Houston ranks high in “Best Foodie Cities in America,” but Austin brings an unexpected benefit to the table

(Foodie Crush)

Houston’s restaurant scene is flourishing with new eateries like Chef Paul Qui’s Aqui, wine hot-spot A’Bouzy, White Oak Biergarten and Delta Blues Steakhouse joining an already buzzing foodie oasis.

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Despite our glowing line-up of notable brands and diverse eats, however, a new study by WalletHub found Houston’s district foodie culture just couldn’t quite knock this one out of the park — but we did pick up a few RBIs.

RELATED: Pappas family to open new barbecue-smokehouse called Delta Blues Steakhouse

On the list of “2017’s Best Foodie Cities in America,” Houston didn’t make the top 10 like Austin did, but we did break the top 25.

Ranking 16th overall, Houston beat out San Antonio, which took 25th place, prompting the Alamo City to celebrate finally being recognized for its cuisine.

While falling behind Austin is a bitter bite to swallow, the rankings weren’t just based on the quality and talent within each city’s food landscape.

Instead, WalletHub also considered the price of a meal and how many restaurants, grocery stores and food trucks there were per capita. In total, 24 indicators were used to evaluate 182 American cities, and researchers took a long, hard look at how many options residents had to find low-cost eats, including beer and wine.

Austin ranked first overall in affordability and accessibility. Houston was the Texas city with the highest density of restaurants per person.

RELATED: Top Chef winner Paul Aqui opens new restaurant Aqui in Midtown/Montrose

Austin, Houston and San Antonio were the only Texas cities to break the top 25, beating out Dallas. Reasons to celebrate include the finding that all three cities also beat out famous food meccas like Boston and New Orleans.

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