October 11, 2016
In a list of 150 cities from across the nation, Philadelphia took the No. 41 spot on WalletHub's 2016 "Best & Worst Foodies Cities" list released Tuesday.
For a city that prides itself on its lively restaurant scene, that ranking may not be so hot. WalletHub based the ranking on 21 factors from the cost of groceries and "prevalence of affordable restaurants rated at least 4.5 stars" to "number of food festivals per capita" and coffee shops per capita.
Philadelphia earned a 48.26 for its total score and was ranked No. 33 for affordability and No. 48 for "diversity, accessibility and quality."
Orlando, Portland, Miami, Tampa and San Francisco swept the top five spots. Philadelphia did rank higher than cities like Baltimore, Boston and Los Angeles.
So what went so wrong? The Philadelphia Business Journal reported that the cost of groceries in the city was too high to snag a better place on the list.
Philadelphia was ranked in the No. 131 spot when it came to the cost of groceries while it took the No. 114 spot on "number of craft breweries and wineries per capita," according to the business publication.
"The cost of groceries hinders Philadelphia's ranking with an index of 115.80, meaning that a basket of groceries worth $100 on a national average costs almost $16 more in Philadelphia," WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez told the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Though it's no winery, overhauled regulations to Pennsylvania's liquor laws did give several state groceries the go-ahead to finally sell wine. It also comes a few weeks after Philly's 2016 Vendy Awards – honoring the best in the city's food truck scene – was cancelled due to a lack of interest, among other reasons.
