BuzzFeed.com: 11 Cincinnati Foods That Are Better Than Yours
I've lived in Cincinnati pretty much all my life and I don't think any of the foods listed are particularly special or even good. I can understand how someone might miss one of these if they move away, but to say that an Izzy's Reuben is better than a Reuben you can get in a great deli in NYC is pretty ridiculous. LaRosa's pizza, really? Locally, I'd take Dewey's pizza or a wood fired pizza from A Tavola locally before eating LaRosa's.
I've lived in Cincinnati pretty much all my life and I don't think any of the foods listed are particularly special or even good. I can understand how someone might miss one of these if they move away, but to say that an Izzy's Reuben is better than a Reuben you can get in a great deli in NYC is pretty ridiculous. LaRosa's pizza, really? Locally, I'd take Dewey's pizza or a wood fired pizza from A Tavola locally before eating LaRosa's.
I don't really share but can understand a Cincinnatian's attachment to a distinct food [goetta, Cincinnati chili] or a local spin on something common [Graeter's ice cream, LaRosa's pizza], but Tom+Chee and It's Just Crepes? Those places have been around for something like 5 years, not long enough for people to have grown up with them and not really distinct enough to somehow "be Cincinnati." I would have gone with something like Grippo's Chips instead.
I think my biggest problem with the article is that idea that our food is better than yours which I don't see at all.
But as a food that people miss when they leave Cincinnati, I can see Grippo's or Husman's on the list.
In this case at least, I would think that "better" is in the eye of the beholder. Food is a sentimental thing. For me, A Tavola is great for pizza-like food, but it's no match to the plain ol' cheese slice I've been eating forever back in Brooklyn -- you could argue that A Tavola serves better food, but the familiarity is the key here.
You may be amused to hear that there's a bar in Manhattan [owned by Cincinnati transplants, I assume] that has monthly expat dinners. You have to place your order for Montgomery Inn, La Rosa's, Skyline and Graeter's ahead of time, and it's pretty expensive, so I think they actually fly in the food or something like that. I don't know anyone who's done this but am pretty fascinated by the idea.