The place that finally gave meaning to the line from Pulp Fiction: “That’s a tasty Hawaiian burger.”
Anyway, more upscale or trendy places in Japan:
Union Square Tokyo
ROTI Roppongi
Wolfgang Puck has several restaurants.
There’s a Hog’s Breath or two around Brisbane.
I know the thread’s not about fast food, but I always like to share the abomination that is Chompers. One of the search results even says “American style food” but it’s not, really. Deep fried candy bars did not originate in the US, fish & chips are British, and I don’t know where the idea for a deep fried burger came from, but I suspect it was somebody who works for Chompers.
In case somebody thinks I’m exaggerating
Deep fried burger http://www.chompers.com.au/
Deep fried candy and cookies http://www.chompers.com.au/desserts.html
And it says fish & chips… so, uh, here’s their burger menu. Please note that the Donified burger has donuts for buns. http://www.chompers.com.au/burgers.html
This might be the most unhealthy food I’ve ever heard of excluding actual poisons.
There are 10 Red Robin locations in Indiana.
9965 N. Michigan Road Carmel, IN
14599 Clay Terrace Blvd Carmel, IN
6636 E Lloyd Expressway Evansville, IN
4201 Coldwater Rd., #27 Fort Wayne, IN
2465 Southlake Mall Merrillville, IN
4010 N Main Street Mishawaka, IN
13215 Harrell Parkway Noblesville, IN
365 South Perry Road Plainfield, IN
1410 US Hwy 41 Schererville, IN
3004 John Howell Dr. Valparaiso, IN
And I’ll be goll darnd if they don’t each and every one of 'em serve the Red Robin Royal…
Well, having never eaten at a Red Robin that might explain why I’ve never seen one.
Plus something served at a select few restaurants doesn’t count. They could just as easily be serving an “Australian style” burger.
And where were all you guys in every other thread when we talk about how odd it is that Australians like eggs on their burgers?
I don’t remember the thread, (and I said above that I don’t remember coming across egg until my first trip to Australia), but it’s the beetroot that really is the oddball these days. I cant’ think any places that do beetroot on the burgers here in Chicago, while I could think of at least a dozen places that do egg (as an item on the menu.) My impression is that egg-on-burgers did exist here before, but did not really become more common until the last decade or so.
I can’t speak for Dubai, but in Bahrain the TAIThursday is in accord with Allah’s wishes and serves it’s burgers with beef bacon. Also, alcohol-free cocktails. 
Speaking of cocktails, I was recently in a gourmet American burger bar in Germany that serves cocktails and wine along with some quite delicious burgers.
Pizza Hut in China sells many of its pizzas with squid sauce.
Speaking of China, in Zhuhai I once went with some friends to an Indian restaurant. No, not that kind of Indian - *American-*Indian. How often do you see American-Indian restaurants even in the US?! Seeing it there in China was beyond bizarre, though the food was not too wacky - I recall meat they cooked at your table and grilled corn.
Beef bacon? You have my attention, sir.
Beef bacon is lame, so is turkey bacon. You usually get one of those two instead of real bacon in a lot of Muslim countries. Beef bacon just tastes like a strip of salty, low grade beef.
Well it sure isn’t bacon but I like it.
Strip of salty, low grade beef? Bring it ON!
My impression was it was pretty common back in the 1950’s, fell out of fashion, and is now making a comeback. I’m told my grandmother sold hamburgers with eggs on them at her diner in Illinois back in the 50’s. Even when they weren’t on menus I never had any problem getting run of the mill diners to toss an egg on a burger for me even back in the 80’s at college.
My favorite rendition is from a restaurant around here and it’s good for 3 or 4 meals. “The Breakfast Burger” is a 5 oz burger, 5oz sausage patty, country ham, hoop cheddar, peppered bacon, oven-roasted tomatoes & a fried egg on an everything bagel.
As for ketchup on omelets, the local diners all ask if I want “ketchup or hot sauce” on the table after I order an omelet so it can’t be that rare. From my travels in Japan it does seem to be more common there.
I can’t remember where in Sicily I saw this, but I came upon a place a few decades ago that was an American-style, “Little Italy” italian restaurant. Checkered table clothes. Frank Sinatra crooning through the speakers. Spaghetti with meatballs type of menu. Cliche black and white photos of the Brooklyn Bridge.
