These Are The Top Last Meal Requests In Illinois And Iowa For 2025

What would your last meal be?

Death row inmates have had varying last meal requests. The Illinois-born, Iowa-living John Wayne Gacy requested fried shrimp, a bucket of original recipe KFC, and a pound of strawberries.

Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh requested 2 pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream while serial killer Ted Bundy did not have a special meal request so he got the basic: a medium-rare steak served, overeasy eggs, hashbrowns, toast, butter, jelly, milk, and orange juice.

Before we get to the choice last meal for Illinoisans and Iowans, here were the top 25 last meal foods, according to Mental Floss:

• 25. Salmon
• 24. Fruit
• 23. BBQ
• 22. Cheesecake
• 21. Tacos
• 20. Soup/stew
• 19. Shrimp
• 18. Crab
• 17. Rice
• 16. Cake
• 15. Chicken
• 14. Sushi
• 13. Salad
• 12. Ice cream
• 11. Fried chicken
• 10. Burger
• 9. Mac and cheese
• 8. Fries
• 7. Lobster
• 6. Bread
• 5. Veggies
• 4. Pizza
• 3. Pasta/Noodles
• 2. Potatoes
• 1. Steak

And go figure, the most popular drink to go with a last meal is good ol' Coca-Cola.

Illinois & Iowa Preferred Last Meals

Both Illinois and Iowa (along with most of the Midwest) have decided that steak is their ideal last meal.

Where the two states did differ was in the beverage to go along with a last meal. Illinois chose water, where Iowa chose wine (go figure).

Overall, the majority of survey respondents said that they would choose their favorite food for their last meal, with another third of people saying they would want something familiar and comforting and another percent choosing something fancy or special.

What would your last meal be? Let us know in the app!