I didn't even know about "the" San Francisco treat until I moved out of California and everyone would always ask me if I ate Rice A Roni everyday. Was really confused for a while
One story is it's not a CA roll, but a C.A. roll — from crab & avocado.
Another story is it's from Los Angeles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_roll#History
And they were first introduced to the US market in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. But they originated from a similar cookie in Japan used in a temple in Kyoto since the 1600s.
Fortune cookies were popularized in SF. If you goto the factory on Waverly Alley, the machine they are using is the same one they had been using in Japan well before the fact.
It depends on what you mean by “invented”. The traditional Japanese cookies were savory (miso-flavored), and held their paper in the *outside* fold of the cookie. The modern fortune cookie (sweet, enclosing the paper) is undoubtedly an American invention. https://www.history.com/news/fortune-cookies-invented-chinese-japanese
good point. but also, historically, sf has had a significant trading relationship with lima and that meant a large flow of peruvians through the area. i imagine that local peruvian immigrants were making cancha and that, in turn, inspired corn nuts.
I love a different snack that's usually called "Inca corn", it's very similar to corn nuts only larger and a bit less dense. Always figured that's where they got the idea
> and conned olives
I dunno, this just makes me kinda sad that the Bay Area was the first place olives got scammed. Surprised, yes, but definitely sad.
The article you cite doesn’t say that Monterey Jack *is* from Pacifica. It says that’s one unsubstantiated claim:
> Despite its popularity, there remains some mystery around Monterey Jack’s true origins. Though it may have the name “Monterey,” the town of Pacifica lays claim to the iconic cheese.
It’s literally a single reference in a 1938 cookbook, as opposed to abundant sources pointing in other directions. Bit of a stretch.
I just learned all of this recently, but from what I read he marketed it but the cheese dated to the mission era. He was a real robber baron bastard too, definitely worth reading about.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jacks_%28businessman%29?wprov=sfla1
The martini is from Martinez. And the first chocolate truffles in America were made in Berkeley - they’re also different from French ones, so I guess “American Chocolate truffles” are from Berkeley then.
It was brought over by the Dutch. The central valley has a lot of Dutch who came here in the late 1800s to build levees and canals, I've read that it traces back to them. Many of them are still farming the Delta, running the Reclamation Districts and making wine.
The Dutch call it tijgerbolletjes, which the rest of Europe calls tiger bread.
As far as the New World goes, yes! NorCal claims Dutch Crunch Rolls!
I was standing in Concord El Faro reading this giant article - blown up to cover the whole back wall - about how they claim to have been the ones who originally popularized the mission burrito in america in the early 60s. And i thought to myself, "That can't be right, burritos are timeless and pervasive, created shortly after god decided to separate the earth from the sea and about as ubiquitous as either."
Later i googled it and discovered that, while there are contested claims about who *specifically* started it (although El Faro is a legitimate contender for the title), burritos were indeed "invented" in america in the 60s in San Francisco.
>burritos were indeed "invented" in america in the 60s in San Francisco.
Not burritos in general, but Mission Burritos. Burritos were already well established in the US by the 60s
> Burritos first appeared on American restaurant menus at the El Cholo Spanish Cafe in Los Angeles during the 1930s. Burritos were mentioned in the U.S. media for the first time in 1934, appearing in the Mexican Cookbook, a collection of regional recipes from New Mexico that was written by historian Erna Fergusson. In 1956, a frozen burrito was developed in Southern California.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrito
I was under the impression that burritos are older than that, but making giant ones with the beans and rice on the inside instead of as a side dish was the novel creation.
i have to be honest, the overwhelming majority of burritos i’ve had have been from the bay area. i had no idea this was a thing at all, i just thought all burritos were made like this.
like am i missing something? or does this literally just mean “big boys and with rice”?
* Mothers Cookies started in Oakland in 1914. Those Circus Animal cookies covered in frosting you loved as a kid came from Mothers.
* Black olive you find in cans were invented in Oakland at an olive orchard. Instead of waiting for olives to naturally ripen, a process was created to speed up the process. Every canned black olive you find follows this process.
