dish, strips of sirloin steak are dipped in a tempura-like batter and deep-fried in oil until they're perfectly crisp and tender. This irresistible delicacy is commonly found in restaurants and bars in Idaho and its neighbouring states and is relatively unknown outside of the inland Northwest. Chef Milo Bybee reportedly invented finger steaks after being left with an abundance of tenderloin scraps. He apparently first served them at Milo's Torch Lounge in Boise in 1957. The Torch no longer serves food, but locals rave about the finger steaks at the Westside Drive-in and Big Jud’s.

While the concept of serving fried chicken in a biscuit would have been familiar to Southern cooks throughout the 20th century, it was Chick-fil-A that brought the dish into the mainstream, unveiling its wildly popular Chicken Biscuit in 1986. It was initially met with scepticism, but the winning combination of juicy fried chicken and fresh buttermilk biscuit soon became a menu favourite, with more than 170 million sold in 2022, according to the chain.

First created in the kitchens of Louisville’s historic Brown Hotel, this indulgent dish consists of an open turkey and bacon sandwich that's covered in a gooey cheese sauce, then baked or broiled until the bread is crisp and the sauce begins to caramelise. It was cooked up by chef Fred Schmidt in the 1920s as a late-night snack to satisfy hungry revellers in the early hours of the morning, and it still features on the hotel’s menu today.

To make Indiana’s signature sandwich – also known as a Hoosier – a massive hunk of pork tenderloin is pounded, breaded and deep-fried, then served on a hamburger or Kaiser bun (often comically undersized), with a few simple condiments to top things off. It's now popular all over the Midwest, but the sandwich was invented in Huntington in 1904 when pushcart operator Nicholas Freienstein created a new way to bring the German wiener schnitzel to the masses. It proved such a hit that he quickly opened a restaurant, Nick’s Kitchen, which remains a local favourite to this day.

Also known as a tavern sandwich or simply a Maid-Rite, a loose meat sandwich differs from a burger in that the meat is cooked loose rather than formed into a patty. It's said to date back to the 1920s when David Heglin of Ye Olde Tavern in Sioux City started serving the sandwich to hungry drinkers. However, this is contested by local fast food chain Maid-Rite. Maid-Rite claims the concept was invented in 1926 by its founder, a butcher called Fred Angell. Either way, a trip to Iowa wouldn’t be complete without trying this iconic sandwich at the original Maid-Rite restaurant in Muscatine.

Many regions on the East Coast have a variation of this kind of sandwich – New York has the hero, Philly has the hoagie and Maine has the Italian sandwich. Its origins are less about fillings and more about the nationality of its inventor and his original customers. Local lore says that Maine’s iconic sandwich was created by baker Giovanni Amato, who owned a small shop on Portland’s waterfront and would sell Italian-style rolls loaded with meat, cheese and vegetables to local dock workers in the early 20th century. Happily, Amato’s sandwich shop is still thriving to this day.

The ultimate late-night comfort food, disco fries are New Jersey’s spin on Canadian poutine. To make this diner classic, a mountain of chunky steak-cut fries is smothered in melted mozzarella and topped with rich brown gravy. Disco fries got their name in the 1970s when they proved a popular late-night order among revellers on their way home from disco clubs. According to customers, the fries at Tops Diner in East Newark are the best in the state.

Minnesota’s fast food icon is essentially an inside-out cheeseburger, with cheese stuffed inside a meat patty for maximum melty joy. The Juicy Lucy (or Jucy Lucy, depending on where you order it) came to fame in the 1950s. Two bars, a few miles apart from each other in Minneapolis, claim to have created it: Matt's Bar and the 5-8 Club. Matt's is the home of the Jucy Lucy, while at the 5-8 Club they serve the Juicy Lucy. The spots have a friendly rivalry to this day, and both are worth a visit.

Hawaii’s signature fast food is little-known outside of the island state – but the unusual combination of white rice, hamburger, fried egg and brown gravy is actually pretty delicious. The calorie-laden dish was reportedly created in 1949 by Richard Inouye and his wife Nancy, owners of the (now closed) Lincoln Grill restaurant in Hilo. They dreamed up the recipe when a group of teenagers from a local sports club asked for a cheap, filling meal. It soon gained a following, dubbed 'loco moco' because one of the teens was nicknamed Loco. Cafe 100 in Hilo is generally considered the best spot to taste the dish, with more than 30 different varieties to try.

