Regional Cooking varies from state to state and is highly influenced by the types of ingredients locally available, as well as the cultural background of the people that settled in the area. Southern cooking has definite African influences. Cajun cooking, from the New Orleans area, is a spicy mixture of Spanish, French and African styles. California cooking is known for the use of fresh fruits and vegetables in interesting combinations with Asian, Mexican and Spanish flavorings. Roast Turkey Ethnic Foods of all sorts are popular everywhere in the US and readily available in most areas.
Italian cuisine is popular everywhere, from fast food pizza to gourmet Italian regional cuisine.
The same is true of Chinese cuisine. Mexican restaurants are extremely popular in the southwestern and western states and can be found throughout the rest of the states as well. In most cities you will also find restaurants serving Eastern European, Greek, Middle Eastern, Indian, African, South American, Caribbean and numerous other cultural foods. Everyone seems to be dieting and trying to lose a few pounds. Salad bars are very common and many restaurants offer low calorie or low fat items on their menus.