New MLB And NBA Hats Try, Mostly Fail To Capture Each City's Food Culture

bhofack2/iStock
By  Grace Perry

The flat-brim company New Era has released a line of "Team Describe" hats for several MLB and NBA teams across North America. With three graphics apiece, the hats look busy and insane.

But I guess if you're a hat-head, maybe these are appealing to you, I don't know. On the front, next to the team logo, is a city-defining graphic—the Statue of Liberty for NYC, a rocket for Houston, palm trees for L.A. But we're mostly interested in the back of these hats, which feature graphics of food items (allegedly) closely associated with each city. And The Takeout has opinions.

Chicago: Deep Dish Pizza. Finally, Cubs and White Sox fans can unite over a common cause: debunking the deep dish myth. Chicagoans aren't gorging on these heaping piles of crust and cheese on the regular, outside of special occasions. We tend to go for tavern-style thin crust. Sure, deep dish is a uniquely Chicago meal associated with the city, but so is the Chicago-style hot dog, which would've been a much better choice.

San Francisco: Sushi Rolls. Ahem, sushi actually first came to the United States via Los Angeles' Little Tokyo in the 1960s.

Los Angeles: Taco (Hard Shell?). Since this is a cartoon taco, I cannot speak with complete authority on the flexibility and/or structural integrity of the taco on the Dodgers, Clippers, and Lakers hats. But it looks like a hard shell taco. And if New Era is suggesting that Angelenos consider hard shell tacos authentic...that ain't it.

Houston: Slab Of Meat. I mean, yeah, fair enough!

New York: Apple. Is the suggestion here that New York is called The Big Apple because New Yorkers are constantly and iconically eating apples? Assuming the apple is just a reference to the city's nickname and not what the locals eat, that's...that's not the game here!

Philly: Cheesesteak. Can't really argue with this one. Though I would've loved a Pennsylvania Dutch shoutout with a scrapple graphic.

Boston: Lobster Roll. I firmly believe this should've been canned brown bread!

Toronto: A Public-Transit-Laced Graphic Reading THE SIX. Poor Toronto, the city which, according to New Era, does not eat and has no unique culinary culture to speak of, much less sew on a hat. Of course, this is not true; the Canadian metropolis has a hugely diverse population and an awesome restaurant scene. Unfortunately, though, I'm an ignorant American who can't think of a good answer to this one.

Ontarians, please help us out here. What's an emblematic city dish that you'd proudly wear on a Raptors hat? Drake, please, we know you're reading.

Recommended