People who don't like Austin......because of the restaurants??? (Houston: to live, price)

[atxcio]

Well, I guess my point was just that Austin is not the kind of place where a Fleming's or Ruth Chris would even be in the top 10 restaurants in the city. That may happen in a city like Dallas or Houston, but here the draw is the unique-to-Austin stuff... you kind of take it or leave it, and we can't compare in diversity of dining to a larger city, but there are plenty of great restaurants in their own right (Jaipur's list is a good one). I've never had trouble finding a great dining experience here.

[brownybaby]

What about Vespaio? Z-Tejas?

I lived in Austin for 10 years and my budget was nada. I worked at Hyde Park Bar and Grill - so that is where I ate for free. I now live in Houston and can afford pricey dinners - damn the timing! I agree with the nostalgia feeling of an old comfy resteraunt bringing back good memories..

[twange]

This conversation is like arguing the merits of different music, art, beauty, love or other subjective aesthetics with very personal attachments. There are of course characteristics that can generally be agreed upon in terms of what constitutes "quality", but it's not rigid.

If "traveling the world" was the only qualification needed to make a well informed opinion of what a good restaurant is (or food for that matter), how do we explain the fantastic cuisine often found in humble kitchens of folks who've never traveled outside of their village? Surely good taste is not proprietary to the fortunate and well-traveled? Sounds sort of elitist.

For what it's worth, my wife and I ate at Uchi last night and I thought it was pretty damn good(and yes, we've had sushi in San Francisco, Chicago and NYC).

[AK123]

Originally Posted by atxcio

You can mention Dallas and Houston in the same sentence as NYC all you want, but it's not gonna happen -- they aren't even in the same league. Enjoy your suburban sprawl & chain restaurants, but leave the food reviews to the pros.

http://www.forbestraveler.com/food-d...ies-slide.html

Top 10 Restaurant Cities

1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles
5. New Orleans
6. Houston
7. DC
8. Atlanta
9. Boston
10. Las Vegas

And, I've seen two other sources (Esquire Magazine and Food & Wine I think) that ranked Houston even higher at #3.

Sprawl and chain restaurants? To act like Houston and Dallas have that while Austin doesn't is a joke.

[AK123]

I really doubt anyone would move based completely on restaurants. Major foodies, maybe.

More likely they just missed big-city amenities in general such as world-class arts/culture, museums, shopping, restaurants, air travel with more direct flights, and others.

[twange]

Originally Posted by AK123

http://www.forbestraveler.com/food-d...ies-slide.html

Top 10 Restaurant Cities

1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles
5. New Orleans
6. Houston
7. DC
8. Atlanta
9. Boston
10. Las Vegas

And, I've seen two other sources (Esquire Magazine and Food & Wine I think) that ranked Houston even higher at #3.

Sprawl and chain restaurants? To act like Houston and Dallas have that while Austin doesn't is a joke.

This list is a perfect example of how subjective rankings can be. I don't know anything about how this list was compiled(a quick look at their data criterion suggests that larger cities obviously have an advantage) but just looking at it, I can't imagine that Santa Fe isn't mentioned. Granted, it is a small city and certainly not as diverse as the others but personally, I think it's very distinctive.

[stan4]

The only restaurant I really liked in Austin (living there 5 years) was The County Line.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by AK123

http://www.forbestraveler.com/food-d...ies-slide.html

Top 10 Restaurant Cities

1. NYC
2. Chicago
3. San Francisco
4. Los Angeles
5. New Orleans
6. Houston
7. DC
8. Atlanta
9. Boston
10. Las Vegas

And, I've seen two other sources (Esquire Magazine and Food & Wine I think) that ranked Houston even higher at #3.

Originally Posted by twange

This list is a perfect example of how subjective rankings can be. I don't know anything about how this list was compiled(a quick look at their data criterion suggests that larger cities obviously have an advantage)...

