The winner is Mexico City

Cosmopolitan yet ethnic and with lovely colonial sections, Mexico's huge, smoggy capital offers great food, great (well-dressed) people, and tons of sightseeing, galleries, and museums. It's well situated in the heart of the country, with lots of international flights.

And the runners up are....

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco

Two major gourmet festivals each year, and tons of wonderful restaurants

Guadalajara, Jalisco

The world’s finest tequilas; birria (goat stew); barbacoa (pit-cooked goat or lamb in maguey leaves); pozole (hominy stew); carne en su jugo (beef in chile-spiked broth)

Puebla, Puebla

Chiles en nogada (meat, nuts and fruit-stuffed chiles with walnut sauce and pomegranate seeds); famous mole Poblano; camotes (sweet potato candy); cemitas (sandwiches/rolls)

Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Various unusual regional dishes, like 7 different moles; Mexico’s best chile selection; unusual tamales; tlayudas (huge corn tortillas with toppings); famous string cheese.

Mazatlan, Sinaloa

Great seafood, good variety of restaurants

Merida, Yucatan

Cochinita pibil (pit-cooked pork in banana leaves); sopa de lima (fresh lime-sparked chicken soup); panuchos (puréed black bean-stuffed corn tortillas); hot chile habanero

Veracruz, Veracruz

Excellent seafood! Huachinango Veracruzana; pompano; fresh and saltwater shrimp; crab, mixed shellfish cocktails; chile chipotle rellenos. Boca del Rio has atmospheric shanties; coffee is native to the region

Cancun, Quintana Roo

Plenty of good restaurants, although expensive

Tijuana, Baja California

Many good restaurants from inexpensive to elegant

Los Cabos, Baja California Sur

Good food; more expensive than other resorts

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato

Gorditas (handmade thick corn tortillas with various stuffings); almond mole; fiambre (traditional holiday buffet foods); fine restaurants, many of them international

San Francisco (San Pancho), Nayarit

For a small town, there are surprisingly good gourmet restaurants