Don't just settle for the same dish wherever you go: Each state is packed with iconic local flavors that share its history and define its geography. Whether you're craving Alabama barbecue, Alaskan seafood or a deep-fried favorite in Arizona, here are the dishes you have to try in every state, and the best places to find them.

Additional reporting by Alexandra Foster

Barbecue sauce takes many forms within Alabama. But the state’s unique contribution to the art form is a creamy, mayonnaise-based white sauce served over smoked chicken. If you’ve never heard of it, you’re not alone: A huge number of red sauces are available at most Southern grocery stores, but white sauce is rarely found outside Alabama. Bob Gibson, the founder of Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, is credited with having invented white sauce back in 1925, and his original Decatur location has been making it ever since. If you can’t make it to Alabama, you can buy their white barbecue sauce here.

Bisques, cakes, rolls, legs, buckets, clusters and combos: Alaskans love their crab. At Tracy's King Crab Shack in Juneau, Bering Sea king crab is the star. Tracy's crab shack combo offers a trifecta of crab bisque, mini crab cakes and your choice of crab meat plus garlic rolls with butter. If that isn’t enough, you can grab one of their buckets that holds 3-6 lbs of king crab. They also boast the "best legs in town."

This deep-fried delight was created at El Charro Café, the oldest Mexican restaurant in the nation. One day in the mid-1950s, El Charro Café’s founding chef, Monica Flin, accidentally invented the chimichanga when she dropped a burro (a big burrito) into the deep fryer. On that day a legend was born. Now, the crisped, packed dish is available at their four Arizona locations filled with chicken, beef, shrimp, beans, carnitas or birria.