Looking to ditch expensive SF? Move to Buffalo. Yes, that Buffalo.

Destination Dining Bay Area diners are well aware of how lucky we are to have chef Val M. Cantu’s phenomenal Mission District restaurant, Californios, nearby. It’s certainly one of the fine dining crown jewels of Northern California. Where might you find Californios’ closest peer for a fantastic contemporary Mexican tasting menu? As you probably didn’t guess…it’s Buffalo! That’s where James Beard-nominated chef Victor Parra Gonzalez wows his Western New York audience at Las Puertas with a stellar menu that changes throughout the year, always focused on a particular region of Mexico. And we should mention that Las Puertas’ 7-course menu is $85 compared to Californios’ roughly 16-19 small tastes for $223. less Destination Dining Bay Area diners are well aware of how lucky we are to have chef Val M. Cantu’s phenomenal Mission District restaurant, Californios, nearby. It’s certainly one of the fine dining crown ... more Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Looking to ditch expensive SF? Move to Buffalo. Yes, that Buffalo. 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

See the slideshow above for 22 reasons Buffalo might just be better than San Francisco.

Buffalo is one of the great under-the-radar major cities in the country — almost to the point that it’s becoming not hip to say that Buffalo has become hip.

In much of the country, including here in California, Buffalo's reputation is that of a Rust Belt metropolis past its glory days with winters as fierce as Niagara Falls is powerful. We’ll address both those stereotypes, but the fact is that New York's second largest city is a tremendously misunderstood and tremendously wonderful place.

First off, Buffalo is an exciting city — hardly rusty.

Second, there’s no reason to compare it to Manhattan because Western New York and New York City are completely different places — just like San Francisco and Los Angeles are. (Fun fact: They even have almost the exact same distance between them.)

Third, well, there’s just a lot that a lot of people don’t know about Buffalo. Before I started dating a Buffalonian transplant in San Francisco a few years ago, I (a lifelong Californian) knew nothing about Buffalo other than the whole “really cold weather, Rust Belt city, buffalo wings, Bills always lose” quartet.

I’ve learned a lot since about what a special place Buffalo and Western New York are. Buffalonians fiercely love their home for good reason. Yes, it’s a unique place that makes you wanna’ shout! (You'll understand that reference once you read the slideshow.)

See all the reasons you might want to leave San Francisco behind for beautiful Buffalo in the gallery at the top of this story.

Trevor Felch is a Bay Area-based freelance writer.