Stockton has one of the oldest and most significant Filipino communities in the United States. Little Manila was, before mid-century redevelopment cut through it, the largest Filipino community outside the Philippines, and the food tradition survives in the restaurants and bakeries around the south side.
The city sits at the head of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and the surrounding farmland is famous for asparagus — enough that the harvest has anchored a long-running city festival.
The Mexican, Cambodian and Punjabi food here is also strong, reflecting waves of farm labour migration into the Delta. The downtown waterfront has been redeveloped, but the better eating is spread through the neighbourhoods.