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There is no science behind these food rankings, so I agree they are subjective. However, that doesn't take away from Houston and Dallas being great food cities. I would argue that both cities don't really capitalize on their food scenes as other places do, which is why they may rank lower on certain lists. I mean Denver is great, but I highly doubt they have better Vietnamese food than Houston.
I think a problem in rating "top food cities" is that there is an emphasis on only the top restaurants, or those following the latest trends.
I think a better measure is an overall view of restaurants and food - for example the ability to pick a place at random and have a high chance of finding an interesting and satisfying meal at a decent price.
A good food city is one that raises the bar for all restaurants, not just those for a particular style, cuisine, or high price range.
Houston, for all of the great food available, also has a lot of truly poor and uninspiring places, and way too many chains.
That said, when we host out of town visitors come here they all want to eat at Five Guys, Rudy's, and 1000 Degree Pizza - so I guess if going to those places makes people think Houston is a good food city we'll take it.
This is all so subjective. If someone wants to claim the Texas cities are tops in food, feel free. Here’s WaPo’s list of the best US cities for food which which includes Houston among its top 10: The 10 best food cities in America, ranked | The Washington Post. Yet here’s Food Repubic’s assessment of the US restaurant scene which places Dallas and Houston as a Tier 3 cities, keeping company with cities such as Cleveland and Denver: The Best Food Cities In America, Ranked In Tiers. These lists are a dime a dozen, as are the opinions posted on CD.
I’ve had many a fine meal in Houston, to be sure. But anyone who travels knows it’s possible to have remarkable meals in every corner of the country these days, if you know where to look. Fine dining is no longer limited to a few food-forward cities scattered across the map. Great meals can now be prepared by chefs everywhere with today’s abundance of fresh local ingredients. I’ve had great food in Kansas City, Myrtle Beach, Portsmouth (NH), Jim Thorpe (PA), St Michaels (MD), Bethlehem (PA) and a few other such unlikely spots in recent memory. This is a good thing.
I agree with the 2nd paragraph completely, but the lists can always present a problem.
As Rocketsci says, lists of any kind tend to be based on trends.
I personally base a food scene on the following categories:
This is all so subjective. If someone wants to claim the Texas cities are tops in food, feel free. Here’s WaPo’s list of the best US cities for food which which includes Houston among its top 10: The 10 best food cities in America, ranked | The Washington Post. Yet here’s Food Repubic’s assessment of the US restaurant scene which places Dallas and Houston as a Tier 3 cities, keeping company with cities such as Cleveland and Denver: The Best Food Cities In America, Ranked In Tiers. These lists are a dime a dozen, as are the opinions posted on CD.
I’ve had many a fine meal in Houston, to be sure. But anyone who travels knows it’s possible to have remarkable meals in every corner of the country these days, if you know where to look. Fine dining is no longer limited to a few food-forward cities scattered across the map. Great meals can now be prepared by chefs everywhere with today’s abundance of fresh local ingredients. I’ve had great food in Kansas City, Myrtle Beach, Portsmouth (NH), Jim Thorpe (PA), St Michaels (MD), Bethlehem (PA) and a few other such unlikely spots in recent memory. This is a good thing.
Absolutely true - there are lots of great food cities these days. I was very impressed actually with both Seattle and Portland - I headed out there just to see what the fuss was about, specifically with Portland, and it was certainly justified.
With that said, I definitely think Houston is easily top 5 in the country and Dallas is probably top 10 itself. Houston's greatest strength is its breadth and fusion cuisines, some of which are regionally unique (Vietnamese Cajun, for example).
All subjective but the Texas cities are definitely punching above their weight here if you ask me.
I think a problem in rating "top food cities" is that there is an emphasis on only the top restaurants, or those following the latest trends.
I think a better measure is an overall view of restaurants and food - for example the ability to pick a place at random and have a high chance of finding an interesting and satisfying meal at a decent price.
A good food city is one that raises the bar for all restaurants, not just those for a particular style, cuisine, or high price range.
Houston, for all of the great food available, also has a lot of truly poor and uninspiring places, and way too many chains.
That said, when we host out of town visitors come here they all want to eat at Five Guys, Rudy's, and 1000 Degree Pizza - so I guess if going to those places makes people think Houston is a good food city we'll take it.
Agree about the chains, but I look at the bolded completely opposite as you. In the pre-Yelp days, I remember dropping by many a hole-in-the-wall in all kinds of neighborhoods across the city and having awesome meals from all corners of the globe.
Nowadays, it saves time to research this stuff, but when finding a new restaurant there's still a fair amount of holes-in-the-wall that I end up at courtesy of others reviews that have amazing food. I think this is one of the city's strengths actually.
With my favorite food being Italian food with Mexican close behind, my home city of New York is the best for me. The Mexican in Texas and California is great, but the Italian food in those areas severely lacks to me.
IMO NY, Chicago and Philly have the best Italian in the country, with all 3 offering diversity in other food types, so for me those are the best 3 food cities in the country.
Absolutely true - there are lots of great food cities these days. I was very impressed actually with both Seattle and Portland - I headed out there just to see what the fuss was about, specifically with Portland, and it was certainly justified.
With that said, I definitely think Houston is easily top 5 in the country and Dallas is probably top 10 itself. Houston's greatest strength is its breadth and fusion cuisines, some of which are regionally unique (Vietnamese Cajun, for example).
All subjective but the Texas cities are definitely punching above their weight here if you ask me.
They’re the #4 and 5 MSA. Punching above their weight may be a bit of an overstatement.
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