{"id":2778,"date":"2026-07-05T17:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2778"},"modified":"2026-07-05T17:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:08:09","slug":"from-poutine-to-barbecue-local-cuisines-give-world-cup-fans-another-reason-to-cheer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2778","title":{"rendered":"From poutine to barbecue, local cuisines give World Cup fans another reason to cheer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

World Cup fans came from overseas\u00a0for the cheering. But they\u2019re also doing a lot of chewing, delighting their hosts with rave reviews of North American cuisine.<\/p>\n

Read more Sports<\/a><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s greasy, it\u2019s disgusting, but it\u2019s absolutely glorious,” Jack Goodwin, a soccer enthusiast from London, said about\u00a0the American food\u00a0he has tried in Dallas, Boston, New York and Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to say this because it\u2019s a little bit harsh, but the portions are a little bit larger \u2014 a lot more tastier \u2014 so I can understand the, um, obesity here. I don\u2019t want to be harsh, but yes, the food is fantastic here.\u201d<\/p>\n

International visitors want to try popular fast-food chains and local gems<\/h2>\n

Many fans are making a point to try\u00a0regional specialties\u00a0or chains they can\u2019t find where they live, like\u00a0In-N-Out Burger\u00a0or Buc-ee’s\u00a0convenience stores. Erling Haaland, a striker for Norway’s World Cup team, posted a photo on X of himself outside\u00a0Katz’s Delicatessen\u00a0in New York.<\/p>\n

Harrison Murphy, who was traveling from London with his brother for the knockout rounds, had breakfast at\u00a0a Chick-fil-A\u00a0in Atlanta this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you had Chick-fil-A? It was fantastic and so cheap. The sauces are free! It was remarkable,\u201d Murphy said. “I said, \u2018This is my first time, what should I try?\u2019 The woman said, \u2018You\u2019ve got to try the Chick-fil-A sauce.\u2019 My God, was it fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary Bishop had never heard of\u00a0poutine\u00a0\u2014 often considered Canada’s national dish \u2014 until he arrived\u00a0in Toronto\u00a0for the World Cup. But the Glasgow, Scotland, resident proclaimed it \u201cabsolutely delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like chips with gravy, cheese. But it was a really thick gravy. Different from back home. Vinegar, there was lots of vinegar through it,\u201d said Bishop, who was sporting a Scotland jersey on a recent stroll through Toronto\u2019s FIFA Fan Festival. \u201cReally nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Others are looking for a taste of home. Texas beer distributor Andrews Distributing welcomed a bus full of Dutch fans to its Dallas warehouse for\u00a0Heinekens\u00a0and dancing.<\/p>\n

Host city restaurants are eager to introduce new customers to old favorites<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s a thrill for restaurant owners, from Cuban spots in Miami to barbecue joints in Kansas City and taco trucks\u00a0in Mexico City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not seen anything like this ever in my life,\u201d said Paul Barker, the principal and founder of Pauli\u2019s, a Boston restaurant known for generously filled sandwiches and comfort foods. Fans from Scotland, Brazil,\u00a0England\u00a0and elsewhere have lined up for his famous lobster rolls and taken photos with staff members, Barker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFood becomes a natural conversation starter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just been incredible for us to be part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some chains are leaning into the World Cup.\u00a0Waffle House, the all-day breakfast chain with 2,000 restaurants across the South, opened a pop-up shop in downtown Atlanta to sell branded soccer balls, jerseys and patriotic gear. In a statement, the chain said it was \u201chonored by the enthusiasm and curiosity” shown by visiting fans.<\/p>\n

Read more Street takeover in Gladeview leaves 3 injured, deputies say<\/a><\/p>\n

For other restaurants,\u00a0World Cup fever\u00a0has been a delightful surprise. Whataburger, a Texas-based chain with 1,100 locations, found itself in the spotlight after fans from Japan and elsewhere posted on social media about their visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attention has been completely organic and honestly pretty entertaining,\u201d Whataburger President and CEO Debbie Stroud said. \u201cWe knew the World Cup would bring the world to Texas and our footprint across 17 states. We just didn\u2019t realize so many visitors would leave talking about a patty melt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArgentina reportedly brought more than 500 kilos of beef to the U.S. for the 2026 World Cup, highlighting a tradition that goes beyond food.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

Eating barbecue is high on the bucket lists of foreign foodies<\/h2>\n

Terry Black\u2019s Barbecue, a small Texas chain, figured\u00a0authentic barbecue\u00a0would be on many fans\u2019 must-try lists. It started sourcing extra meat more than a month ago for its locations in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, which are each about 20 minutes from the stadium where World Cup matches are played.<\/p>\n

It takes Terry Black\u2019s four days to season and prepare its beef brisket and 12 hours to barbecue it. The chain also smokes turkey, pork and sausages on its pits, which run 24 hours a day.<\/p>\n

The crush of World Cup fans has meant a lot of extra planning, said Darien Kapture, the chain\u2019s senior vice president of food and beverage operations. But it’s also meant a lot of excitement, like the night Argentina supporters packed Terry Black’s Dallas location to celebrate the team’s victory over Austria, Kapture said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were hooting and hollering and praising the brisket,\u201d Kapture said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to see that these folks are coming to America and getting to experience what we experience every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goodwin, the visitor from London who said he \u201cblew his mortgage\u201d on a U.S. World Cup tour with his dad, deemed Terry Black’s barbecue \u201cthe most gorgeous food ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best food we\u2019ve had here is in Dallas,” Goodwin said. \u201cTexas barbecue. Unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSA reminds ranch dressing converts not to pack bottles in carry-on bags<\/h2>\n

Not every review has been positive. Some fans have complained about the\u00a0high price of food\u00a0in World Cup stadiums, for example. A British fan told the BBC that the breakfast tea he bought from Dunkin’ was \u201cnot great.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for the most part, there have been more thumbs up than thumbs down. So many World Cup visitors expressed love for\u00a0ranch dressing, for example, that the Transportation Security Administration issued a light-hearted reminder that tourists should pack bottles of dressing in their checked bags.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTSA is reminding World Cup visitors that ranch counts as a liquid after international fans went viral for their newfound obsession with the American condiment.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

AP Sports Writer Maura Carey contributed from Atlanta. AP Video Journalist Mike Householder contributed from Toronto.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Man killed after being shot in Fort Lauderdale, 1 person detained, police say<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World Cup fans came from overseas for soccer. But they\u2019re also doing a lot of eating, delighting their hosts with rave reviews of the local cuisine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom poutine to barbecue, local cuisines give World Cup fans another reason to cheer - Jacksonville Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=2778\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From poutine to barbecue, local cuisines give World Cup fans another reason to cheer - Jacksonville Moving News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"World Cup fans came from overseas for soccer. 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