Portland: Variety / diversity

There are plenty of options for Vietnamese, izakaya, Korean, East African, and of course Thai here, thanks to the Andy Ricker empire—Pok Pok, Ping, Whiskey Soda Lounge (pictured), and the recently opened Pok Pok Noi. The food-cart culture is also helping to change Portland’s ethnic food scene, with Mexican, Bosnian, Polish, Turkish, even Nordic soul food. But it has a ways to go.

Score: 6