An article appeared in Deadspin online magazine featuring signature foods from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, ranking them in order. There where the notable No. 1. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza (Illinois), No. 4 Crab cake (Maryland), No. 7 Key lime pie (Florida) and the rest. But Nevada came in 49th place with ” Nothing” beating the horrid sounding, No. 50  Steamed  cheeseburger (Connecticut) and No. 51. Cincinnati chili (Ohio). Nevada was the only state listed as not having a food that represents itself.

   N0. 49  “Nothing”  “Not having any authentic local culture to speak of (Nevada)” – Deadspin

As a long time resident of Nevada and Las Vegas for over 40 years. I propose that we submit to DeadSpin and to our own legislator body of Nevada to make the “Shrimp Cocktail” the official food for Nevada. Now this might sound a bit strange for a land locked state being 200 miles from the nearest ocean. The shrimp cocktail is cool and spicy, reminds me of the classic Las Vegas, with the Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. serve in a glass from a by gone era.

-Update- The Cooking Channel featured an article as Nevada’s state food as the “Buffet” which did include the Shrimp Cocktail, its like saying, Nevada your state food is “Food”. Let’s narrow it down to the quintessential Shrimp Cocktail.

On a per capita basis, Las Vegas alone consumes more than 22 million pounds of shrimp annually, more than anywhere else in the world and that is not even counting other popular areas like Lake Tahoe and Reno. Las Vegas now has local shrimp farming in warehouses to keep up with the Vegas’ 60,000 pounds daily need.

Shrimp Cocktail proposed State food for Nevada?

The history of the shrimp cocktail dates back to the end of the 1800s and the early 1900s and it came out of San Francisco. During the late 1920′s, “cocktail appetizers” like shrimp cocktail became popular during the prohibition era. It was a popular way to reuse the stemware that were at all the bars during those times. The shrimp cocktail was brought to Las Vegas in 1959 when the Golden Gate Hotel was purchased by a group of Italian-Americans from San Francisco. They set their cost of their shrimp cocktail price at 50 cents until 1991, at present it is $2.99. The Golden Gate continues to serve Shrimp Cocktails today.

Update 6/25/2017: After Dupar’s closed, no more shrimp cocktails at the Golden Gate.

Spread the word! Contact your you state legislators! Send the tweets! Don’t let Nevada be the “Nothing” state when it come to having a signature food. lets Make the Shrimp Cocktail Nevada’s State Food.

The full list of state foods can be found at Deadspin.

Photo By: LasVegas360.com at the Golden Gate Casino