10. Pueblo, CO

During one weekend every September, a tiny chile pepper nearly doubles the size of the city of Pueblo. Up to 100,000 visitors from all over the U.S. come to eat, drink and celebrate the “Pueblo Chile”  during the Pueblo Chile and Frijoles Festival. But anytime is a good time for foodies in Pueblo. The famed fire-roasted chile spices up burgers, hot dogs, tamales and more as restaurants pay homage, and the Farmers Market along the Riverwalk brings a bounty of fresh produce from local farmers. Locals swear by local favorite Magpies, the downtown restaurant featuring a fully stocked taproom downstairs. More microbrew suds are on tap at the popular Shamrock Brewing Co. And downtown bistro Restaurant Fifteen Twentyone fuses seasonally fresh ingredients with classic French culinary style. 

9. Logan, UT

Hiking, biking and rock climbing around the beautiful Cache Valley area can work up an appetite. Fortunately, getting your fill isn't tough in Logan, Utah. Locals get their carbs with fresh baked bread and gourmet cookies from Old Grist Mill Bread Co. For the “best steaks in the Cache Valley,” according to Frommer's, head to Hamilton's, where the menu focuses on seafood and steaks perfectly prepared in the restaurant's open kitchen. More fine dining awaits with the sleek and contemporary Elements restaurant. A local favorite is Angie's Diner, home of the famous “Kitchen Sink” ice cream sundae. Bluebird Cafe, a classic soda fountain, has been serving up ice cream treats for nearly 100 years.

8. Wichita, KS

If you're a native of Wichita, you've probably craved a loose-meat sandwich. Like a crumbly hamburger, the delicacy is a citywide obsession prepared for decades at Nu Way Cafe, a local fast-food chain also famous for its homemade root beer. Finer dining options abound also, and the city likes its sweets. Both Cero's Candy and Cocoa Dulce offer inventive as well as classic confections crafted from high-quality ingredients. For local suds, try River City Brewing Co., a popular brewpub in a converted warehouse in historic Old Town.

7. Albuquerque, NM

Marrying traditional New Mexican cuisine with an independent spirit and hunger for diversity, Albuquerque boasts a truly vibrant dining scene. Named one of the 10 Best Cities for Local Food by the Huffington Post, the city also offers standout farm-to-table offerings like Flying Star Café, which uses fair trade, natural and organic ingredients. Beverages get a fair shake, too, with the unique artisan coffeemaker New Mexico Piñon Coffee and a number of wineries earning national acclaim. One of the oldest wineries in New Mexico, Casa Rondena recently got a nod from national food magazine Saveur for its Meritage Red, named among the 10 best reds in the U.S.

6. Eugene, OR

Eugene comes about its growing food and wine reputation naturally. With the longest-standing farmers market in the U.S., a thriving slow food movement and two-thirds of the state's wineries and vineyards in Willamette Valley, the city has all the right ingredients for an organic paradise. The area is home to a variety of successful organic food processors as well as upscale restaurants like Wine Spectator favorite Adam's Sustainable Table and artisanal shops like Euphoria Chocolate Co. Willamette Valley, Oregon's leading wine region, is home to more than 200 wineries and has been recognized as one of the premier pinot noir producing areas in the world.

5. Walnut Creek, CA

Although it is next door to the foodie mecca that is the San Francisco Bay Area, the cozy community of Walnut Creek has enough culinary heft to stand on its own. Its annual Art and Wine Festival, recognized by the Contra Costa Times as East Bay’s Best Outdoor Festival, draws 100,000 visitors annually to sample award-winning local and regional wines and microbrews and delicacies from dozens of local restaurants. Some eateries worth more than just a taste include the back-to-basics bakery Walnut Creek Baking Co., tapas favorite Va De Vi and the Zagat-rated Italian mainstay Prima, which features one of the most extensive and distinguished wine collections in the world. Walnut Creek dining also boasts a bit of star power – guitarist Carlos Santana is a partner at Maria Maria, the regional Mexican restaurant chain that began here and is named for the musician's 1999 hit song.

4. Kansas City, MO

Only in a city that's truly serious about its barbecue reputation could you find the Kansas Barbeque Society, the world's largest organization of barbecue and grilling enthusiasts. There are about 100 barbecue joints smoking in Kansas City, melding a mix of flavors and styles from across the country. But it's not all 'cue in KC – foodies can find a wide variety of cuisine ranging from earthy organic to decadent crepes to Stroud's, one of the last traditional fried chicken restaurants in the U.S. Esquire recently lauded the eatery as one of the restaurants “Where Men Eat,” writing: “the fried-chicken dinners are as fabulous as ever – cooked to order in a black skillet, served with … hot cinnamon rolls so good you’ll steal from your kid’s plate."

3. Boulder, CO

Boulder's growing culinary scene and healthy reputation find a delicious way to bridge the gap between good and good-for-you. At fine dining restaurants like Salt, Black Cat Bistro and Frasca Food and Wine the emphasis is on seasonal, local ingredients – most of which come from  Boulder's well-established farmers markets. Combine that spirit with the town's health-conscious nature – it's won numerous titles as a top vegeterian-friendly dining choice – and it's little wonderThe Wall Street Journal recently called Boulder the "best small city for great meals we know of in this country."

2. Asheville, NC

In earthy Asheville, food is so elemental that the locals have coined their own word for the city: Foodtopia. A thriving farm-to-table scene, a flourishing network of family farms and farmers markets and a growing roster of award-winning chefs combine to create the ideal food climate in Asheville. Year-round local food tours lead visitors to locally roasted coffee, gourmet shops and chocolatiers, artisan bakeries, specialty shops and breweries. Along with its 135 restaurants, 11 annual food festivals and 17 farmers markets, Asheville has a dozen microbreweries and five annual beer festivals – numbers that propelled travel blog Gadling.com to name Asheville one of the best cities in the world for drinking beer.

1. Traverse City, MI

Known as the Cherry Capital of the World, the Lake Michigan resort town of Traverse City does a pretty good job with other foods, too. With plenty of award-winning restaurants, wineries, farmers markets and dairies, Traverse City has been called “a new foodie haven” by The Huffington Post, and Midwest Living magazine recently named it second on its list of the region's “best food towns.” At the heart of the accolades is an emphasis on the farm-to-table philosophy. At Trattoria Stella, where chef Myles Anton was nominated for a 2010 James Beard Foundation award, the menu of Italian fare takes care to note ingredients from local farms and dairies. For wine lovers, the city's Leelanau Peninsula and Old Mission Peninsula wine regions lie along the 45th parallel— the same latitude that gives the Bordeaux region of France its famous reputation. Get started with a self-guided foodie tour.

So this is our list of the top 10 best food cities that might surprise you. Agree? Disagree? What city (and why) do you think is missing from the list?

Don't forget to heck our our Top 10 best golf cities and other Top 10 lists to discover more about America's best places to live.