Chapel Hill Ranked Among “Best American Foodie Towns”

Living in the Chapel Hill – and Carrboro – area means easy access to find food and drink across a wide spectrum of tastes and price points. RewardExpert, a free service that helps travelers fly for cheap by maximizing their miles and points, recently released rankings of the “Best American Foodie Towns.” Chapel Hill clocked in at number two on the list, right behind Asheville. It seems that when it comes to good eats in the Southeast, North Carolina has the market cornered.

“Everyone knows that places like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago are home to top-notch eateries.” says RewardExpert CEO and co-founder Roman Shteyn, “But America is a big country and its many nooks and crannies are treasure troves of local delicacies and innovative cuisine. This ranking dives deep into the heartland of America to examine which towns are must-see destinations for foodie enthusiasts.”

Asheville certainly is no slouch when it comes to quality cuisine. With over 700 restaurants within city limits, it almost comes down to sheer statistics! Well-known spots like the 12 Bone Smokehouse (visited by President Barack Obama while he was in office!) and White Duck Taco Shop regularly top “Best of” lists, as does the Corner Kitchen and BiscuitHead.

Here in Chapel Hill, RewardExpert listed restaurants like Elements (winner of the OpenTable Diners Award in both 2015 and 2016) and Lantern as reasons for its high rank, alongside Sunrise Biscuits (named “Best Breakfast in North Carolina” by Food Network) and Time Out. Chapel Hill may be full of college student-friendly guilty greasy pleasure, but 21.6 percent of Chapel Hill restaurants are rated at four stars or more. One of those restaurants is Gourmet Kingdom, consistently recognized as one of the best Chinese restaurants not only in North Carolina, but in the United States!

Chapel Hill hosts intriguing fusion restaurants like Lucha Tigre, standard burger-and-fries excellent in the form of Buns and Al’s Burger Shack, and international flavors like those found at Cholanad and Jujube that all pitch in to help make Chapel Hill and the area around it a haven for people with a predilection for eating well when they eat out.