Best City for Food/Restaurants

NYC would be the cliched answer, but I actually wouldn't give that answer.

For me, it's SF, hands down.

But I give New Orleans some points, not strictly for food, but for best atmosphere.

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They have a ton of great pubs/restaurants. From something simple as Harry du Wheels Cafe to something more formal like Bill Granger's restaurants. Plus all the GREAT pubs in "The Rocks" district.

In North America, it's Vancouver, BC. Has Japanese cuisine (in general) that the Japanese fly in for. Has an East Indian restaurant that New Yorkers fly in for. And has been mentioned by the NY Times as being the best restaurant city on the continent.

Then you put it all together into fusion cuisine that is amazing.

Also, it was a Vancouver chef (from North America) who first beat the Iron Chef.

Come for the fusion and asian cuisine. Enjoy the fresh seafood. And then know that most - if not all - of your meal came from within a 100 miles or so.

The 100 mile diet was invented in Vancouver, btw.

And cheap. That $600 dinner mentioned above would likely have been half or less in Vancouver.

obeygiant said:

Right now, for me, I'd have to say Chicago. Last September my wife and I had dinner at L2o which was legendary, although a little steep at $600+. It was our 10 year so we decided to splurge a little and it was worth it.

Then yesterday I took my family to Girl & The Goat which was surprising and delicious. Great atmosphere and service. If you're in Chicago this is a must stop. Try to have reservations, although we got sat without one with a small wait. The kids gobbled up 4 plates of seared tuna, while my wife and I had near everything else including the Roasted Pig Face, which was excellent. (BTW not a pig face looking at you )

Any more recommendations from anyone?

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Wow it cost $600 to eat at that place?

eric/ said:

Wow it cost $600 to eat at that place?

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Yeah, but their repeat business is, like, every 10 years.

obeygiant said:

Right now, for me, I'd have to say Chicago. Last September my wife and I had dinner at L2o which was legendary, although a little steep at $600+. It was our 10 year so we decided to splurge a little and it was worth it.

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A little steep?

That's nearly half what I spend on food... each YEAR.

London, great choice and good prices.

Overall, probably San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. But, my favorite restaurant experiences have been in the Mediterranean countries, many/most of which seem to have pretty good food for some reason.

obeygiant said:

... I had a wine paring that was like $150 which was expertly done. Each of the 6 courses had a glass of wine or port that brought out subtle flavors. ....

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Wow. Sounds like you had a great time.

obeygiant said:

I've never heard a bad thing about Vancouver. I'd love to go and try some eats.

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It is a wonderful city. Don't live there anymore, but we are near by. The whole province is, imo, stunning. But Vancouver takes it's food seriously. Especially seafood. Don't bother with the steaks. Not that they're bad, but the seafood is what it's all about in the Vancouver. It's worth spending some time in BC in general.

We've recently got back from a weekend in Tofino - west coast of Vancouver Island. When we are there we check with the locals - generally speaking there will be a chef from a very high end big city restaurant who has semi-retired to the Ucluelet or Tofino and is working the kitchen in a bistro. We order from the 'fresh sheet'. I forget the name of the last place we were at, but oh lordy... it was good. It's a surfer hangout at night, lunch place for tourists and local business people during the day, and they put 20x20 extension on the side to expand the 'wine cellar' for the executive chef.

You'd cry if I told you how much we spent - it was so cheap. The service is not what you'd get for $600, but we like west coast casual.

Hong Kong.

Lots of choice and tipping is not customary here.

'Bmac said:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They have a ton of great pubs/restaurants. From something simple as Harry du Wheels Cafe to something more formal like Bill Granger's restaurants. Plus all the GREAT pubs in "The Rocks" district.

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And yet Melbourne still has better restaurants. Well, perhaps its the same, but Melbourne feels like it's literally FILLED with decent places to get food.


North America HAS nice restaurants, some cities being full of famous, highly rated restaurants. However, I haven't been to many cities where good food is everywhere. That's the great thing about the big cities in Australia......it's not filled with massive chain restaurants and pubs. In North America, there are too many chain restaurants. Admittedly, I haven't travelled throughout North American cities.

Chicago, hands down.

I think Boulder CO has the best food. You can come to Boulder for the best food and then travel to Fort Collins for beer!

I'm not into the expensive, gourmet food that's $100 a person. I love Italian food, and having not yet been to Italy, I gotta vote for St. Louis, because the best Italian restaurants I've ever eaten at are here on The Hill. I've been to Italian restaurants in many cities, but none of them are as good as the restaurants I go to here. Plus we have toasted ravioli, so we win

yg17 said:

I'm not into the expensive, gourmet food that's $100 a person. I love Italian food, and having not yet been to Italy, I gotta vote for St. Louis, because the best Italian restaurants I've ever eaten at are here on The Hill. I've been to Italian restaurants in many cities, but none of them are as good as the restaurants I go to here. Plus we have toasted ravioli, so we win

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I don't mean to burst your bubble... but is toasted ravioli even from Italy?

snberk103 said:

I don't mean to burst your bubble... but is toasted ravioli even from Italy?

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No

Barcelona. Especially if you can speak Spanish the service is excellent, great prices, delicious food. Not into the really expensive restaurants; as I feel you're paying for style over substance.

AnimaLeo said:

Barcelona. Especially if you can speak Spanish the service is excellent, great prices, delicious food. Not into the really expensive restaurants; as I feel you're paying for style over substance.

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Oh, that's also a good band.

Strictly sticking to the US:

• San Francisco for freshness and variety of ingredients and overall quality of the average meal.

• NYC for sheer variety of cuisines available, though quality can vary significantly.

• LA for Asian cuisine, hands down.

I haven't been to Chicago in years. I need to do something about that soon.

Abstract said:

And yet Melbourne still has better restaurants. Well, perhaps its the same, but Melbourne feels like it's literally FILLED with decent places to get food.


North America HAS nice restaurants, some cities being full of famous, highly rated restaurants. However, I haven't been to many cities where good food is everywhere. That's the great thing about the big cities in Australia......it's not filled with massive chain restaurants and pubs. In North America, there are too many chain restaurants. Admittedly, I haven't travelled throughout North American cities.

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Melbourne's restaurants and pubs are cool too. They have a lot of them down side streets so the really good ones are hard to find. And when you go to one down a tiny side street they are usually THE BEST in all of Melbourne. They have one restaurant where the owner don't really provide a menu the meal is the best of the local markets the owner can find for that particular day. Then another is a Greek or I think it is Greek where the food is amazing. And they have a tiny appitizer plate where it has abit of everything from Coffin Bay oysters to tiny prawns where you eat the whole prawn. Delish!

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yg17 said:

I'm not into the expensive, gourmet food that's $100 a person. I love Italian food, and having not yet been to Italy, I gotta vote for St. Louis, because the best Italian restaurants I've ever eaten at are here on The Hill. I've been to Italian restaurants in many cities, but none of them are as good as the restaurants I go to here. Plus we have toasted ravioli, so we win

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Also on The Hill there is a place where they make the MOST delish Pasta Pie. The "crust' is a meatball mixture in the pie plate like a "crust: would be then Pasta domed on top to make the pie filling. ABSOLUTELY delisious! I think it is my favourite meal on The Hill.

IF you ever get to NYC go to Little Italy in Manhattan AND Arthur Ave. in The Bronx FOR THE BEST Italian food in the USA!

Not Los Angeles.