10 Of The Most Foodie-Friendly Small Towns In The US

It's only natural to find good, even great, restaurants in a large city. With a bigger pool of talent to choose from, it's logical that there would be better restaurants from more competition spurring improvements. This makes it all the more surprising that eateries in small towns can hold their own compared to big city, Michelin-starred restaurants, or at least come close to it. Even more surprising is when small towns boast not one, but several very good restaurants, effectively putting themselves on the map as foodie destinations.

At the same time, such small towns might be hard to find for non-locals. For whatever reason — perhaps they have an interesting history, a bustling farming culture, or an up-and-coming art scene — these under-the-radar towns have become home to a handful of good restaurants. But these small communities are scattered across the country, and to the untrained eye, they might not be known for their food. So, we put together this list of the most foodie-friendly small towns in the U.S., all with fewer than 30,000 inhabitants, from sea to shining sea.

Given the reputation this town has as a bolt hole for well-heeled New Yorkers, it's no real surprise that it boasts a series of very good restaurants, along with seasonal farmer's markets and charming coffee shops. The chefs at some of these restaurants have trained at prestigious culinary schools and worked in some of the finest kitchens in New York City and other global food metropolises.

For instance, chef and owner of fine dining restaurant Cafe Adam, Adam Zieminski, graduated from Johnson and Wales and worked at acclaimed NYC restaurant Aquavit when Marcus Samuelsson was executive chef. Stephen Browning — chef and owner of No Comply Foods — studied at the Culinary Institute of America and worked at the legendary Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn. The menus and the quality of the food at these restaurants are good enough to make it in New York. Especially the Japanese sweet potato with labne, tahini, and chili crisp served at No Comply Foods, where you can also get a delicious breakfast version with a fried egg on top. Other worthy restaurant contenders include The Prairie Whale and Number Ten, while Rubiner's Cheesemonger's is also worth a stop for some good cheese and wine.

Home to the University of Mississippi, this small town of roughly 27,000 people is known as a historic college town, which is where it gets the cultural chops to establish some genuinely good eateries. There are plenty of students, faculty, and visiting parents to create demand for sophisticated foodstuffs in Oxford. Not to mention the fact that the romantic southern architecture, art galleries, and hopping literary and music scenes also draw crowds unaffiliated with the university.

As for the food itself, there are a number of restaurants with James Beard Award affiliations. Snackbar, headed up by James Beard Award winner Vishwesh Bhatt, stands out. But you can also have a great meal at Ajax Diner, City Grocery, and Taylor Grocery, all of which are recommended by the Michelin Guide. City Grocery, in particular, is run by John Currence, a famous local chef who won the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the South in 2009.

Where there is good wine, good food always seems to follow. This is probably because good wine is often part of a meal, rather than simply a beverage that can show you a good time. As such, all of Sonoma County, and the more famous nearby Napa Valley, boast excellent restaurants. However, Healdsburg — in Sonoma County — may be the best little foodie town in the whole area. For one, Healdsburg's SingleThread is currently number eight on the list of the World's 50 Best Restaurants. The husband and wife team who run the restaurant source most of their ingredients from their own farm to create exquisite Japanese-inspired tasting menus.

But a single restaurant does not make a town food-focused. Downtown Healdsburg, which is highly walkable, will give you easy access to the full range of eatery styles. Start with croissants from Quail and Condor Bakery, then onto seasonal salads made with locally-sourced ingredients at Costeaux French Bakery, and end with elevated dishes like duck confit or scallops in saffron broth from Spoonbar. Or, for something a bit more casual, there's always Bravas Bar de Tapas, where you can get excellent bocadillos and classics like Patatas Bravas.

There are a number of cute little towns with excellent restaurants in New York's Hudson Valley, as you ascend north from New York City. But none have quite as good a food scene as Hudson, which offers a range of cuisines appropriate for all hours of the day, plus a dainty little ice cream shop that serves inventive flavors like blueberry thyme kombucha sorbet and miso ice cream with honey roasted strawberries.

Stop into Kitty's for a hearty diner breakfast, which should be easy enough to do, as it's one of the first restaurants you'll see when you get off the Amtrak in Hudson. It serves an excellent egg and cheese sandwich with a sauerkraut twist and a slew of freshly-baked pastries. Work it all off on a nearby hiking trail before returning to town for a tasty lunch at Lil' Deb's Oasis, a bright, colorful, queer, and cheerly Latin American restaurant. Although it is up for sale at the time of writing, the intention is to keep the place more or less as-is, where you'll be able to find excellent tamales, plantains, and a friendly face. If you're still hungry by dinner time, stop at Restaurant Manor Rock for some farm-to-table cuisine prepared with ingredients from the chef's own farm.

