2 PA Cities Among America’s Best For Foodies In New Ranking

PENNSYLVANIA — Do you like the experience of eating unique, tasty flavors? If so, good news: a pair of places in Pennsylvania with unforgettable eats got a nod on a new “2022’s Best Foodie Cities in America” list.

The ranking is sure to spark renewed furor between the two cities, already cross-state rivals in so many other categories.

Pittsburgh came in at 16th overall, while Philadelphia was 27th.

The term “foodie” means different things to different people. Without going into all the things being a foodie can mean, one of the things it doesn’t mean is that you’ll go broke sampling great food, according to the personal finance company WalletHub, which made affordability one of the key measures in its comparison of 180 U.S. cities.

Portland, Oregon came in first place overall.

“These wallet-friendly cities cater to diners who prefer to cook at home, explore the local flavors or both,” the site said, explaining its methodology took into account the cost of groceries, the affordability and accessibility of high-quality restaurants, and food festivals per capita.

To rank cities, WalletHub considered the cost of groceries, wine and alcohol; restaurants per capita; the ratio of full-service and fast-food restaurants; the number of ice cream and frozen yogurt shops per capita; the number of craft breweries and wineries per capita; the number of coffee shops per capita; and the number of gourmet or specialty food stores per capita.

Philadelphia ranked 22nd on the list's "diversity, accessibility, and quality" list while it was 133rd on the "affordability" ranking. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, was 19th in diversity and 86th in affordability.