The Food Capitals of Instagram: Where the World’s Favourite Dishes Really Live
Food photography is one of the most popular genres on Instagram, and everyday, millions of photos are shared that capture everyday meals, travel highlights, and unforgettable culinary experiences. But when it comes to the foods we love most, where in the world are they being shared, tagged, and celebrated the most?
Using Instagram data, we explored which global cities have become the unofficial capitals of some of the world’s favourite dishes, revealing how culture, migration, and visual appeal shape what people love to photograph and share.
Foods that stay close to home Not every dish travels well. Some remain deeply connected to their place of origin, both in real life and on Instagram.
New York City brings home the bacon Almost 8% of bacon tags came from NYC. London, LA, Sydney, and Melbourne follow to form the top 5.
Banh mi is big down under Thanks to their vibrant Vietnamese community, nearly 9% of all banh mi tags in our dataset came from Melbourne, which tops the table for this iconic Vietnamese baguette.
Fiery meat for the City of Angels LA beats Seoul for this Korean barbecued beef dish with 9.2% of all bulgogi tags.
London tops the burger table They might be a hit in LA, and big in New York City, but it's London that takes the top spot with 5% of all burger tags coming from the British capital.
Burrito boom puts London on the map A long-established street food staple in California, burritos reign supreme in LA, so it's surprising to see London in the top 5, ahead of San Diego and San Francisco.
Seoul and Singapore love sweet Spanish snacks Churros are originally from Spain, but were brought to East Asia by the Portuguese. Today, they're still a hit in Singapore and South Korea.
Instagram's curry capital is in Japan With 10% of all curry tags in our dataset, Tokyo takes the number 1 spot ahead of London, NYC, and Singapore.
Currywurst doesn't travel so well Nearly 40% of all the photos tagged with currywurst came from Berlin and none of the cities in the top 5 are outside Germany.
New York City embraces empanadas Originating in Spain and widely popular in Latin America, these crispy-crust pastries with flavourful fillings are more popular in NYC than they are in Mexico or Argentina.
NYC's Queens trumps Jamaica's Kingston for jerk chicken Neither its native Kingston, nor London with its sizeable Caribbean diaspora, could beat NYC for this spicy Jamaican classic.
Katsu curry a hit in LA Although originally from Japan, it's in LA that this breaded meat curry found its Instagram home with Los Angeles accounting for 6% of katsu tags in our data.
Bangkok and Seoul are mad for macarons These iconic French treats are a massive hit with Instagrammers in East Asia, propelled by their love of all things Parisian. Taken together, these two Asian cities account for 15% of all macaron-tagged photos.
Poland dominates pierogi, but Sydney makes top 5 Pierogi are Polish dumplings that come with a variety of fillings. Popular in Polish cities and they also love them in Sydney and New York City.
For pizza New York City's Little Italy beats Italy itself The number of pizza tags from NYC is greater than in Naples, Rome, Milan, and Bologna put together.
Poutine is not taking over the world. Sorry, Canada. 20% of poutine tags came from Quebec and no cities outside Canada made the top 5. Seems like fries with cheese and gravy is still mainly a Canadian thing.
London's hungry hipsters are in love with pulled pork London pulls ahead of New York City for this slow-cooked fare with its origins in the American South - 7.5% of all pulled pork tags came from the British capital.
New York City rolls up in 1st place for sushi A hit in NYC since the late 1980s, sushi is one of the city's most adored (and instagrammed!) eats.
NYC's Chinatown ahead of Shanghai for xiaolongbao NYC edges in front of Shanghai, the birthplace of these savoury steamed buns, accounting for 9.2% of xiaolongbao tags. Singapore and Taiwan follow closely behind.
