For me it would have to be Houston hands down. Been to many cities and Houston just has everyone beat. Amazing restaurants everywhere, huge selection of diverse foods, top notch quality everywhere etc. Anything you can think of they have at the highest quality and lots of it.

Second fav city would have to be San Diego and my most overrated probably L.A.

34 comments

  6. I tend to avoid cities that are known for something or avoid the tourist trap. I think I saw a video on Katz’s deli from when Harry met Sally and a sandwich is like $26. I get inflation but Jesus Christ. I don’t think Philadelphians are going to Pat’s or Geno’s. It’s why native New Yorkers stay out of Time Square.

    Any city has the chance to be really good but it is a matter of talking to the locals over what is recommended for tourists.

    In my suburb of DC, we have tacos, Korean BBQ, Ethiopian, Indian, Vietnamese, Central American, Asian, and typical American. Sometimes American BBQ and Southern are hard to find but I would say we have variety.

  7. I had a great time eating in Los Angeles. The sprawl and just the vastness of the metro area kind of sucks for driving around. But because of all the parking lots and wide streets, there’s tons of room for food trucks and street vendors. There really is a lot to eat and at all levels of budget. The little donut/boba tea/bakery places scattered around for breakfast are solid, the Mexican and Asian food scattered around town are great for lunch, and food trucks for your late night eats for cravings or going home from bars. And of course, there’s a lot higher in terms of budget as well with some of the highest rated restaurants in the nation

    Hell, even the food in touristy areas is sometimes pretty good. The fruit vendors all over town? If you find one who keeps the fruit on ice and is cutting it fresh to order, its actually a fairly tasty and affordable snack. The hot dog vendors just grilling on the side of Venice boardwalk? A bit high priced but actually pretty good.

  8. New York City. Pick any point in the entire city, and there are more top-notch restaurants within a 10 minute walk than you could try in a year.

    You can find good expensive food anywhere. You can find decent cheap food almost anywhere. But nowhere beats NYC for amazing mid-level food.

  9. A real surprise is Cincinnati. My kids live in the area and I’m amazed at all the really good restaurants they have there. Plus local places like Findlay Market for meats, cheese, etc and Jungle Jim’s which is a 200,000 square foot international supermarket.

  11. Houston has almost everything, but it’s so spread out that just *getting* there can take forever.

    NYC, much more compact but the time budget to get to some places can be just as bad (but in return you get some really unusual stuff that you wouldn’t find in Houston).

    Per capita, New Orleans. Yeah, it has some real weak spots, but I *like* New Orleans food. A lot. And there’s enough variety that you don’t have to eat Creole or Cajun for every meal.

  12. It’s definitely between LA and SF. They offer different things, but it’s definitely between the two.

  13. Aside from NY..

    I’m a fan of LA for food.. the best sushi I’ve had has been there and the produce is noticeably fresh even at places you wouldn’t necessarily expect.. first time I tried (or even heard of) KMex was out there and it’s an incredible blend

    At one point, my absolute favorite taco was in San Diego but that has changed recently

  14. Houston definitely has great food. However I would say we are lacking in Italian food. Pizza here is also perfectly fine and good but not anywhere near the best in the country.

  17. Others have already said it but I will add on: NYC for sure. So much diversity and ease of access. Part of the dining experience for me IMO is being spontaneous and finding a joint on your own. Its kind of hard to do that anywhere else. Throw a dart onto the map anywhere and you can find a joint that’s not as known but still great.

    NYC has all types of food occasions. Fine dining, post drunk, boozy brunch, versatile breakfast, random 3 am hunger pangs, and its just very affordable overall IMO.

    My significant other and I spent the weekend in NYC and we got a charcuterie board with fine wine for like $30 (we wanted to be fancy) but we were still hungry so we walked down the block and got $3 slices of pizza each. When it was 2 a.m. we got food from the halal carts for a full chicken and lamb platter for $7 each. In the mornings, we got giant ass bagels for like $6 each. Shit was amazing man. Can’t imagine myself doing this in any other city.

    I will say NYC lacks in Southern BBQ scene and Mexican food akin to the west coast? I’m sure there’s joints around the city that I haven’t tried yet.

    EDIT: I also want to add I am very reluctant to believe anyone in these threads to claim a certain city has the best food even myself. Just because you ate at 10-20 restaurants doesn’t mean you have a valid opinion of food in that particular city. I only claim NYC is the best because of the dining experiences are so vast.

    There is one person I know who has tried over 300 restaurants and counting in NYC and has a full Google Sheet and picture of each meal he ordered and the date and time and review he gave. I trust his opinion more than anyone else.

  18. I think a lot of different cities do their type of cuisine really well, but for overall variety I think DC and the surrounding suburbs take it. There isn’t too much that’s overly distinctive to the region (like San Diego’s Mexicali, or New Orleans Cajun) but you can find a wider variety of high quality cuisines from all around the world here more than anywhere else in the country.

  19. this is one of many competitions like it where NYC almost needs to be disqualified because it’s such a behemoth and outlier that it’s hard for anywhere else to compete with it

  28. I miss the food in New Orleans everyday. Also, as someone from OKC, they have amazingly diverse food options there. Everything from fine dining to the best burgers you’ll find. One of the things I miss about living there, maybe the only thing I miss 🥲

  29. New Orleans, in terms of its own cuisine.

    San Francisco, LA, New York, and Houston for the variety of high-quality food from around the world.

  32. New York. It just has everything and the competition for excellence is off the chart.

    Second would be New Orleans just because it is so unique and has huge competition for excellence.

    Chicago is probably third but battles with Los Angeles, they just have really different food cultures.

  33. Houston has amazing food. I also love the food here in Austin and in San Antonio. But my fave food city is New Orleans. I had so much fun eating my way through that city.

  34. Hard disagree on Houston. Live here currently (unfortunately) and while there has been some great spots, outside of bbq most of it has been meh

Leave a Reply
You May Also Like