Back when Chi-Chi’s still existed, there was one on the post in Hanau. Chi-Chi’s is American Tex-Mex food, and it was identical to any Chi-Chi’s I’d ever gone to in the USA. And of course McDonald’s and Burger King weren’t much different either, if you ordered the regular American stuff.
As far as big chains go, in fact, they’re pretty much the same everywhere in the world, in my experience, with the addition of the localized favorites, too. Except in India, ‘cos no beef.
Internationally hotel food seems to be pretty good at just about any international cuisine. Of course big hotels rotate their people throughout the whole world, so it’s likely that the Intercontinental in Shanghai has a German running the kitchen, or the Marriott in Ahmedabad has a Canadian.
In Mexico I’ve never been to an “American” restaurant that wasn’t a chain (McDonald’s, Applebees, whatever). Certainly there are hamburger and hot dog stands, but they’re Mexican, not American. Really. Buffalo wings, too. There’s no pretense of these being American style at all.
Here in China foreign food is usually just labelled Western, although there are some Mexican, French, Italian, Irish, and for some reason, multiple German restaurants. Other than chains, I’ve never encountered a restaurant called “American.”
Here in town the Mexican and Italian are all horrible, but in a big city like Shanghai I’ve had very good versions of those cuisines. We have an awesome French restaurant, but probably the best place for steak and service that’s Western-style is a Taiwan high-end chain.
In my town in general, Western restaurants are poorly managed and the western food is mediocre at best. One of friends tells me I cook better than restaurant food (except when I try to cook Chinese), and really learned to like American food on a trip to America where it was made properly.
And then the Aussies complain that they can’t get beetroot on hamburgers in the USA, but that’s a whole other can of worms.
