Washington Post names Philly #6 'Best Food City in America'

Philadelphia's always been in a fierce competition with its arguably "better" big brother New York City, but on Tuesday the Washington Post published its list of 10 Best Food Cities in America and hoagietown is ahead in the race.

Coming in at No. 6, food critic Tom Sietsema lauds Philadelphia for it's 50-plus area breweries (with a quote from Daily News beer columnist Joe Sixpack), our bountiful vegetarian fare, modern takes on traditional food in bustling neighborhoods like Fishtown and East Passyunk, and clever restaurateurs like Stephen Starr. "Bottom line: The City of Brotherly Love knows how to cook, eat and drink," he writes.

To our advantage Sietsema admits, "The dirty little secret among some food writers? They'd rather eat in places other than New York right now," which comes in at 8.

Even though Philly was excluded from this year's James Beard Awards, we still have some medals to show for our growing restaurant scene. Bon Appetit magazine named Michael Solomonov's hummus at Dizengoff its "dish of the year" and soon followed by naming Joe Beddia's pizza the best in America. We also made Zagat's year-end Top 17 Food Cities list coming in at 10 with fellow Pennsylvania town Pittsburgh topping at 1.

Aside from food, this year Philadelphia was selected as the first U.S. city to gain the title of World Heritage City and there are so many other reasons why Philly is on its way up (actually, here's 9).

See the Washington Post's full list of 10 Best Food Cities in America here.