Rufus got runoff StreetEasy, so guess where he ended up...

I am jealous of Chicago. I'm jealous that they get wonderful -20 degree winters with lake effect snow storms that I miss so damn much. Who doesn't like having to wear a comforter wrapped around your body just to walk two blocks to get a cup of coffee in February.

Sizzlack, i do think Chicago is better than NYC, but if you had to pick a city that is most similar to it in the United States, it's NYC, for the reasons I mentioned. I don't see how that's mutually exclusive.

alanhart, Boston is extremely provincial. You have mainly blue-collar workers and some harvard/MIT students thrown in for good measure, but that's about it. And the restaurant and nightlife scene is downright embarrassing and is nowhere in the same level as Chicago.

And Philly is downright dreadful. North and West Philly are some of the worst urban neighborhoods in the country, along with south bronx and bed-stuy.

Well I asked why you had a problem with people who chose to live here and you didn't answer. I asked why people who enjoyed NYC and what it has to offer makes you so upset you need to blanket the internet with anti-NYC sentiment.

But four times is enough, I can tell you wont be answering it.

I'll guess we'll just throw those in the unanswered question pile along with the job you have here, the direction of 7th Ave and the names of the food shops in your neighborhood.

The South Bronx and Bedford-Stuyvesant are solid and regal, respectively. If you ever visit NY, you should check them out. North and West Philly are largely bombed-out, much like most of Chicago, but also have beautiful stolid neighborhoods within them. Boston is almost completely dominated by students and professionals; its working-class has been pushed out to the burbs.

Shouldn't you be looking for a job, lest you become a burden on society in a financial sense as well?

Rufus, where did you go? Can't think of any more explanations as to why not a single person has posted on curbed or citydata or streeteasy singing another cities' praises instead of Chicago's????

You know what that means - it's time to start a new thread bashing NYC. Something like "NY economy in trouble" or "NYC restaurants are declining" or "NYC women are overrated." Too bad they are not even original anymore ...

The Chicago Tribune ranked Chicago the #2 worst city for quality of life in the US, right after Detroit.

Boston is provincial? Seriously, have you ever been to Boston? It has a very large number of excellent restaurants and like an earlier post (kspeak or sizzlack?) said, the food scene should be judged more by the quantity of reall good options and Boston has a huge number of small restaurants run by excellent, unknown (in comparison to Tom Colichio) chefs.

Philly has done a wondeful job in improving their city and they have enjoyed a huge boon in small, up-and-coming chefs starting restaurants there.

FWIW, the job market in Boston is far stronger than in Chicago as well.

Seriously, do you possess that buttong in your head that prevents people from saying stupid things? I am concerned that yours may be brokern and that you may need to see your healthcare provider about this problem. It may be as simple as giving you a swift smack upside the head to reset the button and allow you to communicate more effectively and to stop blurting out ridiculous false statements about NYC.

"Rufus, where did you go?"

Maybe he's taking the gas.

He's probably on citydata or curbed posting more nonsense ..

> Both NYC and Chicago, for example, were ranked as the two cities with the best restaurants in America

In "Rufus' Guide to Why Chicago is Great", perhaps.

I live with a food writer... and Chicago isn't anywhere near San Fran area in that regard. Top rated restaurant in the country is French Laundry. Hell, even DC has more highly-reviewed spots.

nyc10022, look up any ranking of the top 50 restaurants in the country and NYC and Chicago are represented while DC and Boston are not. Please get your facts straight.

waverly, yes, i've been to Boston many times to visit friends who went to school there. Aside from the student population, it is a provincial town that does not come close to Chicago when it comes to sophistication, wealth, or opportunities. The notion that Boston has better jobs than Chicago is laughable.

> nyc10022, look up any ranking of the top 50 restaurants in the country and NYC and Chicago are
> represented while DC and Boston are not. Please get your facts straight.

Man, its like you set us up PERFECTLY to make you look stupid.

Forbes' Traveler Top Restaurant Cities

New York
London
Paris
Tokyo
Hong Kong
San Fran
New Orleans
Barcelona
Brussels

Come on man, you can't REALLY be this dumn....

or can you?

Chicago has some great restaurants in the "super expensive" category (as does NYC of course), but I think most people feel "great restaurants" are not defined by the top 10 restaurants, but by a diverse range of mid-priced, high-quality, "neighbhorhood" restaurants that one would actually go to on a regular basis. I would put NY and SF at the top of this list, and Philly and Boston are pretty good too, don't know about DC. I guess I'm just not sure what Chicago is known for. NY of course has sheer variety of foods - everything from Italian to Korean to West African - Philly and Boston have some great ethinic foods (especially Italian for both). But Chicago - hmmm ... sausage? deep dish pizza?

Cracker Boy, let's see these Top 50 Restaurant lists that you're talking about. And please make sure they're not the paid placement variety that has little "advertisement" banners and can be found in airline magazines.

ha, i love it. airline magazines! yeah, the best steakhouse in the country list has like some chain in fort worth!

