Yes, you can find mediocre food almost anywhere in the world. The trick is to find the good stuff.
I guess I’ve just been naturally lucky in my choices.
I’m still super-curious to hear about how Italian food can be adjusted for German tastebuds. Would you have an example by any chance?
Italians were a majority of the first wave immigrants to our country, so I would think our palates have evolved since the 1950s to not just be able to handle it, but genuinely embrace it.
That might be more a reflection that you live in a relatively small town where there is little “need/competition” for restaurants to cook on a high level. In larger cities there are often many great Italian places which cook on the same level as in Italy
I was quite surprised at the variability of quality in Italy. Spain, Japan and Thailand are much more consistent but I’ve visited those countries more often than Italy and perhaps in just need to spend more time there.
Are you suggesting that I base my opinion on the Italian food available to me where I currently live? There is no good Italian food where I live, which is why I make my own.
Have you read any of my previous comments? I mentioned NYC and Philly and Boston, too.
Erbaluce was one notable exception, but I am repeating myself with seemingly zero progress in comprehension on several ends, and frankly all this talk about Italy and GOOD Italian food is making me crave a steaming bowl of fresh spaghetti made with local shrimp and zukes in Palermo for 7 Euro…
That “all Italian grandmas are great cooks” trope is one of my least favorites.
You tend to write quite detailed about your food journeys on HO and based on that data you provided I would argue you haven’t even remotely scratched just the surface of good Italian restaurants in these cities and so your conclusion that it is hard to find Italian restaurants in NYC or Philly or Boston which are as good as in Germany is “interesting “
It’s quantifiable for me in that in my (roughly) 45 years of dining at Italian restaurants in Germany, Italy, and the US I have, on average, been disappointed more often at an Italian restaurant in the US, than in Germany or Italy.
Simple math, really — but I’ll admit it does not favor another outcome and is slanted bc we barely seek out Italian places traveling to larger cities anymore literally because of previous, often very expensive disappointments, like an incredibly mediocre meal at a much touted fancy Italian in NYC, owned by a guy who runs several restaurants and continues to get rave reviews 
.
Instead, we seek out other cuisines not available in our podunk town, of which there are numerous. I’m also a very good cook and can satisfy any pasta craving we may have in a pinch 
We know where to eat which cuisines and be happy: Italian and its many regional varieties, Turkish, Greek & German are great examples of cuisines we save for our Germany trips.
Mexican is something we save for the US.
And with that, we are practically back on topic.
Is Nostrana one of the Portland restaurants you are thinking of?
Agreed. By writing
I was hoping to get back on topic, but then I couldn’t resist and wrote
Clearly there are HO’s who are unimpressed with Italian or Mexican food in New York, but fortunately most people can find exceptional food of some kind in NYC, even for $50
… which clearly didn’t help.
No. I don’t find it all that exceptional. It can be good for certain dishes (the blackberry crisp for example) but there are better places that have opened in the last 7-10 years.
i grew up across the hudson in bergen county. mama leone’s was my parents’ favorite.
as i recall, it was swiss cheese, not mozzarella. one time my mother pulled a plastic bag out of her large purse and wrapped up the remaining cheese. thought my father was going to crawl under the table. my mother told him “they’re just going to throw it away.” a true child of the depression.
You’re supposed to take it! Like you’re supposed to take the leftover onion rolls at Ratner’s.
Pretty sure it was mozz, need a tiebreaker.
But how much of that diversity has made it down to Athens, Ohio? L, sorry just had to ask, and unfortunately haven’t been there in 50 years. I do remember a “healthy” restaurant in Columbus ~ Sevá. And then a Jefferson Starship concert-
I can think of a handful of places in the city I liked. Crispo comes to mind, where we actually went twice, and then there was a tiny place on the LES that looked like a bakery. Maybe 5 tables at the most, very small menu. I think it was a CH recommendation.
Marea was the $$$$ that was a major letdown.
Taco Bell is its own thing! Taco Bell is not trying to compete with the real deal!
It scratches an itch in the burbs, or when the other options are KFC and McDs, or much worse than KFC and McDs.
I order things that I wouldn’t be ordering at a taco truck or taqueria. Such as Border Fries, Bean Burritos, various Limited Time Only features.
I have ordered a bean and cheese burrito at a Manhattan Taco Bell, decades ago, when I lived there.
Over the past 30 years, my amount of time spent in NYC is typically very short, usually 4 to 6 nights, so I typically avoid all the multinational chains and focus on the local stuff.
Granted, it’s not exactly diverse and maybe a bit too plebeian after going to NYC, but how about a place like Schnipper’s. Basically a nice but upscale burger joint?
I am not talking about California. That’s why I used the word ‘most.’ Do you realize just how many Mexican restaurants there are in the US? They do not rise to that level or even try. If they didn’t sell margaritas their business model would tank.
You don’t miss out on anything. We had it twice before in 25 years (and the second time was after 10 years to see if it is really that bad - yes). Independently if one thinks it is Mexican, Tex-Mex or anything else it is even for fast food horrible food and some of the worst we have ever eaten.
Yes, there are pockets of places, especially New Jersey, NY, Philly, etc.. But that is still not most of the US. Where I live in the DC area, there a tons of Italian American places that do not live up to those standards. There must be a dozen places in Arlington, VA (where I live) that I would not set foot into again.
I can make my own spaghetti and open a jar of red sauce.
Yes, you can seek out and find good places. Not everywhere. But those places still do not represent most of the possibilities. I can do better at home on a day when I don’t even want to make an effort.
