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  Indio-Coachella

  Southern California’s Coachella Valley—a northwestern extension of the Colorado Desert and home to cities including Indio, Coachella, Palm Springs, and Palm Desert—is famous for its music and food festivals; its celebrity playgrounds; its diverse (and earthquake-prone) area topography and proximity to Joshua Tree National Park, the San Bernardino Mountains, the San Andreas Fault. But its warm winters have proven a boon to more than just the visiting “snowbird” population: The valley is a very important agricultural center for Southern Cali. In this snapshot, we focus on the product most associated with the area, thanks to its Arabian-like climate: the sweet and humble date.

  Find local foods in Indio-Coachella.

  Date shake

  Dates

  Los Angeles

  You don’t have to be starstruck to be wowed by Los Angeles. Filled with enough legend to rival Manhattan, it’s a city that lives up to its reputation, for better or worse: Just as you’ll spot a celebrity or two and gape at Rodeo Drive a la Pretty Woman, you’ll likewise spend a lot of time in your car, getting to know the city sprawl, the Skid Row grit between the glitz, the notorious freeway traffic. But like any good challenge, L.A. is worth it—for its food as much as for those instantly recognizable pop-culture icons. But what is L.A. food? To understand the city’s diverse gastronomy is to first understand the city’s diverse demographics, which is to say a mish-mash of many ethnic enclaves—there’s not only a Chinatown, Koreatown, and huge Hispanic population here, but also a Little Ethiopia, Little Armenia, and “Tehrangeles,” to name a few. Next, consider that L.A. loves its trends, and many of the culinary sort have stuck around here, from drive-through burger joints and street food trucks to vegetarianism and locavorism (the latter forming the general basis of the vague catchall “California cuisine”). Then there’s the natural intermingling of what came before (hello, vegan Vietnamese and Korean tacos!), plus celebrity-approved landmark eateries that hold their ground year after year. Hungry yet? Widespread, creative, and ever-evolving, L.A.’s food scene is ready for its close-up. 

  Find local foods in Los Angeles.

  Burritos

  California roll, creative sushi roll

  California-style pizza

  Chili cheese dog

  Drive-through burger

• User Content

Below is user-submitted content for this region. Have something to contribute? Upload your regional-food photo or food memory.

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  Fresh Local Oysters

  Marshall
  raluca
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  Locally roasted coffee

  SF
  raluca
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  Dungeness crab scramble

  SF
  raluca
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  Local Craft Beer

  SF
  raluca

• • Honey and The Space Shuttle

    fxsawyer
    San Francisco, California, United States
    

    I have been involved in food in so many different ways in my life. I received an invitation to this site and was happy to learn of it.
    In one of my careers I had the great good fortune …    Read more

  • Breakfast in Big Sur

    briannann
    Big Sur, California, United States
    

    A sunny & crisp January morning greeted us as we awoke in Big Sur. The mission quickly became to hurry over to the Big Sur Bakery for breakfast. We still marvel at what awaited us there. A…    Read more