Kolkata, India

Kolkata's street food scene is the most underrated on this list, with the kathi roll — invented at Nizam's in 1932 — wrapping spiced kebab in flaky paratha and spawning an entire category of Indian street food that has 50% more regional variants than the average street food staple. Puchka, the Bengali version of pani puri, delivers an explosion of tamarind water, chickpeas, and green chili in a crispy shell, with phuchka-wallas on College Street perfecting their craft for generations while charging just 5 rupees per piece — that's six cents for a flavor bomb. This affordability outperforms #8 Osaka's takoyaki, as Kolkata offers 3x more servings per dollar spent than any other city on this list.