It’s time to give the suburban food scene the recognition it deserves

When it comes to restaurants, the suburbs have long been known as a wasteland of strip malls and fast food chains. Nary a Michelin star is to be found, though drive-throughs are plentiful. But this is an outdated characterization of the suburban food scene, Vice argues, and it’s time we celebrated all the dining suburbs have to offer today. Our own reporting has shown that suburbs like Fishers, Indiana, have thought seriously about their dining options and developed plans to lure up-and-coming chefs outside of cities with promises of low rent and low risk. Last year, many families who left crowded cities to weather the pandemic in the suburbs discovered that, hey, it’s really not so bad out there. Now, you can find a stellar new Vietnamese restaurant in the Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra or old mainstays, like a Laurel, Maryland, Tex-Mex restaurant that’s been holding it down near D.C., since the 1970s.