Illinois Cities Among America’s Best For Foodies In New Ranking

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

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.

“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.

In Illinois, Chicago was ranked No. 12, while Aurora came in at No. 157.

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.

In addition, Chicago was ranked No. 150 in terms of affordability, while the "Windy City" was No. 12 in diversity, accessibility and quality. Aurora was No. 160 in affordability and No. 157 in diversity, accessibility and quality.

2022 Best Foodie Cities In America Top 10

1. Portland, Oregon
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Miami, Florida
4. San Francisco, California
5. Austin, Texas
6. Sacramento, California
7. Seattle, Washington
8. Tampa, Florida
9. Las Vegas, Nevada
10. San Diego, California