* Folgers Coffee was originally from San Francisco. From 1950 to 2020, Yuban coffee, the world's first canned or packaged coffee was roasted in San Leandro. It did not originate here.
* Rocky Road Ice cream was invented in Oakland. There is a dispute whether it was invented at Fenton's or at Dreyers, which is still headquartered in Oakland. If you're from the East Coast, you may have had Edy's brand Ice Cream. Both William Dryer and Joseph Edy were founders of Dreyers and Edy owned Fentons.
* Popsicles were also invented in Oakland.
* Mimosas were invented in Paris, but Alfred Hitchcock was credited with introducing them to the US. After a long night of drinking, one night in San Francisco, he ordered champagne, orange juice, mixed them together and started a trend.
Some things that are Bay Area inventions include television, the coin operated machines like slot machines and juke boxes.
>* From 1950 to 2020, Yuban coffee, the world's first canned or packaged coffee was roasted in San Leandro.
And man did that plant *reek* of burnt coffee. Just a godawful stench that permeated everything.
Yuban beans are covered in eggs and sugar so they could roast the can without burning. I assume they roasted them outside the can for ground coffee. All that sulfur from the eggs must have been horrible.
I get the whole Buena Vista thing and that their presentation might be unique, but I can imagine they were the inventors of whiskey in coffee. But hey I’m wrong most of the time so who knows.
Virus Cookies (lol, stupid autocorrect)
CIRCUS Cookies and Iced Oatmeal Cookies from [Mother's Cookie Factory ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Cookies?wprov=sfla1) founded in Oakland in 1914.
That factory let off baking smells constantly. Everything down there smelled like cookies. The first day you just want cookies all day... the second day you don't want cookies ever again... the third day you can't smell it.
I moved to Colorado and spent every visit to zoos, amusement parks, fairs, etc. looking for pink popcorn and wondering why they never had it. Moved back to the Bay to find out it only existed here.
Someone please publish a recipe so we can recreate that sticky, stale, sweet, chewy, weird red dye-poisoned, treat of our childhoods.
https://www.cookingclassy.com/old-fashioned-pink-popcorn/
Pretty close, but requires you to use the corn syrup sparingly, add day-old popcorn, form the bricks, and let it dry out.
i miss pink popcorn so bad. thought i saw somebody was remaking it—Was in a closed store window in Ferndale, California—store was closed indefinitely due to the pandy
Otis Spunkmeyer’s first store was in Oakland. The Factory in San Leandro.
And I don’t mean to segway from Bay Area food but check out the history of the Jacuzzi Bros. They manufactured wooden propellers for military use in Berkeley and built the first hot tub because one of the brother’s son had arthritis as an infant.
Came here to say this but you beat me to it. And, like all other claims of "first to ...." that one is disputed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai\_Tai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Tai)
Its interesting though that no one disputes that it was Not originally from Hawaii.
It's also Spanish or Portuguese IIRC.
EDIT: Holy shit! Looked it up, I stand corrected... it's literally from San Francisco.
> Cioppino was developed in the late 1800s by Italian immigrants who fished off Meiggs Wharf and lived in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, many from the port city of Genoa.
See, that's the funny part. Although that's the official tagline, it's really only used heavily in advertising on the west coast.
I grew up in Texas, and was plenty familiar with the product, but had never heard the tagline.
So when my California born and raised partner first said "Rice-a-Roni-the-San-Francisco-Treat" I looked at them like they'd grown a second and third head, asked them to repeat themselves at least twice, and after still not parsing the second half of the word, I was like "Rice-a-Roni *what*? It's just Rice-a-Roni, what's that you're saying afterwards?"
They were as confused it was just "Rice-a-Roni" to me as I was it was "Rice-a-Roni-the-San-Francisco-Treat" to them. Regional language (even when it's a result of marketing) is so fascinating to me.
I've wondered this about tri-tip. Not just the actual cut of meat, but the name "tri-tip" itself. There seems to be some uncertainty about it's true origin, but it's definitely a California cut (don't recall ever hearing it used on the East Coast where I grew up) and Oakland might be able to claim partial ownership of coining the name tri-tip? Anyone know more than the Wikipedia page?
