TasteAtlas has released its annual awards for the world’s best cuisine, best food cities, and top-rated dishes for 2025 — and Greece scored high across multiple categories, even though it didn’t keep last year’s top spot.
Italy regains the top spot, Greece remains strong
Last year, Greece topped the Taste Atlas list for best cuisine.
This year, it slipped to second place, with Italy returning to number one.
Peru, Portugal, and Spain complete the top five.
Naples dominates the list of best food cities
TasteAtlas’ ranking of the world’s best food cities was heavily dominated by Italy, which claimed five of the top six positions.
Top cities for 2026:
- Naples
- Milan
- Bologna
- Florence
- Mumbai (India)
- Genoa
Greece appears further down the list:
- Chania in 64th place
- Heraklion in 91st place
Both cities are recognized for their strong Cretan food heritage.
Why Naples ranked #1
Naples — the birthplace of pizza — scored first among 18,828 cities, based on over 590,000 verified ratings for more than 16,000 dishes.
The city is known for:
- Neapolitan pizza (thin, soft dough and few but high-quality ingredients)
- Pizza fritta, the classic fried pizza served simply on paper
- Famous pastries like sfogliatella
- Traditional pasta dishes such as spaghetti alla puttanesca and spaghetti alle vongole
Naples combines rich culinary tradition with bustling markets and street food culture.
Kontosouvli ranks 6th among the world’s best dishes
Greece nearly made the top five with kontosouvli, which ranked 6th globally.
The surprise winner was Vori Vori from Paraguay — a hearty chicken soup with vegetables and cheese-filled cornmeal dumplings — which received the highest user rating (4.64/5).
Below Vori Vori, the list includes:
- Neapolitan pizza
- Truffle pasta
- Indonesian sate maranggi
- Turkish shish kebab
Dakos named the world’s best salad again
TasteAtlas once again placed Cretan dakos at #1 globally for salads, with the highest average score based on hundreds of thousands of reviews.
Graviera Naxou wins Best Cheese in the World
Graviera Naxou, a signature cheese of the Cyclades made mostly from cow’s milk, was awarded Best Cheese in the World for 2026, surpassing top Italian cheeses.
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