# US Cities with most restaraunts per capita **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017 "2017-09-23T01:58:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/1 "2017-09-23T01:58:49Z")
I live in Portland, Maine, which claims the title of having the most restaraunts per capita. There are several other places that lay claim to this as well, and it’s quite hard to find clear answers. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/2 "2017-09-23T02:01:19Z")
Almost every place I have ever lived I found people who said their city claimed this title. Someone should write a dissertation on it. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/3 "2017-09-23T02:47:06Z")
I’ve been to Portland, Maine, several times. The best meal I had there was actually in nearby Scarborough–I forget the name of the restaurant, but it was in an old school building. The other best meal was in (I think) Saco, just down the road–it was a Chicago-style place. All of which is to say that while I like Portland perfectly fine, it does not stand out to me in number (or quality) of restaurants. Certainly doesn;t seem to have any more or less than other towns I’ve visited of similar size and socioeconomic levels. I haven’t seen anything about it that made me nod my head when I saw the OP and murmur, “Ah, that makes sense!” As an aside: it’s kind of a silly statistic, restaurants per capita. I imagine the title belongs to a community with lots of tiny little eateries that seat like six people. You’d think that restaurant seats per capita would be more meaningful. --Not that I’m pivking nits or anything. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/4 "2017-09-23T02:58:47Z")
I can’t imagine any place having more restaurants per capita than San Diego. When I visited my sister a few years ago, they seemed to literally have one on every street corner, but I couldn’t find a grocery store to save my life! She later told me where one was, and it must have been on the only major road in her region of town that I didn’t check out. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/5 "2017-09-23T03:45:26Z")
> [@](#): > > The Top Ten Restaurant-Dense Cities in the US > (The number represents restaurants per 10,000 households.) > > 1: San Francisco, CA, 39.3 > 2: Fairfield County, CT, 27.6 > 3: Long Island, NY, 26.5 > 4: New York, NY-NJ, 25.3 > 5: Seattle, WA, 24.9 > 6: San Jose, CA, 24.8 > 7: Orange County, CA, 24.8 > 8: Providence, RI-MA, 24.3 > 9: Boston, MA, 24.2 > 10: Portland, OR-WA, 24.0 > **[Here Are the Most Restaurant- and Bar-Dense US Cities](https://www.eater.com/2012/8/1/6559451/here-are-the-most-restaurant-and-bar-dense-us-cities)** > > The eagle-eyed real estate trendwatchers at Trulia have drummed up a couple maps that divide the country into two opposing factions: restaurant cities and bar cities. While there is some overlap in... So San Francisco has 1 for every 254 people. On the other hand I have a relative who lives in a town of 139 people–and it has a restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/6 "2017-09-23T04:07:48Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [Here Are the Most Restaurant- and Bar-Dense US Cities - Eater](https://www.eater.com/2012/8/1/6559451/here-are-the-most-restaurant-and-bar-dense-us-cities) > > So San Francisco has 1 for every 254 people. > > On the other hand I have a relative who lives in a town of 139 people–and it has a restaurant. Seems weird to me to consider Long Island as a “city.” ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/7 "2017-09-23T07:02:52Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [Here Are the Most Restaurant- and Bar-Dense US Cities - Eater](https://www.eater.com/2012/8/1/6559451/here-are-the-most-restaurant-and-bar-dense-us-cities) > > So San Francisco has 1 for every 254 people. > > On the other hand I have a relative who lives in a town of 139 people–and it has a restaurant. I tried to find comparable [Australian figures](http://www.australiasbestcity.com.au/fact/545/), which range from 8.5 - 16.1 restaurants per 10,000 persons [reworked from /100K]. The US figures are given in households, which one site tells me was 2.53 people. I dont know if this is an actual sum or a census rule-of-thumb or what, but lets go with it. Adjusting the US figures by the household number gives San Francisco 15.53 per 10,000 persons, down to Portland at 9.49. That pretty much matches the Australian range, which has the cities we all know as foodie places near the top. I guess there is a question about where you stop counting the long tail of food places. I wouldnt expect McDonalds to count as a restaurant in an Australian survey - would it in the US? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/8 "2017-09-23T11:01:11Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > I tried to find comparable [Australian figures](http://www.australiasbestcity.com.au/fact/545/), which range from 8.5 - 16.1 restaurants per 10,000 persons [reworked from /100K]. Your site only lists state capital cities and the federal capital, so it doesn’t include the 6th largest city (the Gold Coast), which I would expect to have a lot of restaurants per capita, since it’s a major tourist destination. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/9 "2017-09-23T12:47:13Z")
Yeah, I hadn’t thought about tourist destinations. I was in Myrtle Beach SC once and it seemed as though every intersection had a pancake house (in addition to a beach shop and a fireworks store–the fourth store varied). Portland gets tourists too but not to the same level. Why wouldn’t McDonald’s count as a restaurant for these purposes? And where would you draw the line to exclude it? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/10 "2017-09-23T12:49:16Z")
Funny, I would have guessed San Francisco. However, “Long Island” is not a city. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/11 "2017-09-23T12:50:08Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Seems weird to me to consider Long Island as a “city.” Yeah- that looked odd to me too, but we really do have a massive amount of restaurants here! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/12 "2017-09-23T13:06:00Z")
I know Long Island isn’t a city, but as a self-contained geography it’s reasonable to look at. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/13 "2017-09-23T13:51:21Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > I guess there is a question about where you stop counting the long tail of food places. I wouldnt expect McDonalds to count as a restaurant in an Australian survey - would it in the US? I can’t see any good reason to exclude it, unless you’re doing a survey specifically for fine dining, or table service restaurants or something like that to exclude fast food and fast casual places. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/14 "2017-09-23T14:42:56Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I can’t see any good reason to exclude it, unless you’re doing a survey specifically for fine dining, or table service restaurants or something like that to exclude fast food and fast casual places. A bit more rummaging - Australian Bureau of Statistics distinguishes and collates data on ‘Cafes, Restaurants, Takeaway Food services’. Couldn’t access the technical guide that would tell you whether a takeaway muffin from a McCafe in a McDonalds Family Restaurant is coded as A, B or C. Perhaps they allow ‘D - All of the above’? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/15 "2017-09-23T16:41:51Z")
If we’re looking at world cities, my understanding is that Tokyo is tops, with at least 50 restaurants per 10,000 people. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/16 "2017-09-23T22:51:42Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [Here Are the Most Restaurant- and Bar-Dense US Cities - Eater](https://www.eater.com/2012/8/1/6559451/here-are-the-most-restaurant-and-bar-dense-us-cities) > > So San Francisco has 1 for every 254 people. > > On the other hand I have a relative who lives in a town of 139 people–and it has a restaurant. No, that’s one for every 254 _households._ If we assume 4 people/household, that’s more like one for every 64 people, which I find astonishing. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/17 "2017-09-23T22:55:51Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > No, that’s one for every 254 _households._ If we assume 4 people/household, that’s more like one for every 64 people, which I find astonishing. Wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/18 "2017-09-23T23:01:38Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > No, that’s one for every 254 _households._ If we assume 4 people/household, that’s more like one for every 64 people, which I find astonishing. No need to be astonished. It actually works out as about 1 restaurant per 1000 people [at 4 per house] or 1 per 642.6 using that figure I found earlier. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-cities-with-most-restaraunts-per-capita/797017/19 "2017-09-23T23:08:19Z")
A random factoid I may well be misremembering…but IIRC some cities in Japan/Asia have a very high citizen to eating establishment ratio…mainly because their abodes are so small the kitchens are tiny…and therefore eating out is even more appealing…