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NYC has an awesome burger scene. Not sure where you got that.
You are taking a very short sighted view of things, focusing only on Asia. You forgot Europe, Mid east, SE Asia, etc. Also, what about American ?!!? What about going broader and talk about fine dining? Expand that checklist and cumulatively NYC beats all other cities in the US.
Agriculture? Yeah, sure that's good, but all that means is you have good produce/ingredients, not food. I'd argue its the skills of the chef that more important, and NYC has the best of breed.
-And you'd be wrong. All things being equal (and they are, don't even kid yourself with this best of the breed stuff), the closer a city is to an agricultural monster (which CA most certainly is), the better the food will be. Did you know that there are many foodies (on websites like Chowhound) who rate Fresno as the best region for food in the country? Why do you think top chefs spare no expense to get quality ingredients flown in, for maximum freshness? They obviously have great skill, yet freshness is of upmost importance to them. Many even have gardens adjacent to their restaurants. Freshness of ingredients is vitally important.
-New York does not have a great burger scene either. If it did, these guys would have never felt compelled to prank Manhattanites with the promise of an In-N-Out:
-My list wasn't meant to be comprehensive, merely a sample of some of the heavy hitting cuisines New York does not win "hands down" in. Having the best Burmese food doesn't make up mediocre Mexican fare IMO. I'm not trying to knock New York (ok, maybe a little ), but the knee jerk reaction that it MUST have the best food in the country is totally unfounded.
Last edited by RaymondChandlerLives; 07-27-2012 at 12:13 PM..
Yes I am biased, but many will agree with me, including Anthony Bourdain, who admitted that San Francisco is the best food city in America Yes I still think that guy is awesome and knows his *****.
#1 San Francisco- the city which eats more Indian, Thai, Chinese and French food than any other city in America. The city that boasts 3X more restaurants than NYC per capita.
oh man all this talk is making me hungry for some crazy tasty foods... to answer HTown - id have to say chi-town takes tops in terms of serving you greasy spoon food sooo "hit the spot" good n tasty youll get the "itis" and pass out. lol its funny when i watch old SNL shows and watching the super fans cheer daaaaa bears lol - and the table is just full of fried EVERYTHING. definitely not a city to eat in if youre trying to watch calories.... i went to LA earlier this year and most definitely they are more health conscious as a whole and its reflected in their foods... even the fries at In and Out arent cooked in grease, and certainly NOT the salty steak-cut grease bag youll find at the avg. corner beef joint in the Chi.
I love eating everywhere any ethnicity anytime... Kinda makes me think of the Taste oF Chicago and all the many varietys and specialities ive tried and loved in the past... idk maybe its cuz for like 4-5 months when the weather gets cold, people end up goin inside and eating! good eating too... i have 0 disagreement with any of the cities mentioned in the south as they have the edge on hispanic/latin american/carribean and BBQ... oooh dont get me started on BBQ haha thats a whole other thread itself!
but uhh growin up in Jefferson Park, and alot of my childhood friends were polish, so i basically ate lotsa pierogies and gwumpky(sp?) lol sorry if that wasnt right... and some of the heartiest soups kraut 'n sausage too... sometimes i stop through by the Gale St Inn time to time one of my faves.
My parents live the suburbs now, and yea they got some decent sit down dining, but its not like the city where i could literally pick a different culture for every day of the week and eat very well. however i absolutely despise americanization of certain culture's foods yuck! keep it original and authentic! you want real mexican? pilsen neighborhood. greek mediterranean? south halsted/roosevelt area. indian pakistani middleastern? east devon ave on north side. cantonese/sczewan/mandarin? archer or cermak by 18th in chinatown near south side close by pilsen actually... and if you want that soul-food goodness, gotta try the south side... lemon on perch, seafood gumbo thats sublime... not to mention all the other corner non franchise or local only franchise, or hipster fusion bistro places that fall in between.
so best cities in USA for food? easily any city that has a food already synonomous with it, whether its a cheese steak, cheese cake, or deep dish etc, since the city it came from typically has a rich diverse historical food culture. oh also easily any of the coast cities SanFran, Seattle, NOLA, Boston if youre lookin for seafood, cuz its gotta be fresh.
k time to get a gyro plate and italian ice after all that lol.
Last edited by jpchi60630; 07-27-2012 at 12:11 PM..
I eat a lot of dried pellets in lieu of non-pellet form food because of my budget and lack of general space in my domicile.
What 5 cities can I get the best dried pellets?
