Texas could not possibly get more of a bad rap than it does. I think it has an even more unjustified reputation than New Jersey does. The state has 25 million people in it -- not everyone there has the objectionable politics of which the state's known for.
I've been there four times and have come to love it. I've been to Houston three times for work and can attest that it has AWESOME food. And the city's gigantic and diverse so you can find all the variety you'd find elsewhere. The last time I was down there, I had Tex-Mex from a dicey drive through at 2:30 AM, and it could not possibly have been better. When I told my co-workers (all of whom are pretty left-y politically -- the manager of our Houston office has the craziest Texan accent and talks about faith and religion constantly but was arrested at the 1968 DNC riot in Chicago) about where I ate, they scoffed at me and said that was the worst of Houston's Tex-Mex. If I had the worst, I can't even imagine what the best is! I also went to a Rockets game when I was down there once and had stadium BBQ which was TREMENDOUS.
And Houston's really weird. They don't have zoning so you can literally build anything you want anywhere you want. The city has a ton of sprawl and looks like strip mall hell but in the strip malls there will be something like an Ann Taylor next to a cowboy-themed bar next to a comic book shop. It's really weird and bewildering.
On our honeymoon, we drove from Las Vegas to Austin. Austin's reputation is true to form and is one of the best cities in North America.
On the way, we had to drive through West Texas. We stopped at Amarillo to eat and I had BBQ from a roadside place and it was beyond amazing. And there were about 1,000 places like that on Route 66 (one of the great pieces of Americana).
We also stopped overnight at Lubbock (birthplace of Buddy Holly who is only one of the top three or four most influential rock musicians of all-time) and went to a Texas Tech basketball game. The people we were sitting next to were West Texan to a T -- Stetson hats, Peggy Hill hair, etc. But they were talking to us about Texas and at the end of the game the guy shook my hand and gave me $20. I refused to take it -- being a Northeasterner, I assumed this was some sort of drug/sex weird thing. But he said in West Texas you just give guests things. They were legitimately the nicest strangers I've ever met.
They were probably GWB/Rick Perry voters. But just because someone doesn't really jibe with me politically doesn't mean that they're bad people! They just have a different view of how our government should work and how much their religious/spiritual beliefs should impact greater society. But they doesn't preclude people from being genuinely nice people!
So I support Top Chef's choice of locations! We have such a gigantic, amazing country where every section has its own unique flavor. Tom Collicho and Padma CELEBRATE that!
BTW: A lot of people think Utah/SLC is a weird place dominated by Mormons. I've been there and LOVE IT too!