Austin is a well-known foodie destination, but if you're in the mood for good food in a smaller location, try Fredericksburg, a little town with just over 11,000 inhabitants about two hours west of Austin. As the name suggests, the town has strong German roots, and this is true of the food, as well. This makes Otto's German Bistro a key stop for anyone passing through town, especially for the famous duck schnitzel and plenty of wursts or sausages.

For something a bit more Texan, there's the Cabernet Grill, which serves Texas wines entirely sourced from nearby vineyards and certified Angus beef steaks. If that's too fancy, go back to basics with Leroy's Tex Mex BBQ, where you can get a range of typical Tex-Mex  dishes packed with flavor, like nachos with meat or beans and roasted tomatillo avocado salsa, or the chopped brisket sandwich. If you come at the right time of year, you may be able to head over to the adjacent orchard to pick blackberries, peaches, or pumpkins.

This small, welcoming town in West Virginia has long been a destination for visitors in search of wellness, arts, and culture. The nearby Greenbrier Resort has been attracting elites since the 18th century, while modern day literary and arts festivals continue to put the town on the map. It is no surprise, then, that a number of good restaurants have sprung up to feed these visitors with eclectic tastes and high expectations.

One such establishment is the Livery Tavern, housed in a former 19th-century stable, where you can order French food with some Creole and even Indian influences, plus a slew of regional spirits, ciders, and beers. For something a little more casual, try the Stardust Cafè, which serves familiar favorites like avocado toast and curried chicken, all while aiming to be as eco-friendly as possible by using sustainable sources, local ingredients, and biodegradable packaging.

This summer destination might not feel like such a small town in the middle of July, at peak tourist season, but normally there are just under 3,000 residents in Cape May. Even so, the place is a foodie hot spot. The beautiful beaches, stately Victorian homes, old-timey charm, and excellent birding prospects have coalesced to make Cape May a high-class destination for savvy travelers — all of whom presumably have to eat, and expect to eat well.

Luckily, Cape May delivers on that front. Improbably, the Lobster House (as much as it may sound like a tourist trap) actually serves good breakfast and boasts an enviable raw bar. Meanwhile, for the fussy foodie, Good Earth Organic Eatery will do the trick, as it accommodates a wide range of diets, including vegan and gluten-free. Another worthy foodie destination is the Peter Shields Inn, housed in a beautiful Georgian Revival building just steps from the beach and from the center of town. Here you will find classics made well, with locally sourced ingredients.

From what we know about Hemingway's global wanderings, it seems like he never went anywhere that didn't have great food. Ketchum, where he owned a home, seemed to be one of his favorite places. Hemingway even chose to have his last (and favorite) meal at a restaurant in town. That restaurant was Michel's Christiania, an upscale French spot with views of the slopes and very good French classics, including trout meunière and filet in bordelaise sauce. On a recent visit, a bartender pointed out to us the table where Hemingway and his wife sat on his last night alive, specifying that he seemed to be enjoying himself and was gently humming.

Other restaurants worthy of a stop include Rickshaw, which specializes in Southeast Asian street food and Enoteca, where you can pair fine wines with wood-fired pizza. At Warfield Distillery, you can get a flight of whiskeys and elevated pub fare.

If you're driving up from New York City and can't quite make the drive all the way to the Berkshires — as your New Yorker forebears have done since time immemorial — you'd be forgiven for stopping in Kent. This cute and artsy town is small but mighty, boasting what appears at first glance to be a very high restaurant-to-resident ratio. Right on the corner downtown, the one with the traffic light, you will find two of the best restaurants in town: Ore Hill and its sister restaurant, Swyft. While both occupy an 18th-century farmhouse, the first is more upscale, providing a prix fixe menu, and embodying the ideal of a farm-to-table restaurant with ingredients coming from a nearby estate. The second is more casual and serves wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas to rival Italy's finest.

If you manage to stick around for breakfast, you won't be disappointed there, either. Wilson's by High Watch is an excellent bakery staffed by members of the eponymous addiction recovery center around the corner. Patients use the bakery as a springboard toward better lives while learning valuable professional skills. The rest of us benefit by sampling the great muffins, bagels, and avocado toast with spicy maple syrup, pickled red onions, and house ricotta.

Traverse City has long drawn tourists for its beautiful lakeshore and sandy beaches, but it's also known for its blossoming cherry trees in the spring, and its up-and-coming wine region. In short, there are plenty of reasons to go to Traverse City despite its small size and population of just over 15,000 residents.

Its famous wine and cherries may be why Traverse City is known as a popular restaurant town, or perhaps the beautiful landscape and good food just naturally go together. Whatever the case, there are many great eateries to choose from if you care about what you put in your body. Topmost is perhaps Trattoria Stella, run by James Beard semifinalist Myles Anton. Here, you can order Italian favorites like minestrone and ravioli and read about the local farms from where the ingredients hail. Another great restaurant in Traverse City is the Farm Club Restaurant, which mostly uses ingredients grown on the affiliated farm, no matter what the season.