Where to Eat, Drink, and Stay in America's World Cup Cities
There’s something electric about the way American football (ahem, soccer) fans speak about the FIFA World Cup 2026. Taking place from June 11 through July 19, the 39-day event will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Seventy-five percent of all matches will take place on US soil, and soccer fans are champing at the bit. They wonder: Could this be what finally pushes American soccer fandom into the mainstream?
The 11 US host cities are banking on it. Restaurants, bars, and hotels are rolling out the red carpet, crossing their fingers and toes that the estimated $3 billion in direct economic impact will materialize. It’s certainly an excellent excuse to plan a trip, even if you can’t snag tickets clocking in at prices upward of $690 a pop.
Not sure where to begin planning your journey? We’ve got all of the recs, from where to eat, drink, and sleep.
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Atlanta
A booming metropolis, fueled by job growth—a magnet for migration and immigration and, consequentially, an influx of culture—Atlanta is one of America’s richest dining destinations, where the best restaurants are a sum of the city’s parts, from distinctly Georgia Thai to Southern-inflected Peruvian fare. It is a cosmopolitan anchor, home to one of the largest concentrations of Fortune 500 companies in the world, an art and music mecca, and a draw for the world’s biggest sporting events, including the 1996 Summer Olympics, multiple Super Bowls, and baseball’s 2025 All-Star game. It’s also soon to be one of 16 North American cities that will take center stage for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
These restaurants are rewriting the rules of Southern dining and cementing Atlanta’s status as a true culinary capital.
Drinking is communal but in the capital of Georgia, it’s something closer to societal.
These hotels make the perfect home base for eating your way through the ATL.
This 22-mile stretch connects 45 neighborhoods. Here are the bars and restaurants to check out.
Served everywhere from strip clubs to Bangladeshi and Filipino restaurants, lemon pepper wings are a staple of Atlanta food culture. These are a local expert’s top picks.
Boston
Boston is a city of neighborhoods, and where you live and spend your time can define your experience in The Hub. History is baked into every corner—there’s nothing more Boston than running into an actor dressed as a Revolutionary War–era tour guide checking their iPhone—but that doesn’t mean that the city is frozen in time. The glittering Seaport, packed with skyscrapers, has sprung up in the past decade; Jamaica Plain’s trails loop around Jamaica Pond and through the vast Arnold Arboretum, part of the city’s vast Emerald Necklace of green spaces; and Dorchester’s six-mile span encompasses the most multicultural and continually evolving neighborhoods in town, home to immigrants from Vietnam to the Caribbean. Boston’s diverse nature, owed in part to its dual identities as a college town and a port city, lends to a vibrant eating and drinking scene.
There’s more to this city than lobster rolls and chowder.
From an iconic oyster bar to a subterranean cocktail hideaway, here are the eight best places to get a drink in Boston.
Dallas
Yes, you will still see police on horseback and hairstyles that reach to the heavens, but Dallas leans more modern than Western. Among Texans, it’s known for flashy aesthetics, larger-than-life restaurants, and a perpetual cycle of new and grand places to strut your stuff.
From homey bakery vibes to classic steakhouse bluster, these spots bet big on Texas-style dining.
From elegant hotel bars to gay honky-tonks, the Big D’s bar scene is big on style and substance.
Between glitzy Dallas and the country vibes of Fort Worth, the DFW area has something for everyone.
Houston
Houston is a city built on movement and migration, and nowhere is that more evident than on its plates. Vietnamese, Mexican, West African, and Central American communities brought their culinary traditions and adapted them to Texas ingredients. When Hurricane Katrina swept through Louisiana, refugees from the storm brought Big Easy flavors that gave rise to Viet-Cajun cuisine.
Breakfast tacos, Viet-Cajun crawfish boils, and late-night chocolate cocktails—Houston’s wildly diverse food scene has never tasted better.
Houston's bar scene is as sprawling and surprising as the city itself, from aperitivo-focused cocktail dens to Ethiopian coffee houses.
In a city that eats this well, your hotel should too.
A bowl of pho is as essential to Houston dining as a platter of barbecue. Check out these eight top spots during your next visit.
Blood Bros.’ Smoked turkey banh mi, standout sausages at The Pit Room, glorious brisket from Gatlin’s BBQ, and plenty more prove that Houston is one of America’s best and most interesting barbecue cities.
Kansas City
Kansas Citians’ third-favorite pastime—right after eating barbecue and listening to jazz—is reminding visitors that the city used to be called the Paris of the Plains. Never mind that the historic nickname was inspired less by the city’s wide boulevards and sculptural fountains than it was by the unchecked vice that kept the liquor flowing long through Prohibition.
Today, it’s become a slightly glib way to recognize the city as a Heartland cultural center (and there are plenty of things to do while you’re here). Food is a key part of that. As a culinary region, the Plains Midwest remains comparatively under-explored and uncommodified—to diners’ benefit.
The Paris of the Plains has great French food, a Taco Trail, and so much more.
Kansas City will host six World Cup games in June and July of 2026—but year-round, the Midwestern city’s unique blend of the old and new draw travelers.
