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Tucson Named One of the ‘Most Diverse Food Cities’ in the US

Jerk chicken at Kingston Kitchen (Photo by Jackie Tran)

Tucson Named One of the ‘Most Diverse Food Cities’ in the US

May 13, 20251 min read

The Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts is where future chefs and bakers get serious about flavor, technique, and creativity. The school helps folks turn their passion into a profession — opening a restaurant, sharpening skills in the kitchen, etc.

The school also shares insights related to the food scene.

They recently released “America’s Most Diverse Food Cities,” and Tucson came in at #28. Phoenix also landed on the list, coming in at #31.

“In order to determine the diversity of these cities, we gathered data on the different types of national cuisines represented by restaurants in America’s 38 largest cities (that is, cities with a population greater than 500,000 as of the 2020 census).”

Then, they crunched some numbers, calculating the diversity of each city’s food scene relative to its population density and the “geographical density of its restaurants.”

More Neat Findings

The study also discovered there’s a steady rise in the demand for ethnic foods across the country.

The cost of living also impacts the diversity of a city’s food scene. Using numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts found out that in order to have a diverse food scene depends on the “ability of residents to pay for it.”

San Francisco is the nation’s most diverse food city. “Not only is its food scene more diverse than any other city, but that diversity is very dense, with a high level of diversity for a relatively small population.”

New York City, Seattle, DC, and Los Angeles round out the top five.

At the bottom of the list, Detroit is said to have the least amount of diversity in its food scene. Nearly two-thirds of its restaurants are classified as “American.”

Read all about it at escoffier.edu.

Article written by:

Matt Sterner

Matt Sterner

More about Matt

At a very young age, Matt Sterner was gifted with the artistic ability to masterfully roll a burrito to the highest of standards, but the wrapped medley of delicious innards wasn’t his first love. Matt’s first true love was a combination of reading, writing, and creating. He grew up reading comics, the ingredients list of his shampoo and conditioner bottles, choose-your-own-adventure books, and the Scrabble dictionary — something he found useful when challenging his grandmother to a game.

He attended college at New Mexico State University and graduated with a degree in Digital Filmmaking. One of his favorite classes was screenwriting because he became responsible for the story’s birth before it came to life on-screen. After school, Matt took on numerous positions at a local television station in Tucson. From dealing out stories about heartbreak to producing “fluffier” content for a lifestyle broadcast, he learned what it takes to adapt to the many emotions the world of media can stir. Since 2017, Matt has dabbled in the culinary world of Tucson as well as San Diego, California from time to time.

If you’re in the mood for strange stories, head over to his pride and joy, wonkytimes.com. And in case you’re curious — yes, after all of this time, he still manages to roll a killer burrito.

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