A couple of years ago Food & Wine Editor Dana Cowin made a comment that Philadelphia was a boring food city. Later she created a list to define a great restaurant city and now she planned on applying that list to see if Philadelphia stacked up. What she found was great food, even if it didn’t fulfill every point on her list.

These enormously satisfying, small new restaurants made me reconsider everything I’d thought about what makes a great food city. When I looked back at my seven criteria, I realized that Philly performed poorly in many categories, but it’s still an outstanding place to eat. The neighborhood restaurants, better than many of the top restaurants in smaller cities, allow you to have a good meal any day of the week—and to befriend the chef. Would the food scene be better if there were more fabulous destination restaurants? Perhaps. But birthdays and anniversaries come around only a few times a year. I love a city that inspires palates every day and brings a sense of fun to the adventure of eating out.

What Defines A Great Food City [Food & Wine] via blogalicious