I think Bay Area is pretty good for US, and as someone said, you get a lot of variety there, but US food is not real good on a world scale. Mostly because of a lack of indigenous cuisine style; almost everything in the US is imitative of some other ethnic cuisine, and the ingredients just ain't gonna match, even if they're comparable in quality (which is rare).

Many of the classic Bay Area foodie places were also super overrated; I always thought Chez Panisse was mediocre, and relatively unknown places nearby (La Limes) were actually better. There were a few real treasures though: I'll miss Aki-san at Sushi Sho.