It makes perfect sense that a burger smothered in butter is a fast food favourite in Wisconsin, aka America's Dairyland. The dish dates to 1885, when chef Charlie Nagreen served hamburgers fried in butter at the Seymour Fair. By the 1930s, historic spots Solly’s Grille and Kroll’s both became famous for melting a generous amount of butter on top of burger patties while they were cooking. Butter burgers hit the mainstream in 1984 with the launch of family-run Culver's, though the chain's signature, lighter version is served in a buttered bun rather than being coated in butter as it cooks.

Hot wieners – also known as New York System dogs – are Rhode Island’s signature fast food. Made with a unique blend of beef, pork, veal and spices, the sausages are known for their snappy texture and tangy, meaty taste. Hot wieners are traditionally served 'all the way', in a steamed bun with mustard, meat sauce, celery salt and onions. Baba’s Original New York System is the place to try them. After all, it’s where they were first invented back in 1927.

Getting a roast beef sandwich right is something Bostonians take VERY seriously. The roll must be soft and slightly toasted, and the beef rare and sliced very thinly. There are only three acceptable additions: white American cheese, mayo and James River Barbecue Sauce. Regional fast food chain Kelly's Roast Beef claims to have invented the local delicacy in 1951 at its original Revere Beach location, and you can now try it in joints all over Boston’s North Shore. Top beef spots include Cutty's in Brookline and Nick's Roast Beef in Beverly. 

A delicious fast food dish with Cuban origins, the frita is a type of burger made with seasoned ground beef and pork (sometimes mixed with chorizo), topped with crispy shoestring potatoes and served inside a Cuban-style roll. It has its origins in 1930s Cuba but was popularised by restaurant owner Ramon Estevill when he introduced the burger at his Fritas Domino joint in 1962. The original spot shuttered, but Miami’s El Rey De Las Fritas has served the burger since the late 1970s and remains the go-to place to try it.

Possibly America’s most iconic fairground snack, the humble corndog is a sausage on a stick coated in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep-fried to crispy perfection. Several corn dog vendors claim to have invented the dish, but most agree it was first popularised by brothers Carl and Neil Fletcher at the Texas State Fair in 1942, where the duo sold the snacks for 15 cents apiece. Nowadays, the legacy continues at Fletcher's Corny Dogs, a Dallas-based food truck owned by descendants of Carl and Neil.

When strolling along Ocean City’s Boardwalk, it's impossible to resist buying a big tub of boardwalk fries. What differentiates boardwalk fries from other types of French fries is that they're typically brined and blanched before taking a double dip in the fryer. This technique guarantees a fluffy inside and a perfectly crisp outside. They're also traditionally served heavily doused in apple cider vinegar. Founded in 1929, Thrasher's French Fries is the original purveyor of these delicious fries, and the chain has three locations around Ocean City.

A delicious cross between a crispy, New York–style slice and a gooey deep-dish, Detroit’s iconic square pizza is less about the overall recipe and more about the pan it’s cooked in. The legacy began in 1946 when Gus Guerra, owner of Buddy’s Rendezvous Pizzeria on Detroit’s Eastside, decided to use forged-steel pans borrowed from local automotive plants to bake his pizzas. The technique allowed him to produce a very light and crispy crust with deliciously cheesy corner slices. Buddy’s remains the go-to spot to try the dish, although Cloverleaf Bar & Restaurant in Eastpointe is a hot contender.

New Mexico's take on the classic cheeseburger is a true culinary treasure involving green chile, a beloved native pepper famous for its hot, zesty and subtly sweet character. The burger is pretty straightforward: green chiles (ideally the Hatch variety) are roasted, peeled and chopped, then used to top a thick, juicy cheeseburger. Experts generally agree that The Original Owl Bar & Café in San Antonio was the first joint to serve the burgers in 1945. Now, they're so ubiquitous that New Mexico has its own Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, featuring top spots such as Buckhorn Tavern and Sparky's.

One of America’s lesser-known sandwiches, chopped cheese is a staple at New York City bodegas across Upper Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens. Similar to Philly’s iconic cheesesteak, the sandwich is a glorious mess of ground beef, onions, seasonings and cheese, all chopped together on a grill until caramelised and perfectly melty. The meaty mixture is then piled into a hero roll with lettuce, tomato and your choice of condiments. The dish originated at Spanish Harlem bodega Blue Sky Deli – famously known as Hajji's – where it was apparently first cooked up by a member of staff in the 1990s. Hajji's remains the go-to spot to try a classic chopped cheese.