It practically dripped with irony. I’m hoping it was entirely intentional. We didn’t eat there so I couldn’t tell if the customers were tourists or (less likely) locals. My best guess, given that 1 in 4 of my Sicilian family emigrated to Brooklyn, somebody came back and thought it would be a hoot to show the locals what Americans think is Italian food.
I LOL’d!
My arteries clogged up just reading that list. Then I pictured the whole sequence … and my arteries shriveled into tiny lumps and gave up all hope.
I’d try a bite!
Pizza Hut tries to localize its pizza flavors. When I was in Curacao, the Pizza Hut there featured a conch pizza.
Bangkok had a Shakey’s for the longest time, in Siam Square, but just the one. It finally closed. Dunno why it didn’t take off better, as it was not bad at all. But I mentioned Pizza Hut before, and it is wildly popular with Thais. There’s a local clone called The Pizza Company that was started by the American businessman who used to have the Pizza Hut franchise.
In Thailand, it offers tom yum kung pizza.
Those are mostly fast food, but I have to say we tried Kua Aina Burger in Yokohama in April, and it is fantastic. I understand it’s from Hawaii, but it must be from after our time there.
Also, Denny’s is coming to Bangkok. Again. There was one in the mid-1990s, but it was in an inconvenient location and tried to be an upmarket restaurant, complete with a wine list. Didn’t last long. They’re going to try again by year-end, hopefully not so upscale this time.
I think there may be a TGIFriday’s squirreled away somewhere on Silom Road, but we’ve never tied it. The Firehouse is probably the best place in Bangkok for hamburgers, and it’s not fast food.
And one more. The Firehouse is probably the best place in Bangkok for hamburgers, but I would not characterize it as fast food. It’s a sit-down restaurant that serves alcohol and is decorated with fireman paraphernalia. Owned by an American lawyer from Hawaii who is based in Tokyo.
There are close to a dozen Steak and Shakes in the Indianapolis area, and they have an egg burger on their menu too… Select Location | Steak 'n Shake
A little late to the party so here goes. “American Pizza” outside America. It will have canned corn as a topping. Always. Restaurant or frozen at the grocery store, canned corn.
Last night I was at an independent “American hamburger and pizza” delivery joint in central Germany. The burger was quite good, though lacking lettuce, tomato slices, and pickle slices. They did the bun correctly. I’ve found, other than the UK and Japan, no one gets the bun right. The “American” pizzas were a mix of accurate and odd. Three had barbecue sauce instead of marinara. Many had chicken as the meat topping, and the veggies were often not those found in the US. Only one had canned corn. One unusual item on the menu was popcorn. Popped popcorn. It wasn’t on any pizza thank God.
France and some surrounding areas have a place called “Buffalo Grill.” They do a good job being a “Roadhouse Grill” place. Steaks, burgers, crazy western crap on the walls. Austria tends to do “American” correctly except for the canned corn on pizza thing. Most of Europe can’t do a proper salad bar. They try, bless their hearts, but they miss on quantity of fresh veggies and (looking at you, Germany) put too many prepared salads on the salad bar. Potato salad, slaw-type things, blaukraut. Fresh veggies damnit!
Almost no one outside North America does Tex-Mex or Mexican well. At its most basic, Mexican isn’t a complex nuanced cuisine. How hard could it be? One place purportedly owned by an American had marinara sauce and white cheese on the nachos instead of the salsa and cheddar. “Salsa” often is so sweet it could be a crepe filling. No spicy flavor on any dish. Hot onions and jalapeños don’t make it into the meals. I was excited to see the Chi Chi’s restaurant in Luxembourg City. Yes, that Chi Chi’s. By American standards it’s not great but for Europe it’ll do.
This is an eternal point of contention between me and my fellow Americans here in Thailand. I was not born in Texas, but I was raised there from just before my 6th birthday, spent my formative years there and ended up spending 24 years in that state. So I know Tex-Mex.
And let me tell you: Tex-Mex sucks! It is low-class bland shit even in Texas, as anyone who has experienced the wonders of Mexican food in northern New Mexico can attest. No one makes Mexican food like northern New Mexico.
You’ve made my point. Even the least demanding Mexican-style cuisine can’t be satisfactorily made outside North America for some reason.