From the site:

Rankings for the ten best restaurant cities in the U.S. are based on:
1. Overall number of restaurants above the fast food level.
2. Number of fine dining restaurants with national and international standing.
3. Solid representation of regional American food.
4. A wide segment of second-tier restaurants that would include seafood, steakhouses, and independently chef-owned restaurants.
5. Breadth and depth of ethnic restaurants, especially if the city has neighborhood such as a Chinatown.
6. A significant number of neigborhood restaurants where the locals tend to eat out regularly.
7. A well-traveled clientele that regards eating out in that city one of the real pleasures of going there.

Sounds pretty legit to me, especially #1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 which are not subjective in that they can be measured with reasonable accuracy.

[twange]

Originally Posted by AK123

From the site:

Rankings for the ten best restaurant cities in the U.S. are based on:
1. Overall number of restaurants above the fast food level.
2. Number of fine dining restaurants with national and international standing.
3. Solid representation of regional American food.
4. A wide segment of second-tier restaurants that would include seafood, steakhouses, and independently chef-owned restaurants.
5. Breadth and depth of ethnic restaurants, especially if the city has neighborhood such as a Chinatown.
6. A significant number of neigborhood restaurants where the locals tend to eat out regularly.
7. A well-traveled clientele that regards eating out in that city one of the real pleasures of going there.

Sounds pretty legit to me, especially #1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 which are not subjective in that they can be measured with reasonable accuracy.

Well, what else is there to say then? Austin didn't make that list, so the restaurant scene is "abysmal". There's a difference between saying that Austin's restaurant scene is not in the country's top tier and saying that it's bad. No? Gawd, what happened to middle ground. Austin's a young city that's in the midst of a major growth spurt. I think the choices here are "decent". There are holes for sure. Check back in a couple of years.

I'm not blindly attempting to defend Austin's restaurant scene - as I've only lived here about 1.5 years - but I've eaten all over the country and I'm still able to find a decent meal here.

I guess I'm just a peasant.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by AK123

From the site:

Rankings for the ten best restaurant cities in the U.S. are based on:
1. Overall number of restaurants above the fast food level.
2. Number of fine dining restaurants with national and international standing.
3. Solid representation of regional American food.
4. A wide segment of second-tier restaurants that would include seafood, steakhouses, and independently chef-owned restaurants.
5. Breadth and depth of ethnic restaurants, especially if the city has neighborhood such as a Chinatown.
6. A significant number of neigborhood restaurants where the locals tend to eat out regularly.
7. A well-traveled clientele that regards eating out in that city one of the real pleasures of going there.

Sounds pretty legit to me, especially #1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 which are not subjective in that they can be measured with reasonable accuracy.

Thanks for the link, it's pretty much in line with the arguments I've already been making... I'm not saying Austin is in the top 10 "restaurant cities" in the US (don't know how you could interpret it that way).. but, I am saying the Austin scene is very much not abysmal and Houston and Dallas aren't in NYC's league. The actual description of the H-Town restaurant scene is pretty accurate, especially as they point to San Antonio in the very first words of their review of Houston as a restaurant town:

San Antonio may have a far more manifest Mexican food culture, but Houston, which spirals forever outward, has far more breadth and depth

I'm not gonna argue the breadth and depth of of H-Town's restaurant scene.. as that is a given, because it is so big. Think Atlanta, Las Vegas, and LA on this list.

Sprawl and chain restaurants? To act like Houston and Dallas have that while Austin doesn't is a joke.

Austin only has the chain restaurants like Fleming's because of the media hype of the city. Every chain feels like it has to be here now. My point is that those places will NEVER be considered top 10 in the city, when the Austin has it's own, independent places that are beloved in their own right. In that sense, you actually can compare Austin to NYC... you will never see a Flemings or Ruth Chris as one of the top restaurants in Manhattan. It just won't happen, although it might in H-Town or DFW. Does that make Austin part of the top-10 restaurant cities in the nation? No. Does a Forbes list make Houston in the same league as NYC? I think not.