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Atlanta isn't all that surprising but the rest are. Raleigh and New Haven being above any of those 4 is crazy talk. No disrespect New Haven.
Yeah I generally agree. The OP was looking at it from this perspective: "Im going by good food, comfort food, bar/pub/local foods. I don't eat at Michelin restaurants or very rarely [pay over $20 for a meal because I find that to be a waste of money.. im very frugal. But I will take a shot at this of cities where I have been. I also am going pound for pound on a city level here too."
And for sure New Haven > Raleigh when it comes to food.
These cities above Atlanta, Miami, Vegas, and New Orleans??? WOW.
LOL it’s just someone’s opinion and no one really cares anyway so don’t worry about it. So…if someone said Raleigh NC has superior food to NYC….WHO CARES!!!
NYC- Availability f everything at every price. Just a great place to be hungry. It's almost exciting to get hungry in NYC.
Philadelphia- never had a bad eat here. Food is good and portions are always right lol.
Las Vegas- Really impressed when I've been. It's pretty important to your time in vegas and it doesn't disappoint. I enjoy the steakhouses.
Chicago- Just going off rep.
New Orleans- Everyone just loves the food they eat there. Its just a food city, that's a big attraction to NOLA like almost
nowhere else
ABOVE AVERAGE:
Boston- Could be excellent if it had happy hour, later hours, and lower prices. Underrated is the Caribbean/Southern. Caribbean/African, West African/Southeast Asian fusions that are becoming increasingly popular in the local neighborhoods. As well as a rapid expansion of crab houses,
Washington DC- The predominance of carryout in tons of areas drags it down. A lot of the food *and the carryout food in particular) in the hood is nasty Otherwise a very good food city.
Atlanta- going off rep
Miami - Signature type of cuisine, looks good, great seaside setting, good variety.. Didn't eat anywhere nicelocal when Ive been..
Los Angeles- Fast Food culture drags it down. And enough with the Donuts and Nashville Hot Chicken.
Detroit- I've heard a fewpeople say really good things. Detroit pizza is bomb.
Houston- Variety and affordability
Kansas City- BBQ
AVERAGE:
Denver-Good Food some bright spots.
Nashville- People from Nashville in Boston that I know are impressed by Boston, so Nashville must be a tier below
Dallas- Had a taco there late night, underwhelmed
BELOW AVERAGE:
Jacksonville- Ate there once on my way to Miami. Whack.
Orlando- Cant remember a sing meal and I've spent a total of 2 weeks there. Only in the suburbs though.
Last edited by BostonBornMassMade; 07-14-2021 at 10:55 PM..
FYI New Orleans is Creole, not Cajun... And it's an incredible food city far beyond that genre!
I was cracking up.
Sounded really confident in his wrong answer too.
Anyone who says new orleans doesn't have diversity must not have ventured off canal street.
I hate to admit that I go to New Orleans just to eat.
Everything that I have tried has been excellent.
And I'm not even talking about Creole food, or any ethnic food in particular.
I remember arguing with my friend about ordering pot roast in New Orleans, but I tried it and wanted to order some. But my food was excellent too.
I expect good Italian food in any sizable city from DC northward. I am not surprised to find it Houston, Atlanta or even a City the size of Charlotte. But I want Expecting New Orleans to have good Italian, then I remembered duh, New Orleans had a large Italian immigrant population, and the city even invented Italian American dishes like the Mufaletta.
The best Hamburger I have ever had was in New Orleans. Hands down.
Breakfast in New Orleans is wickedly delicious. The way they fuse the Creole flare with something simple as eggs Benedict and come up with a masterpiece. But hey some think they can pop in to Cafe Du Monde and grab a quick Cafe Ole and some not do fresh Beigniets and think they have experienced some New Orleans breakfast.
Talking about coffee there are a ton of really great coffee shops in New Orleans.
Even fast food in New Orleans is great.
And let's not forget drinks. Hurricanes, Old Fashioned, Hand Grenades, and so many others.
Banana Foster was also created in New Orleans.
When you factor in how much contribution New Orleans has made to all these different genres, and how successful it has been within these genres I have zero qualms about putting it right behind New York which beats every city in terms of top class quality and quantity.
The Latin influence is increasing in New Orleans. I'm smiling thinking of future Creole-latin fusions they will be coming up with.
How would you group these cities by the quality of food, restaurants, dining experience, etc. You have four categories for these cities:
EXCEPTIONAL: Cities where the food is among the best and quality is high in all calibers (meaning hole in the wall is just as good as its most expensive). These cities you are guaranteed in 85% of the places you choose to eat the food will be good to exceptional. Has lots of independent restaurants and variety. Basically the food alone makes this city a destination.
ABOVE AVERAGE: Cities where the food is pretty evenly split amongst good to exceptional and pretty average food. In these cities you are guaranteed that about 60% of the places you eat at will be above average to exceptional. The food alone doesn't make this place a destination, however, it is indeed an important part of the city's culture.
AVERAGE: Cities where the food is good but not standout either, but certainly has it's bright spots. In these cities you are guaranteed that in about 40% of the places you eat you will have a good to exceptional meal, but overall most of the places you come across to eat are more average or just good enough, but nothing to write home about.
BELOW AVERAGE: Cities where the food is just not that great as a whole. Only about 20% of the places you eat here will be average or above. Most food is subpar or heavily oriented to national chains.
Here are the cities:
Boston
NYC
Philadelphia
Washington DC
Atlanta
Miami
Nashville
Detroit
Indianapolis
Cleveland
Columbus
Cincinnati
Chicago
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Jacksonville
Orlando
Miami
Tampa
St. Louis
Houston
Dallas
Austin
San Antonio
Denver
Phoenix
Los Angeles
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Honolulu
Las Vegas
Kansas City
New Orleans
Taking into account: variety of restaurants, quality of available produce, farmer's markets, fine dining, distinctiveness of local cuisine, also cocktails, coffee, wine and general food culture...
EXCEPTIONAL (with the caveat that nowhere are you guaranteed good to exceptional food in 85% of places, except possibly NOLA. There is also a lot of bad food in these places too)
New York, Chicago, LA, Bay Area, and Houston. Honorable mention NOLA. I would put New York at the top and Houston at the bottom of this elite group, and the middle 3 are interchangeable depending on your criteria, but IMO these are a cut above everyone else in terms of eating/dining/drinking
ABOVE AVERAGE
Philadelphia, Seattle, Austin, Honolulu, DC, Boston, Las Vegas
AVERAGE
Miami (could go up, but Asian food is very weak), KC (the BBQ alone could push it up), San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, St. Louis, Orlando, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Atlanta, San Antonio
BELOW AVERAGE
Denver (beer is great, but in my experience, the worst big city in the U.S. for food), Nashville (the hipster invasion is improving things, but still mostly bland and generic), Indianapolis
I have not spent enough time in the Ohio cities or Detroit (though what I ate there was pretty great) to judge, and I have never been to Tampa or Jacksonville
There are some great niche eating cities not on the list: Memphis for BBQ and soul food, New Haven for Pizza, Providence for Portuguese, Portland for food truck scene, Savannah and Charleston for delicious and distinctive local cuisine . . .
Last edited by homeinatx; 07-15-2021 at 07:21 AM..
Again, im not talking about michellin star restaurants or even 5 star ones. Ive rarely ate at one outside of like special ocassions
Also im not a fan of Cajun so im not sure how i would like the cuisine in Nola when im extremely bias to Greek, Italian and Mediterranean dishes.
Also people sleep on Raleigh.. southern meet the new york/northern cuisines. Never had a bad meal there ever
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