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For foodies who delight in exquisite, carefully prepared cuisine where art meets gastronomy, no meal or restaurant is too far. And according to a recent study, the most destination-worthy city for foodies in the US is Portland, Oregon.
WalletHub recently compared the largest US cities across a variety of metrics aimed to determine which of them offer the best experiences for foodies. Those 29 metrics included things like accessibility to great dining, food festivals, wineries, artisanal food sources, craft breweries, and more, as well as those elements not being too expensive.
The winner was Portland, Oregon. A playfully weird city that applies its innovative sense to food preparation, Portland’s known for its food carts scattered across the city, its access to farm-to-fork produce, and Williamette Valley wines.
Second on the list is perhaps a little more surprising. Orlando, Florida has the most restaurants, ice cream and frozen yogurt shops, and gourmet specialty-food stores per capita of any of the cities on the list.
Third is another Florida outpost, Miami, with a fantastic food market and many Michelin-starred chefs.
In fourth place is San Francisco, and Austin, Texas, follows as fifth.
The study also yielded some pretty interesting data. Did you know: Cape Coral, Florida, has the highest ratio of full-service restaurants to fast-food establishments of any city on the list? Groceries cost the least in Brownsville, Texas, and are most expensive in Juneau, Alaska, and in Honolulu and Pearl City, Hawaii. Brownsville also has the least expensive beer and wine, while people pay the most in Seattle.
If you’re after craft breweries and wineries, put these five cities on your travel list where you'll find the most per capita: Santa Rosa, California; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; San Diego, California; and Portland, Maine.
And if coffee is more your thing, you'll want to head to: Salt Lake City, Utah; Orlando, Florida; Richmond, Virginia; Spokane, Washington and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to easily find somewhere to caffeinate.
The remaining top 20 cities for foodies are:
6. Sacramento, CA
7. Seattle, WA
8. Tampa, FL
9. Las Vegas, NV
10. San Diego, CA
11. Denver, CO
12. Chicago, IL
13. Washington, DC
14. Atlanta, GA
15. Los Angeles, CA
16. Pittsburgh, PA
17. Portland, ME
18. New York, NY
19. Charleston, SC
20. Oakland, CA
To view the full report of 182 cities, click here.