Inland Empire again ranks low for foodies

Once again, a website has determined the Inland Empire is a wasteland for foodies.

As you may recall, back in 2013, the real estate site Movoto posted on its blog — known for its myriad “top ten” lists — a list of “America’s Worst Cities for Food Lovers,” based on such criteria as food trucks, ice cream shops, caterers and gourmet grocers per capita.

Guess what? San Bernardino was at the top of that list.

Recently, in conjunction with World Food Day (October 16), the personal finance website WalletHub took the 150 most populous U.S. cities and ranked the “Best and Worst Foodie Cities for Your Wallet.”

Surprise! San Bernardino wasn’t at the bottom of the list. That distinction goes to another Inland Empire city: Moreno Valley.

However, San Bernardino didn’t rise too far from the bottom, ranking number 137.

Oh, and before you Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario residents get too smug, your cities were ranked lower than San Bernardino, at 138 and 142, respectively.

Fontana was just a few positions above Moreno Valley, ranking 148.

The highest-ranking Inland Empire city? Riverside, at 133, was just a few spots above San Bernardino.

Of course, WalletHub used similar criteria in its survey, so there’s no surprise that, as far as San Bernardino’s rank is concerned, the results mirror Movoto’s 2013 list.

The cities were also given an “Affordability” rank, and all but one of the Inland Empire cities fared slightly better or the same in that regard. Ontario came in at 145.

WalletHub also ranked the cities by “Diversity, Accessibility and Quality,” and again, the Inland Empire cities matched or improved in that column.

Other notes:

  • Riverside, San Bernardino and Fontana all tied at 143 in number of restaurants per capita.
  • San Bernardino came in at 147 in number of ice cream and frozen yogurt shops per capita.
  • Moreno Valley ranked 133 and San Bernardino 134 in number of craft breweries and wineries per capita.

The survey also has advice from 10 experts, who offer tips for budget- and health-conscious foodies, and how city government officials can help improve the food scene in their cities.

Here’s a clickable map:

Source: WalletHub

To see the entire list, and find out how the cities received their ranks, click here.