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Cleveland is no slouch in this contest (though of course we're in a different league than NYC, Chicago, Philly, etc.). Michael Symon, Jonathan Sawyer, Michael Ruhlman, and several other well known chefs reside and own restaurants here. Farm to table is big here. The West Side Market is a foodie's paradise (not too mention a history buff's). We have Slavic, Polish, Slovenian, Czech, Hungarian, Jewish and Italian neighborhoods with many good ethnic restaurants. The Urban Farmer just opened its second restaurant in the country here, following its Portland location. Cleveland really has a lot going for it in the food world.
Last edited by Cleverfield; 08-20-2014 at 08:19 PM..
NYC, LA, Chicago, SF ( probably in that order), but indisputably the top 4 in terms of variety, quantity and quality of restaurants
significant drop, but Houston would round out my top 5.
Then it gets a little tougher, but I would go:
6. NOLA - range is weak, but what is done well, NOWHERE does better
7. Seattle - some of the best seafood and Asian food in the U.S., and a great locavore scene
8. Philadelphia - not much is outstanding, but most bases are well-covered, a mini New York in terms of variety
9 and 10: Atlanta, Miami, DC, Boston, Las Vegas can duke it out. All have strengths, all lack something.
Smaller cities that have some extraordinary food offerings and lively food culture:
Austin, Memphis, Kansas City, Charleston, Grand Rapids, Portland, Little Rock, Burlington, New Haven, Cleveland, Baltimore
And then my list of shame: chain-dominated big cities where I have had more bad meals than good ones:
Charlotte, Phoenix, Dallas, Denver, San Diego
Acorn (Denver, CO)
Arden & Harlow (Cambridge, MA)
Birch (Providence, RI)
Blackbrick Chinese (Miami, FL)
CBD Provisions (Dallas, TX)
Central Provisions (Portland, ME)
Coltivare (Houston, TX)
Cured (San Antonio, TX)
Davenport (Portland, OR)
Eat the Rich/Mockingbird Hill/Southern Efficiency (Washington, DC)
Edmund's Oast (Charleston, SC)
El Camino (Louisville, KY)
Estela (New York City, NY)
Expatriate (Portland, OR)
Grand Central Market (Los Angeles, CA)
Gunshow (Atlanta, GA)
High Street on Market (Philadelphia, PA)
Hot Joy (San Antonio, TX)
Kin Khao (San Francisco, CA)
London Plane (Seattle, WA)
Luksus (New York City, NY)
Lusca (Atlanta, GA)
Maurice (Portland, OR)
MoPho (New Orleans, LA)
Mott Street (Chicago, IL)
Nico Osteria (Chicago, IL)
Night Market Song (Los Angeles, CA)
Novel (Kansas City, MO)
Odd Duck (Austin, TX)
Orsa & Winston (Los Angeles, CA)
Palace Diner (Biddeford, ME)
The Pig and the Lady (Honolulu, HI)
Q (Los Angeles, CA)
Qui (Austin, TX)
Rhubarb (Asheville, NC)
Ribelle (Brookline, MA)
Row 34 (Boston, MA) Rose's Luxury (Washington, DC)
Rose's Meat Market and Sewet Shop (Durham, NC)
Sarma (Somerville, MA)
Serpico (Philadelphia, PA)
Sir and Star (Olema, CA)
Sobban (Decatur, GA)
Sushi Nakazawa (New York City, NY)
Thai-Kun (Austin, TX)
Tosca (San Francisco, CA)
Travail and the Rookery (Robbinsdale, MN)
Trois Mec (Los Angeles, CA)
Uncle Boon's (New York City, NY)
Westward and Little Gull (Seattle, WA)
I'll leave it to you guys to parse out any kind meaning or ranking from that list.
The magazine just named Rose's Luxury the best restaurant in the country It's located on 8th Street SE aka Barracks Row in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The magazine just named Rose's Luxury the best restaurant in the country It's located on 8th Street SE aka Barracks Row in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Well deserved in my opinion, had a fantastic meal there on my last week in DC before I left the US. Also hit Daikaya Izakaya, Del Campo, Graffiato, Fainting Goat and Blue Duck Tavern along with bars Columbia Room, Passenger and The Gibston that week. DC has alot going on right now.
New Haven has some incredibly good pizza, really noticeably better than what I've personally had in NYC or any other city. I make sure to get some whenever I visit my grandparents up there. Of course, that isn't enough to make it the best overall food city unless you really love pizza.
New Haven looks like it has some really good Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, West Indian, Thai, Mexican, Seafood, Portuguese, Japanese, Ethiopian, Greek, Afghan, etc. Sounds like a pretty interesting foodie city if you ask me.
Every city has good food, but the concept of a foodie city is not just having lots of restaurants imo.
It's about food & wine concious residents who are knowledgable about techniques and styles of cooking, are themselves, into cooking and actively seek out good restaurants.
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It's located on 8th Street SE aka Barracks Row in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