Rufus - I said the jobs situation in Boston is better than in Chicago, which is true. The economy of Chicago and the unemployment rate for Chicago are very bad, which is funny since you keep bashing NYC for what is actually a bigger problem in Chicago.

Boston has a number of really excellent vegetarian restaurants that showcase some very creative cooking.

I think Rufus is getting all of his "Top 50" lists from tourist guides. Like anyone in NYC really wants to go to Magnolia for a cupcake just because of SATC....what a knucklehead.

Boston has almost no notable industry, aside from universities. It's a provincial decaying town with mediocre restaurants, nightlife, and even uglier women than NYC.

By the way, here's a ranking of the top 40 U.S. restaurants. NYC has 9 and Chicago has 5. Adjust for population, the two cities are about equal.

http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/restaurantissue/top40/main.html

And Ogunquit has 1!

But more to the point, how funny is it that you're citing gayot.com!!!! Remind us -- why are you so interested in Chicago neighborhoods near Lakeview East?

of course, nyc has MORE restaurants on that list than chicago; it's twice the size! But for a city in the midwest, Chicago's showing is impressive and is further proof that it is a world-class city.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-pollution-risk-29-sep29,0,4323308.story

Writeup of restaurant on north side of Chicago: http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1224121,restaurant-employee-dead-101608.article

jsmith9005 -- The Chicago Tribune is biased. They're based in Chicago, and have to sell their papers and ads to Chicagoans, so of course they're going to say Chicago is #1, as in that article you linked to.

alanhart, you posted an article on a single murder in Chicago because i thoroughly refuted your absurd claim that Chicago is not a good restaurant city. On a per capita basis, Chicago and NYC are equal when it comes to high-quality restaurants.

Cracker Boy, I was merely trying to point out what might be in the food in northside Chicago restaurants.

Perhaps these sources don't mean as much to you as those at gayout.com, but

1. chef2chef presents top restaurants as rated by chefs themselves. Chicago is prominently featured -- Charlie Trotter's, for example; if you don't see it when you open the link, fret not, for you'll find it on the second page. And where do you find the second page? chef2chef practically obscures the link to it, for some reason . . . go figure?

2. Restaurant Magazine's top 50. Given that their focus is entirely on restaurants, you have to figure it's a good source. Again, Charlie Trotter's makes the cut. If you don't have the patience or time to do all the skimming to find it, I'll make it easy for you: it's number 38.

Anybody catch the utter contradiction here...

"But for a city in the midwest, Chicago's showing is impressive and is further proof that it is a world-class city. "

Its a world class city because it makes a strong showing for the midwest.

Uh, yeah...

rufus
about 15 hours ago
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of course, nyc has MORE restaurants on that list than chicago; it's twice the size! But for a city in the midwest, Chicago's showing is impressive and is further proof that it is a world-class city.

I think I finally get it. Rufus has a severe inferiority complex about Chicago and his "world class city" notion. For some reason he needs NYers, whom he dislikes immensely, to acknowledge that Chicago is a world class city. It's weird as sh*t.

Repost with links:

Cracker Boy, I was merely trying to point out what might be in the food in northside Chicago restaurants.

Perhaps these sources don't mean as much to you as those at gayout.com, but

1. chef2chef presents top restaurants as rated by chefs themselves. Chicago is prominently featured -- Charlie Trotter's, for example; if you don't see it when you open the link, fret not, for you'll find it on the second page. And where do you find the second page? chef2chef practically obscures the link to it, for some reason . . . go figure?
http://chef2chef.net/rank/rest.shtml

2. Restaurant Magazine's top 50. Given that their focus is entirely on restaurants, you have to figure it's a good source. Again, Charlie Trotter's makes the cut. If you don't have the patience or time to do all the skimming to find it, I'll make it easy for you: it's number 38.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_restaurant_in_the_world

Cracker Boy's spawned a whole industry of rufus-mockers and rufus-lampooners, so it's hard to tell what's real, but I think #5 & #9 on http://curbed.com/archives/2008/10/23/relateds_west_side_tower_brings_frank_gehry_to_hell.php#reader_comments are really the sadsack himself.

I think rufus is kind of cute when he gets mad.

And now Cracker Boy gets anti-semitic, too. (Is that cute?)

http://curbed.com/archives/2008/10/27/abandon_ship.php#reader_comments

#15: "The AP is already confirming what we all know. NYC is in rapid decline, as money and jobs continue to flow out. Talented people are moving to Chicago because it's a better city with more to offer for your money. Hot midwestern blondes beat ugly pale jewish chicks any day of the week."

See, even the hot fat midwestern pasty blondes are violent in Chicago, according to Cracker Boy.

No, rufus is a self-hater. He is Jewish.

Curbed