Los Angeles
If excellent eating is what you’re after, Los Angeles delivers in spades. The Southern California metropolis lays claim to some of the world’s best year-round farmers markets, and its enclaves of immigrant cuisines—Koreatown, Thai Town, and the San Gabriel Valley for Chinese—are unmatched. But here’s the thing: LA functions more like a patchwork of suburbs, each with its own culture and culinary draws. Stay in Santa Monica and you won’t be dining in the San Fernando Valley, or at least you shouldn’t be. The smarter move is to pick a pocket and dig deep, and in doing so, avoid losing hours of your trip to traffic.
LA is one of America's great food cities. Here are the must-hit spots around town.
Big, national names are building a local audience, while homegrown talent dazzle with their attention to craft.
These 7 hotels make great launchpads for exploring the city’s most dynamic dining neighborhoods.
Cold brew, colorful matcha, and relaxed environs reign supreme.
Miami
As a city where you can wear shorts practically year-round, Miami fittingly doesn’t take itself too seriously. Except when it comes to food and drink. Cocktails are a particular bright spot: Over the past decade Magic City has seriously upped its game, a renaissance led both by homegrown talent and high-profile arrivals. Gone are the days when you’d have to trek out to a South Beach hotel lobby for a good tipple; Miami’s drink culture has officially migrated to burgeoning neighborhoods like Midtown, Brickell, and Little River. At the same time, Miami’s food scene is on fire: from taco joints in Wynwood to Michelin-recognized supper clubs in South Beach, the city’s restaurant roster is more robust than ever, with local chefs competing with globally recognized toques for accolades and stars. And, of course, if you’re coming to Miami to eat, you’d better choose a hotel suited to the mission.
From sky-high speakeasies to low-key neighborhood haunts, great bars define this town.
To make the most of your to-eat list, check into one of these conveniently located hotels.
Miamians are passionate about what makes the perfect Cuban sandwich. Here are eight places that get it right.
New York City
New York City is many things: a place to meander through museums and parks, to sit enthralled in a dark off-Broadway black box theater, to live in a studio with a bathroom in the kitchen and happily pay an absurd amount for it. It should be no surprise that for those of us at Bon Appétit who call the city home, it’s all about the food. Our city is a connect-the-dots map of marvels from hole-in-the-wall joints serving next-level noodles in Queens to fancy-pants French brasseries pouring freezer martinis from gilded carts in SoHo.
From Queens to Manhattan, these restaurants are setting the pace for the year ahead.
Led by a brash batch of stylish Lower Manhattan watering holes, these spots inspire us to stay out all night.
To wine and dine your way through the city, a strategic home base is critical.
Philadelphia
You might think you know Philadelphia through its legendary cheesesteaks, unhinged hockey mascot, and a scrappy fictional boxer with a chip on his shoulder. But Philly has always been full of surprises, and nowhere is that more evident than in the city’s food-and-drink scene. Read on and plan your own culinary adventure in the City of Brotherly Love.
When it comes to eating and drinking, Philly continues to punch above its weight.
Whether you’re sipping a Japanese whisky or enjoying a traditional chai, these 9 spots reflect Philly’s booming drinks scene.
In a single weekend you can go from a Cambodian cheesesteak lunch to a Michelin-starred dinner without ever calling an Uber.
These eight local spots capture the soul of Philadelphia’s other prized sammie.
San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco is physically smaller than many imagine. Boxed in on three sides by the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, it’s just a mere seven by seven miles in total area. Still, it commands an outsized presence as a dining and drinking destination. Since the time of the Gold Rush, it’s attracted diverse cuisines: Italian fishermen tossed Dungeness crab and seafood scraps into garlicky cioppino, while French bakers bubbled the mother starter for the city’s famed crusty sourdough. The city is also home to the country’s oldest and biggest Chinatown, for decades the setting of prodigious dumpling and noodle feasts. And Latino culture rides low and trumpets loud through the Mission, known for its namesake meaty burritos. Overwhelmed by choice, and don’t know where to start? We’ve got you. Grab a sweater, let’s go eat.
Next-gen Cantonese, old school Mission burritos, a California pizza party, and other priorities.
Sip your way through the region's rich beverage history with this essential guide to its iconic drinking spots.
From the heart of Little Italy to the dock of the Bay, cioppino is a rich seafood stew with serious staying power. These restaurants serve the city's best bowls.
Seattle
Strolling through Seattle is a bit like watching an epic battle between art and commerce play out in real time, set against one of America’s most stunning natural backdrops. Homegrown corporate giants like Microsoft and Amazon may grab the headlines, but the city’s creative cred hasn’t been optimized out of town. Musicians still compose, art walks draw crowds, and craft brewers repeatedly up their game. Meanwhile, a revamped waterfront serves as the city’s new front porch, and a major light rail expansion across Lake Washington includes a first-of-its kind route set atop a floating bridge. To that end, there are seemingly endless places of note to eat and drink and plenty of extraordinary hotels to bunk during a food-focused visit.
Impossibly fresh seafood, flavors that span the globe, and a casual vibe converge in the Emerald City.
The city’s top hotels double as delicious gateways to its colorful dining scene.
Source: This story originated with Bon Appétit.
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