That varies within Canada. I lived in Toronto for at least forty years, and french fries were always served with vinegar. It was always on the table along with the salt, pepper, and ketchup; at least in diners, like Fran’s or similar. Other places would bring it to you, unasked, if you ordered something with fries.
I moved to western Canada over 15 years ago, to find that vinegar is not automatic when you order a dish that comes with fries. You have to ask for it specifically, and the place may not have it at all. Of course, a British or Irish pub will have it for fish and chips, but you cannot count on a family restaurant, diner, or sports bar having vinegar for fries. It’s hit and miss, but my point is, that it’s not brought automatically or already on the table, as it is in Ontario; you have to ask if the place has any.
In terms of restaurants, there are very few Mr. Subs or Harvey’s out here, compared to southern Ontario. I’ve only seen one Mr. Sub (in Calgary), and three Harvey’s (one in West Edmonton Mall, one in Lethbridge, and one in a Home Depot in Calgary). That’s a shame, considering that I always liked Mr. Sub better than Subway, and Harvey’s is a helluva lot better than McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s. I make do with what’s available, but I do miss my Harvey’s burgers and the classic “Assorted Cold Cuts” from Mr. Sub (hold the onions, but add banana peppers).
If you need lots of calories or protein inpu then you cannot do better than this peculiarly local Teeside dish - the infamous Chicken Parmo.(pelase note the spelling, it is not parma or parmigiani) What’s worse is that it is delish
I was all of 19, in the Navy, stationed at NAS Millington, TN, near Memphis, for training. One evening, several of us went to a local restaurant for dinner, and I ordered a crab cake.
I grew up in Baltimore, and I know my crabcakes! What I was served was not a crabcake. It was a seasoned breadcrumb patty over which someone whispered the word crab. How could anyone anywhere call that a crabcake?!?!?
My parents were well-traveled, and I visited enough places growing up that I didn’t have many false assumptions of ubiquity. The one surprise was pizza places in IL cutting circular pizzas into little squares. It had never occurred to me to cut anything but wedges/triangles.
Polling the peanut gallery here:
Lots of people have moved to the US and brought their food with them. Immigration patterns vary within the US, but even more so between the US and other countries. And so the lack of, say, Vietnamese and Korean restaurants in Berlin was apparently shocking
In the French Caribbean pom frites come with mayonnaise, and we love it. Requesting it in the US, I’ve gotten an odd look. I tell them my gf’s is from France, and she plays along talking to me in perfectly accented French (which I do not understand).
I think some of this is just the passage of time. When I was growing up in western Canada, (white) vinegar with fries was ubiquitous (certainly available in packets at every fast food chain) and Mr. Sub was the only sub place around. I don’t know what might have caused the decline in vinegar, but it was definitely competition from Subway that drove Mr. Sub into the ground. The ratio of Subways to Mr. Subs in Toronto nowadays has to be 8-to-1, at least.
Here are a couple in reverse:
I started teaching at a south Georgia high school after living all my 23 years in central Indiana. The school lunch room was serving some fluorescent red meat cylinders I had never seen before. I asked what they were, hot sausages? No, just hot dogs. OK, then- can I get some mustard? They begrudgingly provided some. I sat down with other teachers to eat. I began to eat my cole slaw with a fork. Others asked “Aren’t you going to put that slaw on your hot dog?” “Why would I?” I asked. I had never heard of such a thing.
I stopped at a Waffle House in south Georgia around the same time. I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and hash browns. The waitress asked “Would you like anything else besides mayonnaise on your sandwich?” This shocked me. Back home, no one would ever put mayo on a grilled cheese!
I like mayonnaise with frites. But these days I’m eating fewer frites and lower calorie condiments. Salad dressings work well as a vinegar substitute. When I become Supreme Leader, it will probably be mandatory for all foods to be served with Green Goddess dressing.
When I lived in Czechoslovakia, I had French fries with tartar sauce every Friday night. Never saw them served with mayo, vinegar, or ketchup. Is this common anywhere in North America?
My daughter, who was born in Moscow and lived there until she was ten, has always loved French fries with tartar sauce. Even before she could talk, she would very carefully take apart her Filet-O-Fishes at McDonald’s, add a layer of fries, and then reassemble and eat the sandwich. Any tartar sauce stuck on the wrapper she would scrape off and eat with her remaining fries. She does this even today at age 25.
If I am eating fish ‘n chips and not on a vinegar mood - I am too lazy to ask for mayonnaise so will use anything available which is remarkably similar to mayonnaise. I will also do this with fish sandwiches.
The standard Chicago catering package is pretty good. A tray each of mostaccioli with an almost straight tomato pomodoro sauce, broasted (pressure fried) chicken, iceberg & romaine salad with nominal other items for color (purple cabbage, some croutons, handful of cherry tomatoes), Italian beef with a large paper bag filled with 3 inch long pieces of sliced bread. At the end of the line are bowls of giardiniera, sweet peppers, Parmesan cheese, one salad dressing, single servings of butter. Upgrades might be a half tray of 4" sections of Italian sausage or meatballs in tomato sauce, perhaps chicken Vesuvio substitutes for the fried, and maybe a couple of pizzas. This would be served at a well attended, medium fancy party like a baptism, first communion or graduation party.
I’ve never seen it but I’m not opposed.
I feel strongly that square cut is superior. When we would get an assortment of pizzas at work for lunch (in the beforetimes, of course), there would be some* that I want a few bites of but without committing to an entire wedge that’s 1/8th of the pie. Squares are also better at handling toppings piled on high. Squares are much easier to eat one-handed. Lastly, squares make reheating in a skillet (the one true way) much easier.
*For example, BBQ pizza with Italian sausage, bacon, onion and BBQ sauce instead of tomato. Way too sweet and I’m not big into bacon on pizza but I can’t resist trying a few square inches. Same with pepperoni, I far prefer sausage but a little pepperoni is alright.x
Russian dressing was bog-standard grocery store stuff in SoCal in the 1960s when I was a kid. Even Kraft made it. It was slightly enhanced Thousand Island, so not very exotic even by the limited standards of 1960s America.
That too was commonplace in SoCal grocery stores in the 1960s. I can still see the can and vintage B&M logo in my head. I can also remember cutting my finger more than once getting the good stuff out. It sorta disappeared in the mid 70s and I hadn’t seen it in decades when much to my surprise it showed up in a supermarket in St. Louis for a few months in the early 2000s. I bought and ate a lot of it with cream cheese.
Haven’t seen it since then either there or now here in Florida. We have enough Northeasterners around that I’m sorta surprised about that. I’ll have to look harder; it might be lurking there on a low shelf unseen all along. Thanks for the reminder!
I grew up on the North Fork of Long Island. Growing up, there were no chain restaurants within a half hour drive. It was all individual ones; I can’t recall any that had more than one location.
As for food, I understood that seafood probably wasn’t available as you got further from the ocean.
I’ve never seen mostaccioli since leaving the Chicago area. Every place I’ve seen on the west coast uses penne pasta. I’d forgotten all about it. My uncle owned a catering hall in the southwest Chicago suburbs, so we’d be served mostaccioli from huge carryout cartons at every dinner at their home.
I didn’t like brats until I was an adult so to be truthful I never noticed.
My father, a native of Quincy, Illinois, was surprised in the late 50s, early 60s to hear students in lab at UW-Madison debating who made the best brats; he had never heard of them. As he recalls Usinger usually came out on top.