A staple of Tex-Mex food, this glorious, deep-fried burrito actually has its roots in Arizona. Most historians agree it was created by accident at a Mexican restaurant in the state, although they disagree over precisely where. The most likely account dates back to 1922, when cook Monica Flin, the founder of Tucson restaurant El Charro, accidentally dropped a burrito into the deep-fat fryer. When hot oil splashed up, she was about to curse, but because young children were around, she yelled 'chimichanga!' instead. This historic spot still serves the dish today.

Originally known as a 'poor boy' sandwich, this dish dates back to the 1929 New Orleans streetcar strike, when restaurant owners Benny and Clovis Martin (former streetcar conductors themselves) handed out free sandwiches to their former colleagues. Whenever a striker would walk into their restaurant, Benny would shout to Clovis: “Here comes another poor boy!” Lots of different fillings are considered traditional, from roast beef to fried shrimp, as long as they’re served on New Orleans French bread. There's stiff competition for the best in town, but Adams Street Grocery is hard to beat.

Pretty much the opposite of New York’s simple hot dog, Chicago-style wieners are pure maximalism. A beef sausage is placed in a poppy seed bun and piled with a colourful heap of toppings, including mustard, onions, a pickle spear, sport peppers, slices of fresh tomato and a sprinkle of celery salt. Long-closed hot dog spot Fluky’s claimed to have invented the original Chicago dog back in 1929 when it was known as a ‘Depression sandwich’, as the abundant toppings made it an affordable meal. For the city's finest, head to Superdawg Drive-in or Jimmy's Red Hots.

Ubiquitous on restaurant menus across the US, the humble slider has had a fancy makeover in the past decade or so. However, the origins of this bite-sized treat date back to 1921, when Wichita local Billy Ingram founded White Castle, the much-loved hamburger chain that claims to be the country’s oldest. Central to the menu were its small, square, five-cent hamburgers, which proved to be an instant hit. In 1947, White Castle patented its unique method of stamping five holes into each slider, a technique that apparently locks in flavour and keeps the patties extra juicy.

Brooklyn’s signature dog has its roots in the communities of Greek and Macedonian immigrants who entered the US through Ellis Island in the early 1900s. They moved elsewhere, too, explaining why states as diverse as Michigan, Ohio and Oklahoma all have their own versions of the Coney. The dog itself is generally a beef sausage topped with a rich meat sauce, yellow mustard and white onions. Nathan's Famous has been slinging its world-renowned take on the classic since 1916 when Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker started a nickel hot dog stand on Coney Island.

An impossibly light treat made to a secret recipe, Krispy Kreme's Original Glazed Doughnut has been the company’s signature creation since its inception in 1937. Founder Vernon Rudolph bought the legendary recipe from a French chef in New Orleans before setting up shop in Winston-Salem and selling doughnuts to local grocery stores. The rest is history. But what is it, exactly, that gives Krispy Kreme Doughnuts their signature lightness? No one knows for sure, as the recipe is reportedly locked in a vault, but experts speculate that the secret ingredient is mashed potatoes.

As synonymous with Philadelphia as Rocky Balboa, the Philly cheesesteak is a feast of chopped beef steak smothered in melted cheese and stuffed in a sub roll. It’s said to have been invented by South Philadelphia's Pat Olivieri who, having thrown some beef onto his grill to make a sandwich, was asked by a passing cab driver if he could try it, too. It was an instant hit, and Olivieri opened a shop, soon adding cheese to the recipe. Every Philadelphian has their favourite spot, but the original – Pat's King of Steaks – is still a must-try today.

One of the country’s oldest pizza styles, New Haven pies (also known as tomato pies, apizzas or plain pies) have been a local favourite since the 1920s. These pizzas are distinctive for their chewy, blistered crust and simple toppings that consist of just a couple of high-quality ingredients – traditionally a rich tomato sauce and a fine dusting of Pecorino Romano cheese. The story goes that the tomato pie was invented in 1925 at Frank Pepe's Pizzeria, but historic spots such as Modern Apizza and Sally’s Apizza also make some of New Haven’s finest.

