What Food Is California Known For?

If you’re planning your first trip to the Golden State and you’re wondering what food is California known for, then you’ve come to the right place!

After living in California for many years and continuing to visit often, we’ve taste tested food up and down the coast and found some of the best places to eat. If you’re going to be visiting California, you’ve got to try some of these California favorites, and you can find most of them with healthy and allergy friendly options as well. 

What Food Is California Known For & Where To Find It

We have severe food allergies and live a clean lifestyle so our dietary restrictions make it a little more difficult to find food while traveling. Thankfully, California is one of the healthiest states in the US, with some of the tastiest and cleanest food.

If healthy is not your thing, don’t worry! California still has plenty of fried, fatty foods and delicious cuisines from all over the world that have a special California twist. 

Healthy & Organic Food

Since this is our favorite, we’ll start with the abundant options of healthy and organic foods all over the state. California is known for growing just about anything when it comes to produce so restaurants all over take advantage of this to serve fresh and often organic food.

These types of restaurants also often offer many allergy friendly options which is great for all the gluten free and vegan eaters. 

One of our favorite places to find this kind of food is in West Los Angeles at Kye’s Feel Good Food. Their Pesto Club Kyerito (like a burrito) with arugula, tomato, bacon, chicken, and brown rice is our favorite. 

You can also search restaurants for the famous Hollywood Cobb Salad (which originated from the Brown Derby restaurant) that typically consists of chicken, bacon, tomatoes, blue cheese, avocados, green onions, red wine vinaigrette, and salt and pepper. 

Mexican Food: Tacos, Burritos, & More

Mexican food, probably the food California is most known for, is something special in the Golden State. You can find both traditional and fresh/healthy Mexican food, but nowhere makes it quite like California. 

We’ve lived in multiple other border states like Arizona and Texas, but they just don’t make Mexican food as good as they do in California. 

Whether you want the greasy, cheesy Mexican food or the fresh and healthy Mexican food, you’ll have plenty of options for tacos, burritos, enchiladas, and more. One of the most unique Mexican restaurants to check out is called El Adobe de Capistrano in San Juan Capistrano, California because it sits inside a historic building from the late 1700s. 

Some of our other favorite Mexican food places in California are Tocaya Modern Mexican throughout Southern California, Mercado in Santa Monica, and the vegan restaurant El Cantaro in Monterey, California. 

Chinese Food In Northern California 

With such a large Chinese population in California, Chinese food is another one of the most known foods in the state, particularly in Northern California (although Los Angeles also has one of the largest Chinatowns in the country too). 

San Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the largest outside of Asia and the oldest in the United States. It was established in 1848 during the Gold Rush and currently has tens of thousands of residents in just 20 square blocks.

Menus aren’t always descriptive or informative and sometimes you just have to point to the picture you want even if you don’t really know what it is. But despite the uncertainty, it is some of the best Chinese food in the country. 

Sourdough Bread From San Francisco 

Also up in Northern California, sourdough bread is the specific food item San Francisco, California is most known for. We recently visited California and learned that the sourdough bread is so special in San Francisco because of the foggy weather conditions the bread is baked in. 

It is seriously the best sourdough in the state and the country, and you can even find some baked bread options that are gluten free. Boudin Bakery is probably the most famous place to get that traditional sourdough bread in San Francisco, and Wholesome Bakery is the best place to get allergy friendly options (we highly suggest their bagels). 

Japanese Sushi

Along with the large Chinese population, the Japanese culture and cuisine is also strong in California. There is even a sushi roll named after the state that originated in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles, California back in the 1960s. 

You can go to just about any Japanese restaurant that is highly rated to find delicious sushi, and you can even find vegan sushi at the Shojin restaurant in Los Angeles.

Poke, Seafood, & Shellfish 

Being on the Pacific Coast, seafood is also one of the most known foods in California. Whether you are going fancy at Scoma’s Restaurant on the bay in San Francisco or getting a beach bite at North Shore Poke Co. in Huntington Beach, seafood fans must try some fresh fish while visiting California. 

Jewish Deli’s & Bagels

One of the less known food cuisines for outsiders to California are the Jewish Deli’s and the Jewish Bagels. Although New York is one of the most common places in the country to find this type of food, California quickly rose up when a lot of the Jewish population moved to California back in the prime Hollywood days.

Now you can find Jewish Deli’s all over the state, both Southern and Northern California, and there is even a gluten free one in Topanga called Modern Bread and Bagel. Our family’s longtime Jewish Deli was Katella Deli in Los Alamitos, California. 

Avocados & Toast

For all the hipsters out there, the most known food for breakfast or a snack in California is the avocado toast. Avocados are one of the many produce items that grow well in California so whether you go to a local fruit stand or grab some avocado toast from a cafe, this is a must try in California. 

Fresh Fruit & Jam

Like fresh avocados, California is known for its fresh fruit that grows right there in the state, and the famous Knott’s Berry Farm theme park takes that fruit and makes it into delicious jams and jellies. 

If you’re going on a road trip around California, you’ll likely see a number of orchards, fields, and fruit stands as you drive that you should definitely not miss out on. California is also the number one state in the US for organic farms, and you can visit many of them to taste the delicious and fresh fruit. 

Nuts, Especially Almonds

If you’ve ever seen one of those Almond Milk commercials where the kids talk about their family farm of almonds, all of them are located in California. The state is also one of the largest growers in the world for walnuts, pistachios, and pecans. And like fruit farms, you can visit some nut farms like the Bates Nut Farm near San Diego. 

Donuts Or Doughnuts 

Although donuts were not invented in California, they actually come from New York, the state has some pretty delicious donut options and even a number of gluten free and vegan ones. Our favorites are Fonuts gluten free baked donuts in Los Angeles and Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee all around Southern California.

Ice Cream (even garlic flavor)

For about three months out of the year, Southern California along the coast gets pretty hot which is perfect beach weather. Inland California stays pretty hot all summer long, so anywhere you are, some nice cold ice cream really hits the spot. 

Since California is up to date on allergy friendly foods, there are also some vegan ice cream shops and lots of vegan ice cream flavors at any ice cream shop around the state. In Gilroy, California, up north near Pebble Beach, you can even try the famous garlic flavored ice cream. 

Burgers, Fries, & Shakes

Since fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, In-N-Out Burger, and Mel’s Drive-In originated in California, burgers, fries, and shakes are a must try while visiting California. 

We don’t eat at those types of fast food restaurants, but some of our favorites come from Hopdoddy in Southern California (they have really good homemade gluten free buns), and Burger Lounge in both Southern and Northern California (they have gluten free buns, vegan cheese, and even vegan shakes). 

Beach Food: Pizza & Popsicles

If you’re visiting Southern California during the summer, you’ve definitely got to check out the beach (our favorite is Huntington Beach) and spending a long day in the sun will definitely make you super hungry. 

Lots of foods go great at the beach and depending on what beach you visit, there will be lots of beach side restaurants and shops to grab a bite to eat. In the past, some of our favorites were cold popsicles, a slice of pizza, or the loaded with carbs surfer food like burritos and burgers. 

Baseball Hot Dogs

And although the game of soccer, or football, is growing rapidly in California, baseball is still one of the most popular sports and the Dodgers are one of the most popular teams. The Dodger Dog is a must try when attending a baseball game in Los Angeles, and the stadium even sells vegan dogs and gluten free bun dogs. 

Final Thoughts: What Food Is California Known For

Some of the food California is known for originated in the Golden State, and some of it was brought over from other countries and cultures. No matter where it comes from, it is now part of what makes up California cuisine and it is all so delicious! 

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