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Posted by on Dec 13, 2021 in Blog, Restaurant Reviews, Travel | 0 comments

An Incomplete Guide to the Best Restaurant Cities in America

 

 

MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT CITIES (2021 EDITION)

Which are the best food cities in America? Here’s my list. Based strictly on personal experiences, I ranked the top ten according to four major factors I think are most important — variety, quality, value, and uniqueness. I’m not much interested in Michelin star ratings or gaggles of celebrity chefs. Who really cares? That doesn’t affect my day-to-day eating, and it probably doesn’t mean much to you, either. Instead, I judge a food city by what it offers ME. Admittedly, as is the case in all food-related writing, the opinions expressed are very subjective.

 

Note: For the record, with each city, I’ve included an estimate for the number of meals I’ve eaten there in the past 30 years, for the purpose of showing that some grades might be incomplete.

1. NEW ORLEANS [150-200 meals] — this city lives and loves to eat; great food at all price ranges from Po Boys to the finest restaurants and chefs in the world; per capita, easily the top restaurant city in North America — and it’s not even close except for LA (maybe)

2. LOS ANGELES [125-150 meals] — for sheer variety and excess, LA is absolute tops; also, remarkably affordable; best small family-owned restaurant city in the country — it has EVERYTHING, and then some

3. MIAMI-FT. LAUDERDALE-WEST PLAM BEACH [100-150 meals] — highly competitive restaurant market; outstanding values; varied cuisine highly influenced by transplants

4. SAN FRANCISCO [20-25 meals] — might be the best restaurant city in America if you have gobs of money and can get reservations, otherwise a struggle for the working class

5. NEW YORK [100-125 meals] — the highest number of world-class restaurants, but also the highest number of overrated (and downright terrible) dining establishments — still, easily Top 5

6. DALLAS (500+ meals) — the most underrated city in the restaurant trade; fast-growing market; probably the best city in the country for finding hundreds of outstanding meals at an affordable price

7. LAS VEGAS [500+ meals] — all the big-time name chefs are now here, and plenty of variety; hard to grade based on so much kitsch

8. SAN DIEGO [25-30 meals] — Los Angeles, scaled back.

9. CHICAGO [20-25 meals] — critics will say it deserves higher, but I’ve never thought of Chi-Town as a great restaurant city — but let’s give it due for lots of great places mixed in with mediocrity

10. SEATTLE [15-20 meals] — San Francisco, scaled back

 

–Not a fan of:

PHILADELPHIA [25-30 meals] — I’ve had dozens of mediocre meals here and maybe a couple of very good experiences. Should be better than it is.

WASHINGTON/VA/MD [500+ meals] — Lots of chains and some decent ethnic restaurants, but what can you say about a city where everything closes down at 9 pm?

BALTIMORE [25-30 meals] — uggh

 

–Not Included:

BOSTON [0 meals] — never been here, except to the airport once….yes, I know, that’s a big void in my culinary resume.

ST. LOUIS [5-10 meals] — one two-week visit here about 10 years ago, so I have to grade it as incomplete

ATLANTA [5-10 meals] — visited twice many years ago, so my experience here is way too dated

HOUSTON [15-20 meals] — gets raves for lots of its outstanding ethnic cuisine; one critic recently wrote–“If New Orleans and Los Angeles had a food baby, it would be Houston.”

 

— Didn’t make the cut:

PITTSBURGH (25-30 meals) — Okay, nothing special.

PHOENIX (10-15 meals) — Some great spots on Camelback in Scottdale, but not enough experiences here to grade.

MEMPHIS (20-25 meals) — Best for BBQ, but not much else.

SAN ANTONIO, CHARLOTTE, CLEVELAND, CINCINNATI, KANSAS CITY, MINNEAPOLIS, SAN JOSE, TAMPA — Little or no time spent here, can’t comment.

 

–Best Small City Surprise:

FARGO, ND (20-25 meals) — Surprisingly good fare and variety, including everything from Thai places to fine dining to Mexican (really).  Shockingly good as a restaurant city.

also….SONOMA/NAPA (10-15 meals) — incredibly great restaurants in CA wine country, but pricey.

 

–Final Word:

PORTLAND [2 meals] — Gets raves as a great restaurant city from many critics, but I’ve only been there once, and that was 25 years ago. My loss.

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