Make sure you feed him corn on the cob! We has a french student years ago who was horrified by this- We were feeding her like an animal! She had no idea people ate plain corn, and straight off the cob was an abomination. She learned something about American culture, and was asking for more of it by the end of her stay.
Wow, thanks for the responses!
We’re a nonalcoholic family, so even if I had a written note from him parents, giving him the go ahead on a glass of wine, (1) we don’t have alcohol in our home, (2) it’s illegal in the states for anyone under the age of 21 to consume alcoholic beverages of any kind and (3) it’s just as illegal to provide alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. If I happened to be in a law breaking kind of mood, I’m thinking this wouldn’t be high on my list of crimes to commit.
We typically eat fairly healthy, and not much fast food at all. He’s only here for a week, and during the day, they’ll be traveling to different places, so I’m thinking he may get an opportunity for fast food during those day trips. Things like pizza (home made or ordered out) are usually once a month type of things, and hamburgers are also as rare. It sounds like if I stick to our usual food, he should be okay. Besides, it’s unlikely he will starve in a week. With Hallboy being the same age, I’ll just stock up on all the usual food and snacks.
When we hosted a teen girl from Denmark a few years ago, she said the best meal she had here was when I baked chicken and potatoes and served them basically plain, with very little seasoning. Oh, well.
We will absolutely try a local Mexican place (although in South Central PA, good Mexican/Tex Mex places are rare) so he can try that, and there’s a local BBQ joint near Harrisburg we’ll visit (Uncle Mikes Back Yard BBQ in Camp Hill, if you’re in the neighborhood) that has FANTASTIC BBQ (and not the grilled BBQ crap they advertise all over the place on the east coast, but that’s another thread).
When the Danish student was here, we took a trip to our local Sam’s Club. She was stunned to see the huge quantities of food. Maybe we’ll take another trip (although I have to figure out if I know anyone with a membership, since we don’t have one…).
Thanks for the ideas!
You know what might appeal to him?
How about a do it yourself taco night? We do it every now and again - flour tortillas, corn hard taco shells, fried taco meat [beef or turkey] shredded lettuce, shredded onion, chopped tomato, salsa, shredded cheese, refritos, guacamole. Heck we like doing it ourselves about once a month. Much better that Taco Hell.
Every european I have ever spoken with seems to like KFC, and we took my Romanian buddy to the Popeyes on Ramstein and he agreed that it was actually better than KFC.
I really wouldn’t go out of my way to make anything french - most people I know want to check out the local food. Even if it is just american junk food 
One thing to be aware of is that traditional French dishes usually don’t have a lot of hot spices in them. Go easy on hot sauce, Tabasco, and peppers, or at least ask him about spice tolerance before you serve Mexican or Thai food, or even hot wings.
I have a friend in France who was an exchange student at my high school more than 25 years ago; we’ve kept in touch, and I’ve visited him and his family a few times. More than life itself, he loves him some homemade Toll House cookies. It’s the one thing he always asks for. He was thrilled when I brought the raw materials to his house and made them with his kids. (I made them “real American hamburgers” too, and he made a point of explaining how the real thing isn’t at all like McDonald’s.)
What is going on here?
French Teen Girls?
I got nothin’.
We have it but it’s pretty rare. I had been seeing it in supermarkets for several years but hadn’t bothered try it until a few months back: one of my flatmates had a 4-pack which was getting dangerously close to its expiration date, so he asked for help killing it dead.
I expect a 17yo boy to eat lots. If he happens to be a picky eater, that’s got nothing to do with his nationality.
Something which may be interesting if he’s game is a talk/check on foods you think of as “french”, what’s his take on them. I always approach very cautiously any food that’s labeled as “Navarra style”, “Basque style” or “Spanish” and made outside those areas, as it often has no resemblance with what we’d label that way or is overcooked (the only case of undercooked I’ve encountered is bread); it may even be a completely different dish. For example, what’s called “trout Navarrese style” around Navarra is trout fried with a slice of serrano inside; what goes by that name in Madrid and parts south is fried trout with tomato sauce.
Prepare for a fun experience! We did this years ago-the kid ate like horse. He liked our food-his favorte “American” food was spaghetti. Oddly enogh-he never touched wine.
Shrug, my family always had wine on the table growing up, but Dad and us kids rarely touched it - only on celebrations, and only specific wines (I discovered very young that red wine + Nava = headache + Nava).
One of my classmates was drinking red wine with soda as his main drink from the time we were 11, but his family owned a winery and we used to joke that the family’s diminutive size was proof that Alcohol Is Bad For You; other kids in our year would get to have red wine and soda as an occasional summer treat. This was in the late 70s/early 80s.
Thisdocumentary may just be the answer.
So, I sent him an email, asking about his favorite foods, or foods he didn’t like (among other things) and received a response today. It appears Dopers where correct (as usual!)–teen boys eat anything.
From his email (bolding mine):
I happy to receive a mail from you.
I’m looking forward to discover your family, america and share with you.
About the food don’t worry I can adapt without any problems and discover the specialties.
See you soon.
Cool. 
He’s not French, he’s Nigerian. Run!
Now that I see you live in South Central PA, I’m curious what you plan on showing him. Hope he gets to try a whoopie pie, shoofly pie or chicken pot pie. Are potato chips common in France? Don’t let him think Hershey’s is the best chocolate America has to offer!
If you’re any where near Lancaster, El Serrano serves excellent Latin-American cuisine.
He might also get a laugh out of visiting someplace like Shady Maple.
Without wanting to derail the thread too much, can this really be true? Giving someone under 21 an alcoholic drink in your own home is illegal? I’m very very dubious about that.
Just to be picky, this is false.
It is illegal anywhere in the USA for a person under 21 to purchase alcohol or consume it in a public place. Consuming alcohol at home, however, is NOT illegal in most states if done in a private setting, esp. in a family home. And there is an exception for religioius ceremony everywhere.
A quick web search indicates in most states it is ok for parents to allow there own children to consume alcohol in the home, however they can’t serve it to other peoples children. From here.
Ooooooh! I wanna go there!!! YUMMY.
I’ve found Americans are really anal when it comes to underage drinking. Like giving a beer to your 16 year old while watching the football game on Sunday will get you sent to the gulag kind of anal. On another message board a mother was getting all worked up about finding a bottle with possible booze residue in her teen son’s room, and when I suggested letting him have some booze at home to get rid of the mystical pull of the unknown she acted like I just told her to murder someone.
/hijack
In my job, I deal with foreigners coming over to the U.S. many times for the first time.
They always want to try ‘American’ food…so I take them to Champs
However (and why I wanted to post):
There seems to be some aversion for foreigners and ‘Tex-Mex’ food. Americans love it but the reception among visiting foreigners is usually negative.
I don’t understand it. I love Tex-Mex.
Where is that located? I’m looking for some cool place for my next holidays.