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This is actually a pretty simple answer: It's going to be a virtual tie between Washington DC and NYC.
Think about it. Embassies & international delegates (UN). I'm not 100% sure about NYC, but you can pretty much look up any country in the world and find a restaurant that serves something from that country in DC - including regional menus from larger countries. NYC is close behind.
I'm not saying that these are necessarily the best restaurants of their type in the country, but the OP asked for variety, not "best ethnic".
This is actually a pretty simple answer: It's going to be a virtual tie between Washington DC and NYC.
Think about it. Embassies & international delegates (UN). I'm not 100% sure about NYC, but you can pretty much look up any country in the world and find a restaurant that serves something from that country in DC - including regional menus from larger countries. NYC is close behind.
I'm not saying that these are necessarily the best restaurants of their type in the country, but the OP asked for variety, not "best ethnic".
I know alot of the Embassies host dinners themselves and have chefs on staff, but what about restaurants open to the general public on a regular basis? Does DC really cover the entire globe? I think it definitely belongs in the group I mentioned earlier (NYC, LA, SF, BOS, HOU, CHI, PHI) but neglected to include DC which was my mistake.
As far as general restaurants though, that group of cities pretty much covers 95% of the worlds major cuisines.
I know alot of the Embassies host dinners themselves and have chefs on staff, but what about restaurants open to the general public on a regular basis? Does DC really cover the entire globe? I think it definitely belongs in the group I mentioned earlier (NYC, LA, SF, BOS, HOU, CHI, PHI) but neglected to include DC which was my mistake.
As far as general restaurants though, that group of cities pretty much covers 95% of the worlds major cuisines.
I would argue that Philly belongs in a group with Dallas and Atlanta as opposed to Chicago or SF.
I would argue that Philly belongs in a group with Dallas and Atlanta as opposed to Chicago or SF.
I would rank them like this:
NYC
LA
SF
DC
Chicago
Houston
Boston
Dallas
Philly
Atlanta
Miami
San Diego
Las Vegas
Seattle
Detroit
Minneapolis
When it comes to quality, no doubt I think it is on a tier below Chi and SF. I don't know the Philly scene that well but are there that many holes in it that you can find a type of food in Houston that you cant in Philly?
In that group below I would argue that for variety Boston should be up there as well, its really tough for me to think of a type of food we dont have at least one restaurant for here. Outside of maybe Indonesian?
I know alot of the Embassies host dinners themselves and have chefs on staff, but what about restaurants open to the general public on a regular basis? Does DC really cover the entire globe? I think it definitely belongs in the group I mentioned earlier (NYC, LA, SF, BOS, HOU, CHI, PHI) but neglected to include DC which was my mistake.
As far as general restaurants though, that group of cities pretty much covers 95% of the worlds major cuisines.
I think DC does a decent job on international variety but I don't think it covers the entire planet like New York does. I could be wrong though.
In food-related news - James Beard Foundation Awards are going to be held in Chicago next year. First time in its 25 year existence it will not be held in NYC.
In food-related news - James Beard Foundation Awards are going to be held in Chicago next year. First time in its 25 year existence it will not be held in NYC.
When it comes to quality, no doubt I think it is on a tier below Chi and SF. I don't know the Philly scene that well but are there that many holes in it that you can find a type of food in Houston that you cant in Philly?
In that group below I would argue that for variety Boston should be up there as well, its really tough for me to think of a type of food we dont have at least one restaurant for here. Outside of maybe Indonesian?
I actually live very close to an Indonesian restaurant here outside of Dallas. Other random places that are close by include Burmese, Cameroonian, Zimbabwean, and Singaporean. Thats here in Dallas, not Houston. Houston has a slightly better variety yet.
Based on my experience, foods of Asian and Latin American variety are more abundant in Dallas and Houston vs. Philly and Boston (sans Chinese). Foods of European variety and regional cuisines are more abundant in Philly and Boston. I think Houston has the most variety of the four. The other three are similar, but I actually think Philly has less variety than Dallas or Boston but not by much.
It all goes back to demographics. Look at the demographics of the cities in question and you'll see a lot of what they offer.
Chicago's Asian offerings are laughable at best, that's why I put SF and Houston above it.
I dunno why you think Chicago's Asian offering is laughable. At least in terms of Chinese food, I think Chicago is excellent and not any worse than SF. You can find fairly authentic offerings for most of the popular Chinese streetfoods and at least 6 out of the 8 different Chinese cuisine styles.
For obviously historical reasons, in alot of American's eyes Chinese food = Yue cuisine (Cantonese cuisine). But Yue cuisine is just one of the 8 main Chinese cuisines. I find it laughable that a supposed list of the 10 best Chinese restaurants in America is pretty much all dim sums.
This is coming from someone that have lived 10+ years in China, many years in the San Gabriel Valley, many years in San Francisco and several years in Chicago.
I actually live very close to an Indonesian restaurant here outside of Dallas. Other random places that are close by include Burmese, Cameroonian, Zimbabwean, and Singaporean. Thats here in Dallas, not Houston. Houston has a slightly better variety yet.
Based on my experience, foods of Asian and Latin American variety are more abundant in Dallas and Houston vs. Philly and Boston (sans Chinese). Foods of European variety and regional cuisines are more abundant in Philly and Boston. I think Houston has the most variety of the four. The other three are similar, but I actually think Philly has less variety than Dallas or Boston but not by much.
It all goes back to demographics. Look at the demographics of the cities in question and you'll see a lot of what they offer.
I wish we had Indonesian food here, I get my fill when I am in London though. Plus there is one place in Portsmouth, NH nearby that is decent. It is a major hole in the Boston dining scene though.
That is pretty interesting about Cameroonian and Zimbabwean restaurants, I don't believe we have that available either. Some African nations we do have covered though are Cape Verdean (which is difficult to find outside of New England), Senegalese, Ghanaian, Nigerian, Somali, Algerian, Tunisian, Egyptian and South African. The Burmese and Singaporean/Malay is also here.
Another nice feather in the hat for the New England food scene is the availability of Portuguese foods, especially foods from the Azores.
One obscured food (at least obscure to me) that I had never tried before was Uyghur food. A food truck recently opened up serving it here and was pretty impressed. Maybe it is widely available elsewhere, but it was my first time trying it.
I haven't had a chance to eat through Houston and Dallas, but it is definitely on my list of things to do. I have heard some great things about Houston especially.
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