10 Underrated Cities For Outstanding Food

Aside from Skyline Chili, which has its share of fans and detractors, Cincinnati has a strong cuisine scene, with both high-caliber restaurants and a thriving, popular fleet of various food trucks. With a median home price of $141,000, buyers could live in an up-and-coming foodie city for an affordable price.

Realtor.com listed the 10 best underrated cities for food. After excluding the 50 largest cities in the nation, the site found places with the most chefs, non-fast-food restaurants, craft breweries, food trucks, farmers markets, and Michelin-recommended restaurants. It also factored in the percentage of adults who dine out semi-frequently, and the amount of mentions by influential food magazines.

Ashville, N.C., a hub for barbeque, and Charleston, S.C., a seafood mecca, led the list. Other popular cities included Berkeley, Calif., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Bend, Ore.

A total of 24 craft breweries for a city of 81,000 people gives Bend the bragging rights of a true beer city. … The clean and relatively soft water that’s ideal for brewing contribute to the buzzing beer scene, says Jon Abernathy, author of “Bend Beer: A History of Brewing in Central Oregon.” “There is very little, if any, treatment that brewers need to do for the water here to brew great beer,” he says. “And that’s why it is so good and plentiful.”

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