I think Virginia food just sucks dude. Clam chowder, Maryland crab cakes, Old bay on anything, Philadelphia and their pretzels and cheesesteaks, DC's international food, Maine's lobster, New York's bagels, New Jersey's wafer thin crispy pizza (yeah I think it's better than an NYC slice), sub sandwiches in the northeast, atlantic lox, atlantic cod, new england aged cheddar… Also are we counting bourbon country to be east? Because internationally renowned whiskeys.

Also a California burrito just looks like it's basically a Pittsburgh sandwich but in burrito form, and I'll tell California what I told Pittsburgh, the fries are better on the side.

Tbh the food of the west coast has failed to impress me. Is it better than the Midwest? Of course (except for fried dairy), that's not a high bar. There's plenty good, especially in Asian and Latin cuisines, but there's not even much weird local foods like Cincinnati chili, it's just "ah yeah this is grown/caught nearby and so it's fresh and popular". It is much better as a pescatarian though.

As someone from the southeast I had the opposite reaction when visiting Cali. I felt like there was no soul in that food at all. More healthy tho.

Edit: Rethinking it, I'm actually sure there's good and bad in both places.

... How did we get here from mountains?

You need to hit up the south. Amazing food. Sure the weather is hot af, the politics are fucking terrible, and you'll probably get some odd looks of you're not white.

But boy....that food. Put some pounds on you quick but you'll leave fat and sassy