2018 BEST FOODIE CITIES IN AMERICA PLUS

While there, make sure to stop by La Panaderia, the new-wave bakery from two entrepreneurial Mexico City expats, where we are reminded that there's nothing quite so irresistible, baked goods-wise, as a proper concha.

These two talents alone could lure us back to San Antonio, any day of the week, and you should go, too. Alex Paredes worked in one of the city's finer kitchens before opening Carnitas Lonja, a Michoacan-style carnitas spot operating out of a postage stamp space down along the way to the historic Missions. At 2M Smokehouse, far on the city's southeast fringe, native son Esaul Ramos brought what he'd learned in nearby Austin back home, creating - quite organically - one of the most forward-looking barbecue joints in a state that's never short on the stuff. Gumbo, poboys, red beans and rice, beignets, sno-balls the must-have eats of the city are nostalgic, fueled by Cajun. From that long list, the ones we appreciated most had a pronounced sense of place because that is what San Antonio is all about. Unlike New York City, New Orleans is known for a suite of iconic dishes. Always treasured for its love of heritage, San Antonio was on a growth tear like you wouldn't believe, and of course, that meant new food, new makers, new restaurants - and plenty of them. Yes, we returned to Texas again, because that is where so much of America's future is unfolding, and so quickly, too. What really gives Los Angeles its edge as one of the country's greatest food cities is just how much there remains to be discovered, often in the places most of us aren't even looking. Then, there are the chefs everyone's talking about, too many to mention here, from promising young things like Jonathan Yao at Kato and Brian Dunsmoor, whose seasonal Fuss & Feathers dinners at Hatchet Hall paid tribute to the past in a most modern way.

2018 BEST FOODIE CITIES IN AMERICA PLUS

Bite off whatever you can chew, quite literally, and enjoy the city's diverse flavors, from the proliferation of exciting Filipino cooking to the rise of modern Korean, plus almost every kind of regional Mexican and Central American cuisine. The recent accolades: One of Americas hottest food cities (Zagat) one of the most underrated food cities on the East Coast (USA. You're never finished and there's no point in even pretending. Los Angeles is one of those places that you never hope to understand completely - that's the whole point of living there. Or, pick the Best of Austin Food Truck Bus Tour to sample fare from Austin's famous food trucks stationed around the South. If you don't know, then ask somebody who does - is there another city in the United States that feels as switched on as Los Angeles? Sometimes, it feels as if everyone (including José Andrés) is moving there. Then tag along on the Saturday Brunch/BBQ/Brewery Bus/Walking Tour.

2018 best foodie cities in america