Weather 
Choke on this, New York.
WalletHub has dished up its annual list of the best destinations for foodies, spotlighting cities where diners can feast without spending a small fortune … and to the shock and dismay of many, NYC didn’t crack the top twenty.
To determine gastronomic glory, WalletHub compared more than 180 cities — including the 150 most populated US metros.
WalletHub evaluated cities using two key determinants: “Affordability” and “Diversity, Accessibility & Quality.”
Within these pillars, the ranking considered restaurant variety and the number of affordable places with strong customer ratings, food festivals, and Michelin-starred restaurants.
It also factored in grocery costs and the number of farmers’ markets and CSAs per capita, helping to build a picture of what availability and affordability look like for home-cooked meals as well.
“In the best foodie cities, there are tons of unique culinary experiences to try, from food trucks to specialty-food stores to, in some cities, Michelin-starred restaurants,” said Chip Lupo of WalletHub, noting that the top cities cater to home cooks as well as restaurant regulars.
“These cities make delicious dining affordable for residents and visitors alike,” he added.
Miami, Florida, took the top spot, and the top five ranking was rounded out with Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, and Orlando.
“Miami is the best city for foodies, leading the country when it comes to the availability of affordable restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars out of 5. It also has an extremely high number of restaurants per capita,” said study authors, noting that Miami is home to 12 Michelin-starred restaurants and a plethora of farmers’ markets, specialty food stores, and butcher shops.
The southern city is no stranger to accolades.
In 2023, Bon Appétit crowned Miami “food city of the year.”
Despite having no Michelin stars to speak of, Portland, OR, slid into second place and stood out for its abundance of craft breweries and wineries, herb and spice shops, food and wine tours, and food festivals per capita.
San Francisco took third place, thanks to its high number of restaurants per capita and a strong selection of affordable restaurants rated at least 4.5 out of 5 stars.
San Francisco also earned high marks for its jaw-dropping 25 Michelin-starred restaurants, including three (Atelier Crenn, Benu, and Quince) with three stars apiece.
Though food diversity, accessibility, and quality carried more weight than affordability, helping pricey cities like San Francisco and Seattle secure top spots, New York still ranked a dismal 22nd.
According to the study, while NYC earned twelfth place for diversity, accessibility, and quality, it ranked 179th for affordability, which helps explain its mediocre final score.
In further outrage, New Orleans, long considered among the finest food cities in the world, landed at No. 48
Meanwhile, the bottom five cities- Pearl City, HI, Montgomery, AL, Moreno Valley, CA, Jackson, MS, and Shreveport, LA failed to deliver on diversity or affordability.
While NYC did not qualify as a top-tier foodie destination by WalletHub’s estimation, two of the city’s restaurants, Limusina and The Ambassador’s Club, made the top ten in Yelp’s roundup of the Best New Restaurants of the year.
