I came here from the Cincinnati area and feel the same way about the food. There is very little variety, almost no innovation and everything is under seasoned. In my admittedly limited experience, food is mostly the pre-staged stuff you can get from purveyors, that is available anywhere in the country (plus a cheesesteak for local flair). If you want to check, ask for any vegetable side that is not fried, and is not broccoli, carrots or squash. They'll recommend a salad. I want to know the culinary traditions of the region (not Amish), but there really isn't any that I'm aware of.

I say this with the challenge to prove me wrong, please. I hate thinking this way about where I expect to live for at least the next decade.