Roadfood: Discovering America One Dish at a Time

African American influence in Chicago cannot be overstated, stretching from music to food to much more. Jazz and Blues, as well as South Side BBQ -- a style of barbeque only found in a handful of restaurants in Chicago -- are just a few examples of how African American culture has shaped the Windy City.

Brownsville, Texas, on the border of Mexico, is where you'll find some of the best tacos in the U.S., both in variety and quality. It's also a place where border politics have direct and immediate consequences, and where Elon Musk built a launch site for Space X rockets to Mars. How do tacos reflect such a diverse place?

Booming economic growth and rapid industrialization in the early twentieth century drove immigration from Europe to Ohio, and that immigration brought the now hyper-regional dish of Barberton fried chicken to the area. In fact, derived from the recipe of Serbian immigrants who founded the still-operating Belgrade Gardens restaurant in the 1930s, Serbian fried chicken has become a regional staple.

Invented during the Great Depression as a way to offset the cost of beef, the onion fried burger has become a beloved staple of El Reno, Oklahoma. On Route 66 and known as the Crossroads of America, this small town has big personality, and the restaurants serving this iconic dish have served as the heartbeat of the community through all of the ups and downs.

Los Angeles is a renowned cultural hub, drawing people of all backgrounds together and bringing new dishes like the açai bowl to the United States. In this episode, Misha Collins travels into his own backyard to discover the açai bowl and explore why Angelenos are on the forefront of a burgeoning plant-based food movement and why this area is such fertile ground for creativity and innovation.