Watching the accolades roll in for Cincinnati’s diverse and delicious dining scene over the last few years, it’s become clear that Cincinnati is one of the best places in the country for devout foodies. National outlets from the New York Times and Esquire to Bon Appetit and Wine Spectator have taken notice of the Queen City culinary scene, praising spots like Wildweed, The Aperture, Ripple Wine Bar, Ghost Baby and more. And every year we see a handful of Cincinnati chefs — and now, thanks to a new category, a bar owner and bartender — become semifinalists in the prestigious James Beard Foundation Restaurant & Chef Awards. Mayor of Flavortown Guy Fieri also has brought his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives — the top-rated show on the Food Network — to Cincinnati several times over the years, highlighting some incredible small local restaurants along the way. And now, a new study is proving what we already know: Cincinnati is a top foodie destination.
WalletHub, a personal finance company, just released its 2025 edition of the “Best Foodie Cities in America” study, which determines the best and cheapest local foodie scenes. Cincinnati once again ranked near the top, coming in at No. 19 on the list out 182 of the most populous cities in the country.
To create its rankings, WalletHub looked at 28 key metrics, with weighted points totaling up to 100. Metrics included affordability and accessibility of high-quality restaurants, food festivals per capita and craft breweries and wineries per capita.
Cincinnati earned a total of 61.31 points out of 100, and ranked No. 19 overall, but No. 16 in Affordability and No. 25 in Diversity, Accessibility & Quality. The city also earned the No. 1 spot in several individual metrics, including:
- Accessibility of highly rated restaurants
- Gourmet specialty-food stores per capita
- Craft breweries & wineries per capita
- Coffee and tea shops per capita
However, Cincinnati’s score was brought down by our cost of groceries — 84th out of 182, according to the study.
Taking the top three spots were Miami, Portland and San Francisco, respectively. Cincinnati did rank the best in the region, however, even beating out Midwest foodie powerhouse Chicago, which ranked at No. 23. Louisville ranked 29th, while Cleveland came in 45th, Indianapolis 49th, Columbus 74th and Lexington 107th.
You can see the full study and its metrics here.