(Note: Troll post is to make a lot of posters realize that "food" is a very subjective topic, and the only way to measure which 5 cities are the best is with something that has no taste and should be relatively uniform, like dried pellets. I have already reiterated time and time again that its the chefs that make the food, not the city.)
I eat a lot of dried pellets in lieu of non-pellet form food because of my budget and lack of general space in my domicile.
What 5 cities can I get the best dried pellets?
(Note: Troll post is to make a lot of posters realize that "food" is a very subjective topic, and the only way to measure which 5 cities are the best is with something that has no taste and should be relatively uniform, like dried pellets. I have already reiterated time and time again that its the chefs that make the food, not the city.)
Also, the fact that some of the best food goes beyond just what cities have the best chefs. Sometimes having the availbility of good produce, seafood, beer and wine(not food but it adds to the cuisine), ethnic food markets for rarer international products or farmer's markets can make a location a great food area. I like to cook a lot myself--more than I eat out--so having the access to good fresh vegetables or an Asian or Middle Eastern or Latino market for hard to find spices or vegetables or types of meat is great. Then you can add in places like best old school diners, burger restaurants, BBQ joints, food carts, hot dog stands, and other food on the cheap that might not have famous chefs, but is absolutely delicious. You can go to a lot of larger cities that you might be familiar with and find ten excellent places to eat that would compare with the best in another city.
As you said, it's all subjective though. Some cities have way more options or some just excel in a certain area that makes thems very execeptional for food-that's sort of what people are getting at.
oh man all this talk is making me hungry for some crazy tasty foods... to answer HTown - id have to say chi-town takes tops in terms of serving you greasy spoon food sooo "hit the spot" good n tasty youll get the "itis" and pass out. lol its funny when i watch old SNL shows and watching the super fans cheer daaaaa bears lol - and the table is just full of fried EVERYTHING. definitely not a city to eat in if youre trying to watch calories.... i went to LA earlier this year and most definitely they are more health conscious as a whole and its reflected in their foods... even the fries at In and Out arent cooked in grease, and certainly NOT the salty steak-cut grease bag youll find at the avg. corner beef joint in the Chi.
I was thinking Chicago too, I always have a good grease fix there. Its funny that the South is known for fried food, but can't think of any city I would put in the best Fat people food category. Maybe Savannah because Paula Dean lives there, lol
Quote:
oh also easily any of the coast cities SanFran, Seattle, NOLA, Boston if youre lookin for seafood, cuz its gotta be fresh.
I am allergic to sea food so that category would rank low on my choice meter.
Also, the fact that some of the best food goes beyond just what cities have the best chefs. Sometimes having the availbility of good produce, seafood, beer and wine(not food but it adds to the cuisine), ethnic food markets for rarer international products or farmer's markets can make a location a great food area. I like to cook a lot myself--more than I eat out--so having the access to good fresh vegetables or an Asian or Middle Eastern or Latino market for hard to find spices or vegetables or types of meat is great. Then you can add in places like best old school diners, burger restaurants, BBQ joints, food carts, hot dog stands, and other food on the cheap that might not have famous chefs, but is absolutely delicious. You can go to a lot of larger cities that you might be familiar with and find ten excellent places to eat that would compare with the best in another city.
As you said, it's all subjective though. Some cities have way more options or some just excel in a certain area that makes thems very execeptional for food-that's sort of what people are getting at.
I'm inclined to agree. As a former fat kid, turned lean muscular young man, I've learned to develop a more discriminating taste as I get older. With that being said, most large cities don't have one or two restaurants, but hundreds and hundreds of restaurants, that the average visitor MAY only have experience at 3-4% of the total amount of restaurants a city may offer. It's hard to make any generalizations about the the finished product of the food itself about a collection of restaurants in an area, given that not every restaurant serves the same thing, and even the quality of the food is dependent on the dish one may order.
That's why I hate city vs city food threads: most cities that are being compared have almost everything one could think of, making a side by side comparison nearly impossible. There are some categories that one city may excel over another, but how do you compare the totality of it across ALL categories?
That's why I used the dried pellet example. If we all ate the same thing, day in day out, then there would be a baseline comparison. However, there is no such thing as the "average food".
Maybe I'm too used to looking at things quantitatively, haha!
PS: I'm going to be in Portland in the next 2 weeks. Would you recommend any good restaurants for me and a friend who is moving there? Apparently there is this wing place called Fire Mountain or something, and I love wings, so anything of that sort would be awesome. Oh, and whatever Portland is known for.
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), but the knee jerk reaction that it MUST have the best food in the country is totally unfounded.
Yes I still think that guy is awesome and knows his *****.
mmmmm mmmmunchies!
