| Travel to most city websites around the net and you'll | | | | city has never indicted which is top. With a population |
| be surprised by how many purport to have more | | | | of 335,000 the city claims to have 265 Italian, French, |
| restaurants per capita than anywhere else. This is | | | | Greek, East Indian, Vegetarian, German, Dutch, |
| claimed by San Francisco; Madison, Wisconsin; | | | | Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Thai |
| Washington DC; and Shreveport, Louisiana. At least | | | | eateries. That means Victoria has a restaurant per |
| Canadian cities stake the same claim. | | | | 1,264 people. But with its spectacular location halfway |
| So which cities do have a legitimate claim to the title of | | | | between Vancouver and Seattle, you'd hardly care if |
| "Most Restaurants Per Capita?" The National | | | | its claim is a little off. |
| Restaurant Association (NRA) does publish a list of | | | | In New York City no one cooks at home and by the |
| restaurants per capita per state. According to the | | | | time you've heard of a restaurant it has probably |
| Association, California has by far the most restaurants | | | | closed. Restaurants open and close with alarming |
| with a staggering 87,225 dining establishments. New | | | | alacrity in the Big Apple. On average, the city of New |
| York State comes in at a paltry 58,027. The top five is | | | | York can claim 6,650 dining places from the chic |
| rounded out by Texas (53,631), Florida (41,901) | | | | Lespinasse to the greasiest corner diner -- the most |
| Pennsylvania (31,466). | | | | restaurants in any one place on the continent. Yet with |
| In terms of per capita per state, Washington DC tops | | | | 8,168,338 people, New York can only claim to have 1, |
| the list according to NRA. The US capital region boosts | | | | 228 people per restaurant. It might seem that every |
| some 0.4 restaurants per 100 people. Second is, | | | | second building in New York is a restaurant but they |
| surprisingly, Montana at .354 restaurants per 100 | | | | have to cater to a lot of vertically housed residents. |
| people. Rounding out the NRA's top five are Rhode | | | | That explains why it is hard to find a table some nights. |
| Island (0.304 per 100) Vermont (.303 per 100) New | | | | The one Canadian city that can make a great claim to |
| York (.301 per 100). If you are a little hungry you might | | | | have the most restaurants per capita is Montreal in the |
| want avoid the three states with the fewest | | | | province of Quebec. With just over 5,000 restaurants |
| restaurants Mississippi, Kentucky and Utah. | | | | in the metro island area, is appears there are at least |
| In terms of North American cities, it is a little harder to | | | | one restaurant on every street corner. With its diverse |
| ascertain who can claim the title of city with most | | | | immigrant population and French majority, the city has |
| restaurants per capita. | | | | every type of cuisine available from Lebanese to |
| Here are ten cities with more than 100,000 people that | | | | continental French to native Canadian. Some 3,720,000 |
| have made the claim. But who has the real claim? | | | | Quebecois live in the metro area making Montreal the |
| Who offers the cuisine searcher or just plain hungry | | | | second largest French speaking city in the world. |
| shopper the most choice? Who can claim the title of | | | | Giving it a restaurant per capita number of 744. |
| The Restaurant City. | | | | When you leave Austin you enter Texas so the |
| The city of San Francisco is a city of 744,230 people | | | | saying goes. This funky city in central Texas has 1,088 |
| and claims to have 2,662 restaurants within the city | | | | eating places to enhance its reputation as Music City |
| boundaries. There is no doubt that the standard of | | | | USA. That list includes 128 establishments in or around |
| restaurants in the city of the bay is exceptional. If you | | | | the University of Texas alone. Austin's burgeoning |
| just include San Francisco properly your density is 279 | | | | population is currently 690, 252 making their people to |
| people per restaurant. But because costs of housing | | | | restaurant ratio 634. |
| the number of people living in the city proper has | | | | Louisville, home to the Kentucky Derby, is a small city |
| declined while the number of businesses including | | | | of just over half a million people. Pap John's Pizza and |
| restaurants, San Francisco is a distorted number. If you | | | | Yum Brands, the parent company of A&W, KFC, |
| count the metro area, the number of restaurants | | | | Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, both make Louisville their |
| climbs to 4,300 restaurants (we won't include hundreds | | | | corporate home so it is not surprising that that this city |
| more in the nearby wine country of Napa and | | | | on the Ohio River has 1,089 restaurants. That makes |
| Sonoma). If you consider the metro area population of | | | | for 510 people per restaurant. |
| 7,168,176 and divide by 4,300 you get a per capita | | | | Madison owns the rights to the title of "city with the |
| density of 1,667 people per restaurant. | | | | most restaurants per capita" and the capital makes |
| Winnipeg is a city on the edge of the Canadian prairies | | | | the claim throughout its literature. However, pining down |
| that boasts a broad cross section of immigrant | | | | the actual number of restaurants is pretty hard. The |
| communities all of whom have their local ethnic | | | | best list available points to 437 restaurants that caters |
| cuisines. If you want French toast for breakfast, | | | | to 221,551 people in the Wisconsin city. But that makes |
| perogies and sauerkraut for lunch , and Vietnamese | | | | for only 506 people for each restaurant. Good for only |
| imperial rolls for dinner then this is the place to come. | | | | third on this list. |
| This city regularly claims to have more restaurants per | | | | Wichita, Kansas is not usually a city that leaps to mind |
| capita than any other city. Some websites claim the | | | | when one thinks of cuisine. But with an ethnically |
| city has 900 restaurants but in reality there are just | | | | diverse work force, the largest city in Kansas has a |
| 478. With a population of 619,544 Winnipeg can claim | | | | reputation for cultural diversity and is located in the |
| only one restaurant per 1,296 snow-bound Canadian. | | | | breadbasket of America. The 739 restaurants in town |
| Victoria. This city on Vancouver Island and capital city | | | | have only to cater to 360, 715 people. That translates |
| of British Columbia, Canada regularly makes the claim | | | | into 488 people per restaurant, good for second on |
| that it has the "second highest number of restaurants | | | | our list. |
| per capita," which is perhaps clever psychology as the | | | | |