According to the WashPost’s restaurant critic Tom Sietsema: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/style/2015/12/21/the-10-best-food-cities-in-america-ranked/
I don’t have the data to make my own such list, but I am glad to see he gave the matter some original thought (and a lot of hard work). What say you?
How can he pick Americas Top 10 Food Cities after his visited 12 cities? Kinda bogus making that declaration.
–How can you compare NY to Portland? Maybe compare Queens or the Bronx to Portland but this is the perfect example of how he missed the boat. IMO, the article would be better served comparing Americas Top 10 Large Cities and another article about smaller, etc.
But, the article was well written and had some interesting input on restaurants to visit.
I liked that he provided a unique point of view. I’m surprised he ranked SF so high but I totally agree with his comments on New York and his rationale for leaving Seattle off.
Which ones did he miss that you think should be in the top 10?
Hard to argue with any of them -
I would say runner ups would be St Louis or Kansas City, and quite possibly Milwaukee.
How about:
Seattle
Denver
Kansas City
Dallas
St. Louis
Memphis
Nashville
Cincinnati
Miami
Boston
Just for starters. If you are sampling 12 destination, you can choose a top ten, but it cannot be “America’s Top 10 Food Cities.”
Whoever called bogus, nailed it.
I’m surprised he ranked SF high but ranked NY low. They seem like similar cities to me. He complains about the high pricing of NYC restaurants but SF restaurants are really pricey too. Saison might be one of the most expensive restaurants in America.
Obviously I’m a homer and I think LA is #1 as a food city due to its diversity, but I don’t really have quibbles with the cities i’ve been to and their rankings.
which cities on the top 10 list do you kick out and which ones do you put in their place and why?
He visited more cities than just those in the top 10.
How can you compare NY to Portland? Because it is his personal opinion
Can’t argue. He got all the right cities in the correct order.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Nothing to see (taste) in Charleston.
Austin in place of Houston.
Maybe 2 years ago, but what’s Austin done lately? So much going on in Houston. I know a handful of Portland restaurateurs that are now putting Houston above Brooklyn and LA as their top choice for their 2nd or 3rd outpost.
Have you been to Jeffrey Stoneberger’s new place? please do tell. I’m pretty excited about the 2nd wave, post Husk creativity and can’t wait to check it out.
Having spent a considerable amount of time in St. Louis and Milwaukee…no.
Not yet but did a large group at MacIntosh Sunday night.
I love LA. There’s no place in the world that can compare on the specificity and nowhere, as Gold points out, that you can have dozens of cultures’ restaurants where that depend entirely on serving that culture, in other words, whitey doesn’t have to walk in the door, ever. You can’t get that level of authenticity across so many cuisines in any other city in the world.
But the fine dining and casual dining in LA leave much to be desired. They aren’t top ten in the US.
+1. Houston before Austin right now.
For BBQ but not generally, not even close. Although Houston certainly does not have the high end to compete with NY/SF, nothing except NY/LA can touch Houston’s diversity of cuisine – which is where Houston really shines. The quality and variety of authentic Indian/Pakistani, Sichuan, Vietnamese, etc etc food in Houston is off the charts. Plus there is the totally unique Vietnamese/Cajun crawfish/crab thing that’s killer. And the higher end is starting to really develop, with restaurants opening semi-regularly that can compete nationally.
(I know I come off as a Houston homer, but in truth I just moved here 2 years ago by way of DC/Boston/CA/Denver, so I don’t have a real allegiance to the place.)
More generally, this is a well-done article that’s entertaining but more provocative than accurate. I don’t see how New York can be anything but Number 1. Sure, it’s expensive at the high end, but nowhere (except maybe SF, which is just as expensive if not more so) can come close to competing with NY at the high end. In addition, nowhere (except maybe LA and to a lesser degree Houston) can compete with New York in terms of depth, breadth, and variety. I often think NY is surprisingly underrated in lists like this just because it’s boring to put it at the top. For similar reasons, I think LA has to be No. 2 given the diversity of food and high quality across the range. Based on my own experience, my approximate list would be (admittedly limited sample skewed toward NY/LA/SF/Houston/DC/Boston):
[quote="Ryan
More generally, this is a well-done article that’s entertaining but more provocative than accurate. I don’t see how New York can be anything but Number 1. Sure, it’s expensive at the high end, but nowhere (except maybe SF, which is just as expensive if not more so) can come close to competing with NY at the high end. In addition, nowhere (except maybe LA and to a lesser degree Houston) can compete with New York in terms of depth, breadth, and variety. I often think NY is surprisingly underrated in lists like this just because it’s boring to put it at the top. For similar reasons, I think LA has to be No. 2 given the diversity of food and high quality across the range. Based on my own experience, my approximate list would be (admittedly limited sample skewed toward NY/LA/SF/Houston/DC/Boston):
I’m an L.A. homer. For my purposes AS A RESIDENT of upper mid-class range, I love the food here. Tons of varied lower price choices. But NY clearly has much better high-end.
That has to get them at the top of a list unbiased by everyday habits.I pretty much agree with your top four. I’d put Portand five, D.C six, Boston seven. I haven’t spent enough time in Seattle, Houston, etc to rank. I think New Orleans is in my top ten, just because I love the regional cuisine .