Charleston finishes second in T&L’s best food city survey

Chargrilled oysters served at Leon's Oyster Shop. Photo taken Friday, July 25, 2014 at Leon's Oyster Shop on Charleston. Paul Zoeller/Staff

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Beating out San Francisco, Chicago, New York City and both Portlands in the food division of Travel & Leisure's World's Best Cities contest is a pretty impressive achievement, but considering Charleston's track record in the reader-determined awards, the real wonder is that it was outpolled by New Orleans.

Despite taking second in the "Best American Cities for Food" category, Charleston was previously announced as winner of the "best city in the world" title, decided by the same survey. Last year, Travel & Leisure readers named it the best city in North America.

When the magazine last year released culinary-themed results, Charleston didn't appear on the list of 20 "Best Cities for Foodies" in the U.S. It's unclear from the magazine's posted methodology whether cities considered good for food and good for foodies were measured according to the same criteria.

New Orleans was mentioned in 2015, but top honors went to Houston, which editors described as "offering an irresistible combination of refined tastes and downhome comfort." Along with other Southern cities, including Nashville and Atlanta, Houston this year fell off the list.

Although there wasn't any editorial commentary appended to this year's list of top 10 finishers (save a New Orleans blurb extolling the city's gumbo, beignets, crawfish and turtle soup, suggesting it's high time for voters to return for a sampling of newer classics), Charleston is illustrated by an image of Leon's Oyster Shop's chargrilled oysters.

Still, the most notable Lowcountry win might belong to Savannah: Although the city isn't mentioned as frequently as Charleston as one of the nation's greatest food cities, it finished in the sixth position, ahead of Santa Fe and Austin.

Source: Charleston finishes second in T&L's best food city survey