The 'Undisputed Culinary Capital' Of America Is A California City With Renowned Restaurants

America's a melting pot of unique international dishes and delicious local cuisines, but if you're looking for one standout city that's making hungry visitors' mouths water, you'll want to hit the Pacific Coast — specifically, San Francisco. Clarify Capital, a business lending and financing company, collected Yelp data across the country and surveyed 1,000 Americans to find out which cities topped the charts as major foodie hubs. It named San Francisco the "undisputed culinary capital of the U.S."

Clarify Capital scored each city based on the diversity of its cuisine, its ratio of mom-and-pop places to chain restaurants, the quality of its establishments, their popularity, and the restaurants' costs. The Bay Area, according to Clarify Capital, has an outstanding number of mom-and-pop shops — a perfect 1:1 ratio — which helps diversify the quality offerings visitors have rather than forcing them to rely on big chain establishments. The research also found that San Francisco outperformed nearly every other major city in cuisine diversity, as well, second only to the excellent dining scene of Seattle.

Even Redditors agree, with users in r/sanfrancisco saying the city's high-quality cuisine can be credited to its proximity to great produce — about half of the U.S.'s vegetables and more than 75% of its fruits are grown in California, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Reddit users also cited San Francisco's diverse immigrant population as a key reason behind its delicious international cuisine, as well as its affluence — which makes sense, because the one subject the city tanked in is the cost. It's the fourth-most expensive city of the 100 listed by Clarify Capital. However, even with a higher price tag, the flavor, creativity, and cultural range on display in San Francisco's food scene far exceed other major American cities.

The dining in San Francisco is legendary. One of Islands' staff writers keeps a list of the tastiest places she takes her friends to when they visit San Francisco, with great restaurants in five different neighborhoods. From savoring sizzling Spanish plates at Picaro in the Mission District to juicy steak flanks at House of Prime Rib in Nob Hill, the lineup reflects just how wide-ranging San Francisco's dining scene really is. Picaro is also considered a mom-and-pop shop, backing up Clarify Capital's results, which conveys that public opinion favors the Bay Area's independently owned restaurants. If you want a more focused ethnic eating experience, San Francisco is also home to a terrific Chinatown, Little Italy, and Little Russia, and many neighborhoods are renowned for their blend of Central American and South American immigrants.

In the Financial District, you'll find Tadich Grill, California's oldest restaurant and a great place to visit if you want to experience classic San Francisco. Inside the warm wooden walls, you'll be served by employees in white suits — a staple uniform since the 1980s. Choose between classic dishes like a flaky Chilean sea bass or a hearty pot roast that will take your taste buds on a roller coaster ride. As the survey mentions, San Francisco's restaurant scene is on the pricier side, where you might be spending on average $30-60 per entree. Yet Tadich Grill has 4.5 stars from more than 3,000 Google reviews, so it may be worth the extra spend. These spots are just the tip of the iceberg. San Francisco has countless others that will satisfy your cravings. Spend even one day eating here, and you'll know exactly how this coastal city remains nationally undisputed in the culinary scene.