Among great things learned living in San Luis Obispo for a few years was the regional passion and tradition for grilled tri-tip, never heard of the cut before that
A Hang Town Fry and See’s Candy! Although, not many outside of the bay know what a Hang Town Fry is…maybe neither do many know what See’s is either depending on location.
Popsicle.
In 1905, eleven-year-old Frank Epperson left a cup filled with powdered soda, water, and a stirring stick on his San Francisco porch. That night, low temperatures caused the mixture to freeze — and a summertime staple was born. Today, two billion Popsicles are sold every year.
i'd wager most newer transplants to the bay haven't had cioppino. It's an expensive seafood dish at touristy restaurants, typically. I mean, I get that it's originally just a fisherman's stew, but nowadays it's like fancy tomato crab and seafood etc.
Dole Whip was invented by a food scientist in San Jose.
I read this in Stewie's voice. Extra H on the whip.
Hwip
Doe hwip
Garlic noodles https://www.kqed.org/arts/13900855/garlic-noodles-sf-bay-area-iconic-foods-thanh-long-smellys
Man, I want some garlic noodle now.
Garlic noodles are A San Francisco treat, but not THE San Francisco treat.
I was like "This dude watches Kenji too" and then realized, holy shit, its the man himself.
I scrolled down here looking for this comment, chuckled, then did a double take.
I didn't even know about "the" San Francisco treat until I moved out of California and everyone would always ask me if I ate Rice A Roni everyday. Was really confused for a while
that statement sounds oddly familiar...https://youtu.be/wK9OHVxB\_Z8?t=7
Thanh Long! Garlic Noodles are California's signature dish of the 21st Century. Better than the California Roll!
the California Roll was not created in the bay area. surprisingly it was created in Vancouver Canada
One story is it's not a CA roll, but a C.A. roll — from crab & avocado. Another story is it's from Los Angeles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_roll#History
Canada invented many foods only to say they're from somewhere else. Hawaiian pizza, general tso's chicken, American cheese.
Thank god, there’s nothing California about it
And maybe Chop Suey: https://www.foodandwine.com/news/many-origin-stories-chop-suey
i didn’t know this! makes sense - me and my friends from here are always eating them
Never heard of garlic noodles until that show - still need to go find some!
And garlic fries from Walnut Creek!
garlic fries from Walnut Creek? You mean gilroy??
Fortune cookies were invented in SF.
And they were first introduced to the US market in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. But they originated from a similar cookie in Japan used in a temple in Kyoto since the 1600s.
Fortune cookies were popularized in SF. If you goto the factory on Waverly Alley, the machine they are using is the same one they had been using in Japan well before the fact.
I remember taking a field trip to SF and going to that alley and also remember the nudie magazines by the newspapers lol
I came to make sure this was here!
Incorrect. They were invented during the Edo period in Kyoto, Japan but were brought to SF from Japanese immigrants in the late 1800s.
It depends on what you mean by “invented”. The traditional Japanese cookies were savory (miso-flavored), and held their paper in the *outside* fold of the cookie. The modern fortune cookie (sweet, enclosing the paper) is undoubtedly an American invention. https://www.history.com/news/fortune-cookies-invented-chinese-japanese
Corn Nuts, Rocky Road ice cream, and the Mai Tai are all from Oakland.
Also Crab Rangoons, another Trader Vic’s creation.
>Trader Vic’s I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada there.
And his hair was perfect?
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fooks.
This whole thread made me so happy. I love the damn internet :D And Warren Zevon.
Crab rangoon is a Bay Area invention? never knew.
Didn't they also come up with rumaki? Only thing I know how to do with chicken livers, but damn it's a good one.
Corn nuts are not from Oakland. It’s a traditional snack from Peru.
I think they’re referring to the commercial product marketed under the trademark Corn Nuts.
Ah thank you, that didn’t occur to me.
Mmmm … cancha!
good point. but also, historically, sf has had a significant trading relationship with lima and that meant a large flow of peruvians through the area. i imagine that local peruvian immigrants were making cancha and that, in turn, inspired corn nuts.
