See Where Food Critic Keith Lee Ranks New Orleans’ Cuisine

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Food critic Keith Lee and social media influencer has released his rankings of the top U.S. food cities he visited in 2023. Lee, who embarked on his family food tour, which took five months to complete.

He said that he and his family went to eight different cities. New Orleans came in ranked #1. Atlanta was last on the list.

“My biggest issue with Atlanta is that it’s hard to get food,” he said, referring to the fact that it seemed like his status figured a bit too prominently for his tastes in Georgia’s largest city. “When he did eat, it was delicious.

And New Orleans Comes In Ranked As Number…

Here are the rankings of the 2023 Keith Lee Family Food Tour.

8. Atlanta

Lee and his family’s foray into Atlanta left much to be desired on both sides. Lee’s much publicized brush-up with The Real Milk & Honey restaurant was perhaps the largest incident in the city in 2023.

Things got so bad that Lee said his family received death threats — that’s not cool!

7. New York

In the Big Apple, Lee said that he tried his best to find the best places to eat, but wherever he went it never hit quite right despite his best efforts.

6. Detroit

Despite being from Motown, Lee said that his home city’slack of food diversity led to its ranking where it did.

5. Los Angeles

“Granted, we didn’t do a full food tour there, but he and his family traveled there “like, 20 times this year,” He said, the diverse food scene really made an impression on him.

4. Las Vegas

“Vegas opened the door for me when it came to different foods and different cultures.”

3. Chicago

Almost every spot in Chicago that Lee and his family went to had amazing food.

2. Houston

He said that he couldn’t think of one place in Houston where he didn’t enjoy the food.

1. New Orleans

“In my opinion, what set New Orleans apart — not by much — was the customer service. Everywhere we went, we felt like family. I’m talking about it felt like I was going to my cousin’s house. It didn’t feel like I was going to a restaurant. It didn’t feel like I was going to no established place. It felt like I was going to Auntie, Maw Maw, Paw Paw, whoever house you want to go to.”

With that said, make sure you check out the best restaurants in New Orleans. It also important to support the best black-owned restaurants in the Big Easy as well.

Final Word

New Orleans has one of the best restaurant scenes in the Southeast, and with state of Southern cooking and an emphasis on the culinary arts at an all-time high, that’s saying something.

When New Orleans’ food is mentioned on a national level, it somehow always reverts back to gumbo, which is the best around, although the city’s eateries certainly represent those dishes well, there’s so much more.

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James Johnson

James Johnson is a writer originally from New York City. She has lived in the South for the last 15 years and enjoys Creole cooking and shrimp and grits.