The best of 11 states - here in NYC

With bonus factoids from our resident quizmaster, Noah Tarnow of the Big Quiz Thing (bigquizthing.com).

Frito pie and a margharita from Cowgirl.

Photograph: Roxana Marroquin

California | Illinois | Louisiana | Massachusetts | New Jersey
Texas | Hawaii | Colorado | Minnesota | Nebraska | Oklahoma

Texas

Named for the Fort Worth museum dedicated to pioneering women of the American West, the Cowgirl Hall of Fame (519 Hudson St at 10th St; 212-633-1133, cowgirlnyc.com) serves toothsome Tex-Mex food like Frito pie ($7.95) and Texas onion loaf ($7.50), 16-ounce frozen margaritas using fresh fruit puree (try the Loredo Lime, $8) and a Texas-friendly attitude—which is to say none. On your way out, stop by the General Store for braided belts and rock candy.

Saddle up for a rowdy night at Rodeo Bar (375 Third Ave at 27th St; 212-683-6500, rodeobar.com), whose daily happy hour (4–8pm) offers super-strong lime and strawberry margaritas are just $6 and come with free nachos and wings. You can also nosh on Cowboy Kisses (shrimp and jalapeño wrapped in bacon, $9.95) while you catch country, rockabilly and bluegrass music in one of the free nightly live music performances.

Make like the Lone Ranger at the Bronx Equestrian Center (9 Shore Rd at City Island Rd, Bronx; 718-885-0551, bronxequestriancenter.com), and go horseback riding (Western-style, of course) through the wooded trails of Pelham Bay Park for $35 an hour. Cowboys in training can sign up for hour-long private lessons for $65 before giddying-up.

If you’re going to walk the walk, you should at least look the part. For that, hit Billy Martin’s Western Wear (Trump Plaza, 1034 Third Ave between 61st and 62nd Sts; 212-861-3100, billymartin.com), an upscale country-and-western-gear boutique that has sold buckles, belts, turquoise and silver jewelry to famous Texans like George H.W. Bush. Not Texan, but notable: its own line of cowboy boots inspired by the TV show Deadwood ($395–$7,000).

Everything’s bigger in Texas, and the large-scale paintings created by Texan Robert Rauschenberg—a handful of which are on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1071 Fifth Ave at 89th St; 212-423-3500, guggenheim.org)—are no exception. Don’t miss Yellow Body, which includes images of fellow Port Arthur native Janis Joplin.

Fun fact: Houston is named for Sam Houston, president of the independent Republic of Texas in the 1830s and ‘40s, making it the U.S.’s largest city named for the leader of another country.

NEXT Hawaii

California | Illinois | Louisiana | Massachusetts | New Jersey
Texas | Hawaii | Colorado | Minnesota | Nebraska | Oklahoma

See more in Own This City