Credit: Photo by EDrost88, Flickr CC

Travel + Leisure recently called on its readers to rank America’s best food cities, as well as each city’s most crave-worthy features, from street vendors and cafes, to gourmet markets and upscale eateries.

Cleveland, it seems, impressed on both accounts, ranking seventh out of 20 cities.

Here’s what T+L’s Katrina Brown Hunt had to say about the Forest City food scene:

7. Cleveland, Ohio

The rust belt city offers some old-fashioned, even old-world, charms. Readers ranked it at No. [7] for its rich food halls, like West Side Market—with spices, baked goods and delis—which dates back to 1912, when it catered primarily to the city’s immigrants. Today, you can also still tuck into great Polish cuisine—like chicken paprikash, bratwurst, pirogues and stuffed cabbage—at Sokolowski’s University Inn, a James Beard American Classic award-winner now in its third generation of family ownership. Still, you don’t get into the top 10 by living completely in the past; Cleveland also delighted readers with its trendy street food and bars (like Happy Dog, where hot dogs come with vodka sauerkraut or Bloody Mary ketchup) and upscale, New-American spots like Lola Bistro, run by Iron Chef Michael Symon.


We love all of those places too, though we didn’t realized that Sokolowski’s had gotten into the small boat business. 

This article appears in Mar 18-24, 2015.

Alaina Nutile is the Web Editor who oversees all digital content and social media initiatives for Cleveland Scene Magazine and Detroit Metro Times. Before joining the staff in June 2013, she interned at Business Insider in New York City, and at La Hora in Quito, Ecuador. Alaina is a graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan, where she double majored in English and Spanish. Her interests include Japanese food, Breaking Bad, and career development advising.

8 replies on “Cleveland Named Seventh Best Food City in America by Travel + Leisure”

  1. Better than Chicago and New York?? We have NO michelin star restaurants either….

    Location Restaurant Chef Year of award
    Chicago Alinea Grant Achatz 2010 [13]
    Chicago Grace Curtis Duffy 2014
    New York City Le Bernardin Eric Ripert 2005 [14]
    New York City Eleven Madison Park Daniel Humm 2013
    New York City Masa Masa Takayama
    New York City Per Se Thomas Keller 2010
    New York City Jean Georges Mark LaPico
    New York City Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare César Ramírez 2014[14]
    Yountville, California The French Laundry[15] Thomas Keller 2006
    St. Helena, California The Restaurant at Meadowood[15] Christopher Kostow
    San Francisco Benu Corey Lee 2014 [16][17]
    San Francisco Saison Joshua Skenes 2014 [16][18]

    Overly gracious to Cle…. But who am I to argue?????

  2. Can’t people just enjoy food without Michelin stars? It would great if there was one but honestly how often do people eat at a Michelin star restaurant?

  3. In the US Michelin only awards stars in the Bay Area, Chicago and NYC. So that does not mean there are are no Michelin worthy restaurants in Cleveland. Just how the Michelin system works. They did not start awarding stars in Chicago until a few years ago.

  4. I live in Cleveland and I put it very high in America, but let’s be honest, New York is New York. Nobody is better.

  5. Did I miss something here? Where’s the list of the six better cities?! I can’t find it.

  6. Not that it matters in regards to compiling a list, but there are at least 2 Michelin star chefs that I know of in Ohio, Torsten Schulz currently at The Blue Door, and Dante Boccuzzi. The Michelin guide is to help provide you with a world class experience through world class cities, the vast majority of which are overseas, mainly Europe, because it is a French guide after all. If that is your sole measure of a great food city, especially in America, you’re really going to be leaving a lot off the table.

  7. Keeping it simple…. I go by word of mouth. I tell friends from that area what I am looking for and hope for a great reference. We haven’t been disappointed in Cleveland yet. I like to support non franchise restaurants…. so spread the good news please, so I can try it out. Thanks

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