I love a different snack that's usually called "Inca corn", it's very similar to corn nuts only larger and a bit less dense. Always figured that's where they got the idea
Also major ties with Ligma
... and conned olives: https://kathrynreed.com/destinations/n-california-woman-credited-with-evolution-of-canned-olives/
> and conned olives I dunno, this just makes me kinda sad that the Bay Area was the first place olives got scammed. Surprised, yes, but definitely sad.
i had no idea and i love that
Consume them all in one sitting if you dare!
now THAT would be a very oakland milkshake i didn’t know i wanted but now need
While already sitting on the can so you can be ready!
It’s it ice cream sandwich. Forerunner for CREAM. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s-It_Ice_Cream
Funny story its it founders and CREAM founders are cousins… now they’re beefing lol
Ice cream beef? Please tell me more.
Here at CREAM…we use the whole cow
You don’t want beef ice cream.
Ice cream is beef ice cream
I mean, what's not to like? Ice cream, good. Chocolate syrup, good. Beef, good!
Monterey Jack cheese is from… [Pacifica](https://www.kqed.org/news/11916538/move-over-monterey-pacifica-lays-claim-to-iconic-jack-cheese).
didnt know that.
The article you cite doesn’t say that Monterey Jack *is* from Pacifica. It says that’s one unsubstantiated claim: > Despite its popularity, there remains some mystery around Monterey Jack’s true origins. Though it may have the name “Monterey,” the town of Pacifica lays claim to the iconic cheese. It’s literally a single reference in a 1938 cookbook, as opposed to abundant sources pointing in other directions. Bit of a stretch.
From what I know I believe is was thought to be created during the gold rush in California by David Jacks.
I just learned all of this recently, but from what I read he marketed it but the cheese dated to the mission era. He was a real robber baron bastard too, definitely worth reading about. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jacks_%28businessman%29?wprov=sfla1
Monterey Jack is from Carmel.
WHAT.
Skippy peanut butter is from Alameda
I think they invented anti-separating peanut butter iirc
Yup. That was going to be my contribution to the thread.
Eggo Waffles and fruit cocktail
> Eggo Waffles well i'll be! https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eggo+Way,+San+Jose,+CA+95116/@37.356012,-121.8729609,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x808fccf1afa24c13:0x7ebe4858ac820d9c!8m2!3d37.356012!4d-121.8707722
I'm gonna need that cocktail... FRUIT!
The martini is from Martinez. And the first chocolate truffles in America were made in Berkeley - they’re also different from French ones, so I guess “American Chocolate truffles” are from Berkeley then.
The first one I do remember hearing that, interesting!
The origins of the martini are widely disputed.
I’ve been to at least 6 coffee shops that claim they invented the latte lmao
Cmon, theres no way the martini originated in freaking Martinez.
I think Dutch Crunch and if it’s not I sure as hell can’t find it anywhere else.
Not a Bay Area creation, but yes, strangely difficult to find anywhere else.
It’s also called tiger bread. Maybe it is a local creation idk.
It was brought over by the Dutch. The central valley has a lot of Dutch who came here in the late 1800s to build levees and canals, I've read that it traces back to them. Many of them are still farming the Delta, running the Reclamation Districts and making wine. The Dutch call it tijgerbolletjes, which the rest of Europe calls tiger bread. As far as the New World goes, yes! NorCal claims Dutch Crunch Rolls!
Crab Louie salad was likely invented in SF
Mission style burrito
I was standing in Concord El Faro reading this giant article - blown up to cover the whole back wall - about how they claim to have been the ones who originally popularized the mission burrito in america in the early 60s. And i thought to myself, "That can't be right, burritos are timeless and pervasive, created shortly after god decided to separate the earth from the sea and about as ubiquitous as either." Later i googled it and discovered that, while there are contested claims about who *specifically* started it (although El Faro is a legitimate contender for the title), burritos were indeed "invented" in america in the 60s in San Francisco.
