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Firstly, Thrillist is no more scientific than Travel + Leisure. It's all based on the random musings of armchair critic freelance writers.
Also, while it may very well be true that Seattle has more restaurant density overall, Philly is still a more dense and walkable city, particularly in its downtown. Although I haven't seen statistics to confirm, I'd hypothesize that Center City is probably only behind Manhattan, Chicago and SF (maybe Boston) in downtown restaurant density. There's a synergy there that exists in very few US cities.
not necessarily restaurant density, but cultural density, Center City trumps DT Seattle.
Nothing beats a philly sub with good beef (no fat/gristle) and no cheese. Just sayin. But Seattle has a lot of awesome sandwich places. A lot of days I go to Michou in the Pike Place Market. You order one of the 20 kinds already assembled and they throw it on the two-sided grill for a minute and you're off. Six minutes despite being #12 in line. Most have some type of meat and 1/4 of a salad inside.
I'm not seeing mention of Seattle's #1 type of cheap food: teriyaki. I thought every city had these places until the NYT did a feature story on Seattle's new cuisine. This is rice, some sort of meat (often chicken breast) roasted and tossed in a sweeter, thicker version of teriyaki sauce, and probably an iceberg salad with ranch. Pro tip: Get less rice. Then eat half the salad and half the rest. Then mix everything. Damn.
As for arts organizations much would depend on what you call "downtown." Are they parallel in land area or standards? How can we tell? Though I'm sure Philly does have more in that category.
not necessarily restaurant density, but cultural density, Center City trumps DT Seattle.
Totally agree with that - cultural density Philly wins hands down. Seattle is top 7 or 8 in that regard while Philly is top 3.
In terms of restaurant density, Seattle is pretty damn impressive Downtown and in the inner neighborhoods. I know citywide Seattle is more restaurant dense, but not sure about the urban core. But Seattle has a ton of restaurants Downtown, Capitol Hill, Pionmer Square, International District, Belltown, Lower and Upper Queen Anne, etc. It also has some outer neighborhoods with impressive restaurant density.
Nothing beats a philly sub with good beef (no fat/gristle) and no cheese. Just sayin. But Seattle has a lot of awesome sandwich places. A lot of days I go to Michou in the Pike Place Market. You order one of the 20 kinds already assembled and they throw it on the two-sided grill for a minute and you're off. Six minutes despite being #12 in line. Most have some type of meat and 1/4 of a salad inside.
I'm not seeing mention of Seattle's #1 type of cheap food: teriyaki. I thought every city had these places until the NYT did a feature story on Seattle's new cuisine. This is rice, some sort of meat (often chicken breast) roasted and tossed in a sweeter, thicker version of teriyaki sauce, and probably an iceberg salad with ranch. Pro tip: Get less rice. Then eat half the salad and half the rest. Then mix everything. Damn.
I purposely didn't mention it because I much prefer one of the infinite Thai or Vietnamese restaurants to Teriyaki, but it is worth mentioning. The quality varies with those Teriyaki places (moreso than the Thai, Pho, or Vetnamese sandwich places), although the good ones are pretty damn amazing.
Also, for sandwiches - don't forget Salumi, owned by Mario Batali's father and with some of the best Porcini sandwiches on the planet.
I think you need to take it down a few notches. Maybe on the West Coast Seattle's food offerings are quite impressive, but there's honestly nothing outside of a few more regional specialties native to the PNW that you couldn't procure in Philly or any other major city on the East Coast.
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Also, I'm not sure if you're trying to imply that the East Coast is unquestionably better than the West Coast for food, but if you are I think that's blatantly false. San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and LA are all considered among the top food cities in the country (as are a number of East Coast cities). You can procure almost anything (aside from a few regional specialities) in all of these cities. For example, Seattle has tens of places that sell homemade canolis, and some of them are actually pretty good. But are they as good as the good ones in Philly? Absolutely not. Likewise, Philly has a number of places that sell Vietnamese Bahn-Mi and some of them are pretty good, but are they as good as the good ones in Seattle? Absolutely not.
You can get almost any type of cuisine in many large American cities - what we're talking about is quantity and overall strengths and weaknesses. For seafood, Seattle has restaurants covering the entire gamut, from hole in the walls to fine dining, from traditional to innovative, from ethnic to American - it's a rich spectrum of nearly every type of seafood place you could imagine, as well as a style and preparation unique to Seattle found in places like Rock Creek, Manolin, Walrus and Carpenter, etc. Philly has some good seafood, but it's not on the same level. And I'd say the exact opposite in terms of Italian. Philly has a much richer spectrum of Italian food. Seattle has some good Italian places, but it's not on the same level.
Also, I'm not sure if you're trying to imply that the East Coast is unquestionably better than the West Coast for food, but if you are I think that's blatantly false. San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and LA are all considered among the top food cities in the country (as are a number of East Coast cities).
I can assure you that wasn't my point at all. I think we fundamentally agree--there are great food cities across the US, and preferences literally come down to personal taste.
Yes, absolutely. I didn't say "fine dining" because Seattle's style isn't white table cloth, black tie (although a few of those places exist). But Seattle has a ton of incredible high-end places. Moreso than Philly from my experience. Places like Canlis, Art of the Table, Mistral Kitchen, Herbfarm, Poppy, RN74, Altura, Lark, Cafe Juanita, Bar Sajor, Sitka and Spruce, Bateau, Westward, How to Cook a Wolf, Heartwood Provisions, Dahlia Lounge, Spinnase/Artusi, Staple and Fancy, Roux, Seven Beef, Restaurant Marron, Anchovies and Olives, Salare, La Medusa - that's just the tip of the iceberg. And these types of restaurants are found spread throughout the city.
Yes, absolutely. I didn't say "fine dining" because Seattle's style isn't white table cloth, black tie (although a few of those places exist). But Seattle has a ton of incredible higher end places. Moreso than Philly from my experience. Places like Canlis, Art of the Table, Mistral Kitchen, Herbfarm, Poppy, RN74, Altura, Lark, Cafe Juanita, Bar Sajor, Sitka and Spruce, Bateau, Westward, How to Cook a Wolf, Dahlia Lounge, Spinnase/Artusi, Staple and Fancy, Roux, Seven Beef, Restaurant Marron, Anchovies and Olives, Salare, La Medusa - that's just the tip of the iceberg. And these types of restaurants are found spread throughout the city.
When is the last time you've been in Philly? I'm just curious. There are not more fine dining restaurants in Seattle, haha.
Listing some high-end restaurants does nothing, I can do the same thing for Philadelphia.
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