There are apparently 182 cities in America that have been carefully examined to determine which ones are the best places for a very specific kind of person.
A person known as a foodie.
And before we go any further, I think we need to ask the obvious question: What the heck is a foodie?
WalletHub has released its 2026 list of the Best Foodie Cities in America, so naturally I went looking for the definition.
So What Is A Foodie?
Apparently, a foodie is someone who loves gourmet dining and considers the experience of eating a hobby or even a lifestyle.
A lifestyle.
I had always thought eating was something you did because eventually your body sends you an unpleasant little reminder that it would like some fuel. But apparently there are people who have elevated lunch to a philosophy.
WalletHub ranked 182 cities using 28 different measures, including restaurant affordability, restaurants per capita, food trucks, farmers markets, specialty-food stores, ice cream shops, coffee shops and food festivals.
Miami comes out on top, followed by Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Austin.
Las Vegas is No. 8.
New York City is No. 22.
Somewhere in New York right now, somebody is looking at that ranking and preparing a strongly worded email.
Salt Lake City comes in at No. 27, which is respectable. But then we discover something truly important: Salt Lake City is tied for first in the entire country for coffee shops per capita.
First.
So congratulations, Salt Lake City. You have apparently achieved coffee.
I don't know exactly how many coffee shops it takes to make a city “foodie,” but apparently Utah's capital has enough of them to satisfy both the people who drink coffee and the people who need to discuss the coffee before drinking it.
And then there is West Valley City, which comes in at No. 173.
That seems like quite a gap.
West Valley City ranks 179th for restaurants per capita and 178th for coffee shops per capita.
Maybe the lesson here is that if you want to become a foodie, you need to move to Salt Lake City and find a coffee shop. Once you're there, somebody will probably tell you where to eat.
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As for the rest of us in Southern Utah, we may not have the official foodie credentials.
But we know where to get a good burger.
We know where to get tacos.
And if somebody tells us a restaurant is really good, we'll probably go try it.
If that makes us foodies, fine.
Personally, I prefer “person who likes to eat.”
It requires considerably less explanation.
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Gallery Credit: Stephen Lenz