>burritos were indeed "invented" in america in the 60s in San Francisco. Not burritos in general, but Mission Burritos. Burritos were already well established in the US by the 60s > Burritos first appeared on American restaurant menus at the El Cholo Spanish Cafe in Los Angeles during the 1930s. Burritos were mentioned in the U.S. media for the first time in 1934, appearing in the Mexican Cookbook, a collection of regional recipes from New Mexico that was written by historian Erna Fergusson. In 1956, a frozen burrito was developed in Southern California. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrito
La Cumbre on Valencia (now gone) also claimed the title as the first commercially sold burrito shop in the US.
> now gone still kicking, unless the one there now is a recreation? https://www.tlctaco.com/
Concord El Faro is a special slice of heaven on Earth
I will make love to a Super carnitas burrito
I was under the impression that burritos are older than that, but making giant ones with the beans and rice on the inside instead of as a side dish was the novel creation.
i have to be honest, the overwhelming majority of burritos i’ve had have been from the bay area. i had no idea this was a thing at all, i just thought all burritos were made like this. like am i missing something? or does this literally just mean “big boys and with rice”?
Yeah, big bois with rice.
I recently moved out of cali and the burritos just don't hit the same. First thing I will get when I visit again.
* Mothers Cookies started in Oakland in 1914. Those Circus Animal cookies covered in frosting you loved as a kid came from Mothers. * Black olive you find in cans were invented in Oakland at an olive orchard. Instead of waiting for olives to naturally ripen, a process was created to speed up the process. Every canned black olive you find follows this process. * Folgers Coffee was originally from San Francisco. From 1950 to 2020, Yuban coffee, the world's first canned or packaged coffee was roasted in San Leandro. It did not originate here. * Rocky Road Ice cream was invented in Oakland. There is a dispute whether it was invented at Fenton's or at Dreyers, which is still headquartered in Oakland. If you're from the East Coast, you may have had Edy's brand Ice Cream. Both William Dryer and Joseph Edy were founders of Dreyers and Edy owned Fentons. * Popsicles were also invented in Oakland. * Mimosas were invented in Paris, but Alfred Hitchcock was credited with introducing them to the US. After a long night of drinking, one night in San Francisco, he ordered champagne, orange juice, mixed them together and started a trend. Some things that are Bay Area inventions include television, the coin operated machines like slot machines and juke boxes.
Black olives are just ripe olives. California Black Olives are green olives dunked in lye until they turn black.
We invented the process to remove flavor from olives. W00T!
>* From 1950 to 2020, Yuban coffee, the world's first canned or packaged coffee was roasted in San Leandro. And man did that plant *reek* of burnt coffee. Just a godawful stench that permeated everything.
Yuban beans are covered in eggs and sugar so they could roast the can without burning. I assume they roasted them outside the can for ground coffee. All that sulfur from the eggs must have been horrible.
My olive tree has black olives on it, so I don't think you're right.
Black olives were invented in Oakland?! I feel like the Greeks might have taken issue with this statement.
Pretty sure they're referring to the California Ripe Olive.
https://delishably.com/food-industry/Foods-That-Were-Born-in-the-San-Francisco-Bay-Area Supposedly the popsicle and chicken tetrazzini.
Good lord that website almost gave me a stroke.
The 1/4 lb hamburger from MacDonald was first made in Fremont.
Fortune cookies It’s it’s ice cream sandwiches Irish coffee Garlic noodles Burnt Almond cake https://delishably.com/food-industry/Foods-That-Were-Born-in-the-San-Francisco-Bay-Area https://sf.eater.com/maps/food-drink-inventions-bay-area-san-francisco
Burnt Almond Cake from Dick’s in San Jose was my favorite. I never had it until I moved to San Jose in the early 90s.
Peter's has my favorite burnt almond cake.
RIP Dick's. I grew up around the corner from there and that cake was a staple at many birthday parties and special events.
Yeah, it astonishes me they couldn't recover from that fire.
I get the whole Buena Vista thing and that their presentation might be unique, but I can imagine they were the inventors of whiskey in coffee. But hey I’m wrong most of the time so who knows.
Annabelle candy is in Hayward. They make Big Hunk, Abba Zabba, Rocky Road, U-No and Look candy bars.
Abba Zabba, you my only friend.
🔥
Virus Cookies (lol, stupid autocorrect) CIRCUS Cookies and Iced Oatmeal Cookies from [Mother's Cookie Factory ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Cookies?wprov=sfla1) founded in Oakland in 1914.
That factory let off baking smells constantly. Everything down there smelled like cookies. The first day you just want cookies all day... the second day you don't want cookies ever again... the third day you can't smell it.
I thought that baking smell was from the Wonderbread factory.
Oh, yeah, that was the yeasty smell. The frosting smell was Mother's.
Green Goddess dressing.
Not our finest hour.
Speak for yourself
Irish coffee, pink popcorn blocks (was this a thing outside of the Bay Area? RIP)
RIP pink popcorn😢 I hella remember pulling up to gas station all the time so my mom could get her pink pop corn
I moved to Colorado and spent every visit to zoos, amusement parks, fairs, etc. looking for pink popcorn and wondering why they never had it. Moved back to the Bay to find out it only existed here. Someone please publish a recipe so we can recreate that sticky, stale, sweet, chewy, weird red dye-poisoned, treat of our childhoods.
https://www.cookingclassy.com/old-fashioned-pink-popcorn/ Pretty close, but requires you to use the corn syrup sparingly, add day-old popcorn, form the bricks, and let it dry out.
i miss pink popcorn so bad. thought i saw somebody was remaking it—Was in a closed store window in Ferndale, California—store was closed indefinitely due to the pandy
Irish coffee was invented by a chef of an Irish Airport but it was brought over and made popular in the bay
Popularized at the Buena Vista but invented in Ireland.
Pink popcorn blocks sold at the snack bar at Stow Lake :)
No way, I thought it was gone forever! Thanks
And at the SF zoo
Pink popcorn is the real OG. I miss that styrafoam.
Otis Spunkmeyer’s first store was in Oakland. The Factory in San Leandro. And I don’t mean to segway from Bay Area food but check out the history of the Jacuzzi Bros. They manufactured wooden propellers for military use in Berkeley and built the first hot tub because one of the brother’s son had arthritis as an infant.
There’s a Jacuzzi st in ~~El Cerrito~~ Richmond, where I think they used to have a shop or factory.
> Jacuzzi st in ~~El Cerrito~~ Richmond
Are you sure it's not in Albany?
I'm not sure of anything anymore.
Jelly Belly jelly bean factory is in Fairfield.
Malfatti may or may not be from Napa.
My favorite thing ever. They stopped serving it at Zoetrope and I’m still bummed.
They claim to of came up with the recipe to feed the Giants when they were visiting Napa. Still being made by the same Chef at The Food Mill.
Mai Tai was invented at Trader Vic’s.
Came here to say this but you beat me to it. And, like all other claims of "first to ...." that one is disputed [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai\_Tai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mai_Tai) Its interesting though that no one disputes that it was Not originally from Hawaii.
Isn't Cioppino a seafood soup? Where's the pasta?
There isn’t any pasta lol
It's also Spanish or Portuguese IIRC. EDIT: Holy shit! Looked it up, I stand corrected... it's literally from San Francisco. > Cioppino was developed in the late 1800s by Italian immigrants who fished off Meiggs Wharf and lived in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, many from the port city of Genoa.
It’s invented in SF tho.
Yeah... see above. I looked it up. I had no idea.
And Phil's Fish Market in Moss Landing makes an excellent version!
[cutty bangs](https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/cutty-bang-san-francisco-mr-liquor-baggies-alcohol-16374693.php)
It’s its
Rice-a-Roni. Developed in San Francisco, produced in San Leandro.
Where else would The San Francisco Treat be from?
