It's Houston and it's not even close.
I travel to pretty much every major American city on a regular basis and nothing touches Houston. It's America's most diverse city and America's fattest city. Those two things are connected.
The bar-b-q and Mexican food are world class. Ever since the Katrina evacuation, so is the Cajun food. But the international choices are its real backbone. Afghan, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, Moroccan, Polish, Argentinian, Nigerian. Lots of weird fusions as well.
The Cuban food is as good as Miami. The Chinese food is as good as San Francisco. Soul food almost as good as Atlanta. Sushi is close to NY/LA quality. And everything is cheaper and less pretentious.
If I had to pick one city where an extraterrestrial visitor could go to understand "human food," it's Houston. It's all there, in it's most straight-forward and accessible form.
