World's Best The Best Cities for Food in the United States By Melanie Lieberman Melanie Lieberman Instagram Twitter Melanie Lieberman is the senior travel editor at The Points Guy. Prior to TPG, Melanie was an editor at Travel + Leisure. Her work has also appeared in Bloomberg Pursuits, Yahoo Travel, Jetsetter, Boston Common Magazine, Thrillist, and Saveur, among others. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines Published on August 7, 2016 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Bryce Duffy If you thought the Big Apple had absolutely nothing in common with the modest New Mexican city of Santa Fe, think again. Travel + Leisure readers voted both as two of the top 10 cities for food in the United States. After all, New York City may be known for its upscale, headline-making restaurants, but Santa Fe is just as popular for its red and green chilies. “For a small city,” said one T+L reader about Santa Fe, “the restaurant and food selections are outstanding.” Others raved about the unique, regional dishes like carne adovada: braised pork featuring local meat, dried red New Mexican chilies, and Mexican oregano. The World's Best Cities 01 of 10 No. 10: Portland, Maine Greta Rybus 02 of 10 No. 9: Portland, Oregon Hemis / Alamy Stock Photo Heading to the Pacific Northwest? This way for our list of Portland's best restaurants. >> 03 of 10 No. 8: Austin Jeff Minton Overwhelmed by a city's dining scene? Check our our list of favorite restaurants in Austin. 04 of 10 No. 7: Santa Fe Sunpix Food / Alamy Stock Photo 05 of 10 No. 6: Savannah Michael Ventura / Alamy Stock Photo 06 of 10 No. 5: Chicago Tara Donne Our favorite restaurants in Chicago, right this way. >> 07 of 10 No. 4: San Francisco Alex Farnum Booking a trip to the Golden Coast? First have a look at our San Francisco restaurant guide. 08 of 10 No. 3: New York City Tukka Koski Our favorite restaurants in New York City, right this way. >> 09 of 10 No. 2: Charleston Peter Frank Edwards Never been to Charleston before? Get pumped by first checking out T+L's favorite culinary options in the city. 10 of 10 No. 1: New Orleans Bryce Duffy “No place beats New Orleans for food,” said T+L reader Charles Grubb. And he wasn’t the only one to share that sentiment. Finding restaurants in New Orleans is an easy task, and they range from casual sandwich shops (serving impossibly good po’boy sandwiches) to venerable institutions with legendary menu items (think: Brennan’s turtle soup). Just saying NOLA brings to mind powdery beignets (or Coquette’s visionary carrot cake version) and spicy gumbo. Visitors have to try acclaimed Creole classics. And if it’s crawfish season? Then you shouldn’t have any questions about what to eat in New Orleans. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit