re: Most "overrated" food cities in the US

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Napa

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Nothing I had was top notch. Most was just ok. Some was just bad.

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Where did you eat?

He's full of shite or prefers frozen dinners.

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Where all did you eat?

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Treylor Park/Hitch
The Grey
Prohibition
Crystal Beer Parlor
some Thai place?
The Ordinary Pub

Probably a few other places but names escape me. Everything was definitely good, so I can't put my finger on why it was overrated for me. I think its because I was there nearly a full 7 days and it just isn't a big enough city to pack out that many days.

I also went with my mom. My parents don't drink much and don't go to restaurants much, so my mom was exhausted early on and was not interested in going balls to the wall in restaurants like I prefer to do on vacation.

I have never had Ordinary Pub but I have heard it is good but not world class or anything. I do not get the fascination with Treylor Park and Hitch. It's like they try to hard to do off the wall dishes and nothing I have had their has really impressed me. I really like Crystal Beer Parlor but it is just really good bar food. I enjoy Prohibition for drinks and appetizers. I definitely view The Grey as world class. My favorite restaurant in the city.

It is hard to compare anywhere to the south.

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My favorite food cities are those that take local food and make them great. So one requirement has to be the food is basically "local". For example, I don't consider an Indian restaurant in the midwest adding to a city being a "food" city. So for me the list is Chicago...

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Yeah, it's got the stereotypes of deep dish pizza and known for it's steak houses for good reason, but what Chicago has going for it is that it's the third largest city in the US, and the ethnic diversity is phenomenal. You have neighborhoods that were settled and there are definitely restaurants where little or no English is spoken. If someone opens up an Indian restaurant there and brings their family recipes, it's gonna be damned good.

It's interesting that Chicago gets such a bad rap here. I had reason to move from there to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Before I'd even set foot in Louisiana, people there told me that the food scene was some of the best in the US. (Crawfish boils, gumbo and the like are fricking awesome...but the BR restaurant scene, not so much.) For what it was touted to be, BR was overrated.

I think the keys to being a great food city are diversity and being a business hub. The diversity means you get a lot of interesting ethnic cuisine, because there's a market for people who want to eat authentic Hungarian food or whatever. And if you're a business hub, chefs know they can use high quality ingredients because there's a wealthy clientele out there.

I'm going to agree with Savannah. On a recent trip we hit The Distillery, Husk (twice), The Grey, The Atlantic, Cotton & Rye, Clary's, The Green Truck Pub.

With the exception of Husk, which was excellent but bizarrely empty both times we found the food to be completely underwhelming. Travel magazine stuff that looks better on the plate than it eats.

A very pretty town to be sure and drinks at Artillery and The Alley Cat Lounge were quite good but way over rated as a dining destination.

Charleston, SC.

Only memorable thing I've eaten there was the corn bread at Edmund's Oast. Lewis BBQ and Swig-n-Swine are solid BBQ joints.