First appearing on menus in the early 20th century, this rye bread sandwich, packed with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing, is often associated with New York’s Jewish delis – but it actually has its roots in Omaha. Residents believe it was invented by Bernard Schimmel, a chef at the Blackstone Hotel, who created it for card player Reuben Kulakofsky when he asked for a sandwich made of corned beef and sauerkraut at his weekly poker game. Today, it’s one of the country’s best-loved sandwiches.

This crowd-pleasing sandwich graces restaurant menus the world over, but its creation was apparently a happy accident. The story goes that a lunch counter cook at a Woolworth's department store in Charleston in the 1960s was busy whipping up orders when a bowl of tuna salad fell on top of a grilled cheese sandwich. Rather than throwing it away, the cook discovered the magic of this winning flavour combination.

The beauty of Oklahoma’s iconic burger lies in its simplicity: a hefty helping of perfectly caramelised onions are smashed onto one side of a juicy beef patty, which is then topped with melted cheese. The fried onion burger became popular in the Depression era when diners added cheaper ingredients to their meat patties to bulk them out. The original version is credited to Ross Davis of the Hamburger Inn in El Reno, who would smash a pile of fried onions into every patty to keep costs down. Today the onion burger is as popular as ever at spots such as Tucker's Onion Burgers and Sid’s Diner.

A staple on fast food menus from KFC to Popeyes, chicken tenders were first made in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the Puritan Backroom in 1974. They differ from chicken nuggets (which are generally processed) in that they come from a specific part of the chicken: the pectoralis minor muscle, aka the tenderloin. It’s unlikely that a chef didn’t think of deep frying this particular cut of chicken before the mid-1970s, but the Puritan Backroom claims to have coined the name – and it still serves several delicious versions to this day.

A delicious culinary mistake we’re so glad happened, this legendary dish of crunchy fried chicken doused in a spicy sauce came about in 1930s Nashville when Thornton Prince was caught cheating on his girlfriend. In revenge, she served up a breakfast of chicken smothered in extremely hot pepper – but the plan backfired when he ended up loving the dish and opened a restaurant dedicated to serving it. Today there are countless hot chicken spots around Nashville, but Prince's Hot Chicken Shack is the original.

San Francisco can't claim to be the inventor of the humble burrito, but it can hold its head up high as the original purveyor of the Mission-style burrito. Created in 1961 at El Faro in the city's Mission District, this burrito takes the bold leap of adding rice, sour cream and guacamole to a large tortilla already bulging with meat, beans and cheese. The result is a taste sensation served to happy customers in taquerias throughout San Francisco – and the rest of the world now, too.

The earliest recipe for something resembling this classic side dish dates back to Britain in 1802, when chef to the aristocracy John Mollard shared a recipe for ‘Fried Onions with Parmesan Cheese’ in a cookery book. However, many credit the invention of onion rings as we know and love them today (or at the very least, their name) to Kirby's Pig Stand in Oak Cliff, Texas, at some point in the early 1920s. No stranger to innovation, Kirby's was also America’s first drive-in restaurant.

People often give McDonald's the credit for chicken nuggets, as the brand first sold its McNuggets in 1981. But Robert C. Baker, a poultry science professor at Cornell University, was the real inventor of chicken nuggets, back in 1963. Baker, along with graduate student Joseph Marshall, developed the nugget to help local chicken farmers boost their sales. Unfortunately, the popularity of the ultra-processed nugget after the launch of McNuggets meant that these same chicken farmers eventually went out of business. Still, nuggets continue to be the cornerstone of almost every fast food menu.

Chicago’s contribution to the pizza hall of fame is comfort food at its very finest: a thick, caramelised crust with cheese at the bottom, meat and vegetables in the middle, and a generous smothering of rich tomato sauce on top. The invention of this hearty dish is credited to Ike Seawell and Ric Riccardo (Richard Novaretti), the Illinois entrepreneurs who founded Pizzeria Uno, Chicago’s very first pizzeria, in 1943. It remains a great spot to try this Chicago staple, even though the restaurant rebranded as Uno Pizzeria & Grill and now has more than 100 locations.

California claims to have invented plenty of iconic dishes, including the patty melt and the California roll. But its most legendary creation has to be the classic cheeseburger. Food historians date its conception to 1924 when 16-year-old Lionel Sternberger decided to melt a slice of cheese onto a hamburger at his father's (now closed) sandwich shop, The Rite Spot, in Pasadena, California. An old menu, found at the Pasadena Museum of History, called the dish the ‘Aristocratic Hamburger' and had it on sale for just 15 cents.

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