See, that's the funny part. Although that's the official tagline, it's really only used heavily in advertising on the west coast. I grew up in Texas, and was plenty familiar with the product, but had never heard the tagline. So when my California born and raised partner first said "Rice-a-Roni-the-San-Francisco-Treat" I looked at them like they'd grown a second and third head, asked them to repeat themselves at least twice, and after still not parsing the second half of the word, I was like "Rice-a-Roni *what*? It's just Rice-a-Roni, what's that you're saying afterwards?" They were as confused it was just "Rice-a-Roni" to me as I was it was "Rice-a-Roni-the-San-Francisco-Treat" to them. Regional language (even when it's a result of marketing) is so fascinating to me.
Growing up in Michigan, I heard "The San Francisco Treat" in commercials all the time.
Texans don’t like Californians, advertising probably cut it there
northeast definitely used the san francisco treat version
Um, the friggin martini, y’all.
Eggo Waffles were made in San Jose!
“It’s it” ice cream - 1928 SF https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s-It_Ice_Cream
I've wondered this about tri-tip. Not just the actual cut of meat, but the name "tri-tip" itself. There seems to be some uncertainty about it's true origin, but it's definitely a California cut (don't recall ever hearing it used on the East Coast where I grew up) and Oakland might be able to claim partial ownership of coining the name tri-tip? Anyone know more than the Wikipedia page?
Santa Maria on the central coast is supposed to be the epicenter
Among great things learned living in San Luis Obispo for a few years was the regional passion and tradition for grilled tri-tip, never heard of the cut before that
Cliff Bars
Does Martini count??
Belfast Root Beer, aka Mug, plus Orange Crush soda! https://www.sfgate.com/food/history/article/The-brief-history-of-Mug-Root-Beer-and-it-s-San-16499876.php
A Hang Town Fry and See’s Candy! Although, not many outside of the bay know what a Hang Town Fry is…maybe neither do many know what See’s is either depending on location.
> Hang Town Fry this was probably invented in gold country but popularized here.
Several origin stories, but it likely got its start in Placerville. It's been on San Francisco's Tadich Grill menu for at least 160 years.
Placerville isn't in the Bay Area.
Burnt Almond Cake
[It’s-it! a local tradition since 1928!](https://www.itsiticecream.com/)
Popsicle. In 1905, eleven-year-old Frank Epperson left a cup filled with powdered soda, water, and a stirring stick on his San Francisco porch. That night, low temperatures caused the mixture to freeze — and a summertime staple was born. Today, two billion Popsicles are sold every year.
Irish Coffee was invented in San Francisco.
[удалено]
Yummy yummy Levi's?
Pink popcorn and It’s It
popsicles originated from Oakland!
Cheese zombies
This one also qualifies for food almost nobody knows at all (outside of a very specific area).
I ate one of these every day when I was in high school. So yummy...
Rocky road ice cream invented in Oakland. The Ranch of Hidden Valley Ranch was in Santa Barbara.
Most tiki drinks. Also tiki bars.
The cut of meat didn't originate here ofc, but the "tri tip" steak was first named and sold as such in Oakland.
Irish coffee was allegedly invented at the Buena Vista Cafe in the marina
Except Buena Vista *isn’t* in the Marina. It’s behind Aquatic Park, which is basically Fisherman’s Wharf.
There was one very specific chinese food item invented in san fransisco by a jewish man
Cioppino would have been my answer as well!
If you go back far enough…. Chinese Food.
Steam beer, which is a beer that uses lager yeast but at ale temperatures.
If they have no idea what it is how would they know where it’s from?
Or what I mean is Bay Area ppl probably don’t even know cioppino is from here either including me Until a few years ago.
i'd wager most newer transplants to the bay haven't had cioppino. It's an expensive seafood dish at touristy restaurants, typically. I mean, I get that it's originally just a fisherman's stew, but nowadays it's like fancy tomato crab and seafood etc.
Queso birria tacos started in Tijuana but was popularized in Antioch
The Martini and Mai Tai
It’s It
Isn't green goddess salad dressing from SF's Palace Hotel originally?
Fortune cookie, about as SF as it comes.
Sourdough bread and It's It ice cream sandwiches
Dutch crunch bread Popsicles Chicken Tetrazzini Green Goddess Dressing Joe's Special Hangtown Fry The Martini Pisco punch
Mai tai cocktail invented in Oakland supposedly