According To Anthony Bourdain, Here’s The Most Underrated U.S. ‘Foodie’ Cities

Anthony Bourdain travels the world for a living, eating in parts unknown, and having no reservations when experiencing different cultures. It’s safe to say the man knows his way around this planet, and has been to a few good food spots.

Bourdain answered fan questions during an iAMA on Reddit Tuesday, and when asked what he thought were the most “unexpected foodie cities” in the US, the TV host had no problem listing several places, including Los Angeles, believe it or not.

His list of cities included:

• Nashville, TN
• Asheville, NC
• Charleston, SC
• Seattle, WA
• Portland, OR
• Minneapolis, MN
• Los Angeles, CA

You’ll hardly ever see Los Angeles in a list of underrated things, but Bourdain swore that aside from the melting pot of ethnic food everyone in the city is accustomed to, the quality of restaurants has really stepped up over the last decade.

“I think Los Angeles is wildly underrated,” Bourdain said. “…man, some of the restaurants that have been opening in the last 10 years are really, really good.”

While the chef also mentioned Nashville as one of the food havens, later in the Q&A, he said that eating the extra hot chicken in Nashville was one of the most terrifying things he’s ever experienced.

“…immediately after eating Nashville Hot Chicken, that was truly, truly terrifying,” Bourdain recalled. “And if you’re considering going to Nashville, by the way, please notice that Nashvillians themselves don’t eat the extra-hot fried chicken. They know better. Unless you’ve got three or four days to spend in a bathroom, I really advise against that.”

We also learned that in his younger days, Bourdain used to accept drinks from everyone and anyone at bars. As you can imagine, at 60 years old, with a 9-year-old daughter, he had to cut that out.

“Fans would come up to me and offer me shots of tequila and I would actually drink them,” he said. “I am still here and alive today because I don’t do that anymore.”

Now we have a new set of go-to US food destinations, straight from the opinion of one of the most well-traveled food authorities this world has to offer.

Check out his full quote below:

“Nashville, TN; Asheville, NC; Minneapolis, for a very long time had really good food and a lot of great chefs. I think Los Angeles is wildly underrated; it was famous for years and appreciated for its strip mall food, it’s Korean and Mexican and Latino food. But man, some of the restaurants that have been opening in the last 10 years are really really good. Everybody knows Seattle and Portland are great.

But yeah, off the top of my head, I’m kinda looking at the South. Charleston, NC [sic], another one. But it’s hard to say that these places are underrated. I mean, people are finding out how good they are. There’s never been a better time to eat in America, honestly.”