when you can find them... they grow ever more rare.
Back in 1971 my wife and I had some guests over for dinner... this was in Germany. They were from Indiana. On the menu that night were "Tacos". They had never heard of tacos.
Of course today there are only a handful of people on earth who have not heard of tacos.
Most people today have heard of 'fish tacos'.... but back in 2008, not so long ago, I remember stopping at one of those quick stops in Mississippi and they had 'catfish tacos'... I had never heard of that.
During my 'around the USA' motorcycle trips finding unique regional foods was a high priority for me. And it's not so much the food stuff itself being unique, although it can be, it's the 'preparation'.
IMHO.. I give the nod to the southern states and by that I mean from Az. all the way to Virginia. They seem to me to be more creative.
One thing I pride myself in greatly was that on my round the USA excursions I almost never at any of the popular food chains, McD's, Carl's JR.... the exception being White Castle because we don't have those out west. I liked to look for those dining establishments that had hand painted menus on their store fronts/windows.
But I should make note that: I am no where NEAR as particular about food as the rest of you... and by that I mean there are very, very few types of food I do not like... that is, don't like to the point that I can't eat it. There are foods I don't care to eat but they don't necessarily taste 'bad' to me. Just off the top of my head I can think of only a couple.... buttermilk and sweet pickles. I'm not a big fan of peaches.
In my experience the foods that I find most disliked are: (and I like all of these)... Fish, Okra, Tomatoes, Liver.
And with that said... one of my least favorites foods could be the most popular food in the world - chicken. I don't 'dislike' chicken but it's the most boring of all foods, IMHO. - JamesJM