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Every year, Conde Nast Traveler surveys its cosmopolitan, travel-savvy readers on their favorite spots worldwide, and their choices populate the magazine’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards. This year, more than 45,000 readers weighed in on travel topics worldwide, including the top U.S. cities.

Coming in at No. 3 on that Readers’ Choice list: none other than our beloved Chicago.

Readers rated cities on a 100-point scale in a number of categories. They gave Chicago a 66 for friendliness, an 81 out of 100 for ambience (whatever that means), an 82.6 for lodging, an 86.3 for shopping, 87.3 for culture and sights, and — no surprise here — a 90 for restaurants.

Chicago actually ranked better for restaurants than six other cities on the list, including Boston (84.8), Savannah (81), Carmel, Calif. (86.3), Seattle (85.1), Honolulu (78.6) and Santa Fe (86.3) — and we’re tied with Charleston, S.C., the No. 1 city, where food is concerned.

Sultan's Market's signature dish: the falafel sandwich

Sultan’s Market’s signature dish: the falafel sandwich

One of the high points of the paragraph recognizing our fair city: great ethnic food. We couldn’t agree more!

All three of our tours include stops at some fantastic ethnic restaurants: Our Bucktown/Wicker Park food tasting and cultural walking tour swings by Sultan’s Market for a falafel sandwich; the Near North tour heads to Delightful Pastries to sample authentic potato and cheese pierogies. And, of course, the Chinatown tour lets tour participants sample regional Chinese cuisine from all over the country — including traditionally prepared Peking duck!

It’s great to see our “Third Coast” city recognized by the readers of one of the best-read travel magazines out there.

(For what it’s worth, Chicago also boasts 13 of the top 25 hotels in the Midwest.

Read about the rest of the Conde Nast Readers Choice Award winners on the Conde Nast website.

 

Remember: Chicago Food Planet’s tours run through Saturday, Dec. 1! You can still experience some of the best flavors Chicago has to offer on any of our three tours. Register today — just go to https://chicagofoodtours.com and click “Buy Tickets” to sign up!

Chicago Food Planet offers a variety of awesome walking food tours in Chicago

Satisfy your sweet tooth with decadent desserts in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood

Tour Length2.5 Hours
Cost$69 Adult | $50 Adolescent | Free Child (6 & Under)
Tour Distance0.5 Miles
NeighborhoodsWest Loop

Savor Chinatown with a full immersion into the culinary & ethnic pageantry at five authentic, mouthwatering restaurants

Tour Length3 hours
Cost$80 Adult | $50 Adolescent | Free Child (6 & Under)
Tour Distance1.3 Miles
NeighborhoodsChinatown
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