When you think about street food, you probably picture bánh mì in Vietnam, tacos in Mexico, or even pizza al taglio in Italy.
Certain countries and cities are well known for their offerings, with foodies heading specifically to a destination to grab miscellaneous meat on sticks on-the-go and the like.
But a new study has revealed the best street food city in the world, and it’s not where you would expect at all.
Paris in France came out on top in the research conducted by Radical Storage, which looked at 6,897 street food vendors in the 100 most-visited cities around the globe.
For the analysis, the team looked at the number of vendors with a star rating above four, the variety of cuisines on offer, the availability of vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options, the proportion of budget-friendly eats, and the vendor density per square kilometre.
Street food was defined as food stalls and trucks, as well as sit-in restaurants that serve classic street food bites.
The vendor density had the highest impact on the score, with a weighting of 30%, followed by the budget-friendly proportion at 20%. The number of vendors over four stars, the average vendor rating, the cuisine varieties, the vegetarians and vegan options and the gluten-free options were all weighted 10% each.
The French capital came out with a score of 7.2 out of 10 – with 69.1% of the 401 eateries rated four stars or more. Paris has a density of 3.82 street food vendors per square kilometre, too.
Next up on the list are two Greek destinations: Athens and Thessaloniki. Athens scored 6.9 out of 10 thanks to the number of cuisines on offer (29), and the number of food vendors per square metre at 4.21.
Thessaloniki meanwhile scored 6.1, with 77.1% of street food options being budget-friendly.
Rhodes in Greece topped the list for the best-rated street food, with 82% of vendors rated four stars and up, while London won out for the best variety, with dishes from 39 distinct food types.
The top 10 best cities worldwide for street food
- Paris, France
- Athens, Greece
- Thessaloniki, Greece
- Barcelona, Spain
- London, UK
- Rhodes, Greece
- Rome, Italy
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Budapest, Hungary
- Amsterdam, Netherlands