# What is considered "American food"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092 "2004-03-18T21:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/1 "2004-03-18T21:36:10Z")
If you went into an American themed restaurant in Japan, or Spain or India etc. what would be on the menu? Obviously burgers and fries, and I know there are American fast food chains there. Which reminds me, what are the differences between our domestic chains menus and their foreign counterparts? ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/2 "2004-03-18T22:39:37Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an “American” food resturant in any foreign country. If you want American you get “fast” food. McDonalds, KFC Taco Bell Pizza Hut etc. My sample includes Hong Kong (where if you stand on any give corner you can see 4!!! McDonalds), Indonesia, Singapore, Spain, England, Athens and the West coast of Austrailia. We did go to an ex-Pat British style resturant in Jakarta because our hosts thought it would remind us of home. 😉 Of course I could be totally wrong, cause in all honesty I never went looking for an American resturant while travelling outside the US. My big fear after going to Disney World, Universal Studios etc. is that non-US visitors will believe that Americans go about in their normal lives chowing down on Turkey legs :eek: in public. Where did this trend come from? No American I know eats turkey legs except at Thanksgiving and certainly not while walking about. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/3 "2004-03-18T22:55:39Z")
I’ll agree – never seen an American restaurant in any country besides the USA and Canada (where presumably American means them, too). I count Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Mexico in my count. Usually you go to fast food. Heck, even normal, local places have American food without it being advertised as such – hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza – yeah, yeah, we can argue maybe they’re no “American.” ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/4 "2004-03-18T22:59:22Z")
You two seem well traveled. Is there at least a perception in other countries of uniquely American foods? ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/5 "2004-03-18T23:06:13Z")
You know -I have seen people eating American food all the time in Germany, but they don’t realize it. Pizza especially, but other stuff too. BUt they think of it as being Italian, etc, even when it’s not. I think a family-style American restaurant could do real well overseas. Deli foods to roast beef dinners, pie for dessert. Mmmmmmmm! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/6 "2004-03-18T23:17:08Z")
I fear that most of the rest of the world thinks we eat greasy burgers, pizza, tacos, fried chicken and OH MY GOD turkey legs all the time. When we’re not eating hot dogs of course. Rest of the world, pipe in here now please 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/7 "2004-03-18T23:18:23Z")
Here’s a list of self described “American” restaurants in Covent Garden. Maybe by seeing what they serve, you can get the idea of what’s considered American food in London, at least. [http://www.coventgardenlife.com/restaurants/jesterschoice/american\_restaurants.asp](http://www.coventgardenlife.com/restaurants/jesterschoice/american_restaurants.asp) Lots of Tex-Mex, steaks, seafood, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/8 "2004-03-18T23:34:21Z")
There were a couple of “American style” food places advertised as such in Prague while I lived there…mostly burgers and french fries of better quality than you’d get at McDonald’s, stuff like that. People who have traveled here know about American style pizza, but I never saw an American style pizza place; probably would have been considered too extravagant for pizza. There is lots of Italian style pizza, but it’s a much simpler dish (typically pizza Margherite) than our sensory overload slices. I ate at a few (very few) Mexican food places that were closest to Tex-Mex. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/9 "2004-03-19T00:23:52Z")
There is a restaurant Near Beckley, West Virginia that is described in several European travel guides as “serving authentic American cuisine” and is given four stars, in several. The place serves crab cakes, Crab Imperial, trout (several ways), fried chicken, barbecued spareribs, pork chops, several cuts of steak, and a seasonal array of vegetables, including just about every sort of “greens” I have ever had. The breakfast menu duplicates every mom and pop diner in the US, and it includes grits. Also, it specifies that all eggs served are collected locally on a daily basis. Potatoes are offered baked, mashed, new, homefried, frenchfried, potato cakes, and potato bread. Hot breads of many sorts, including biscuits. Great biscuits. Pie. Definitely pie, offered seasonally with fresh fruit grown locally. Great pie. Perhaps the best pie. Apple, blueberry (Wild blueberries, by the way.) peach, pecan, pumpkin, sweet potato, and blackberry (only as cobbler, on that one). Hand twisted lattice top crusts. Pretty. About the only thing that wasn’t fantastic were the salads. Nothing wrong with the salad, mind you, just not a particularly memorable salad. Oh, and good pickles, too. Pickled cucumbers, peppers, water melon, okra, sweet onion. Tris ---
**Author:** ![conczepts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e7dd6/32.png) [@conczepts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conczepts)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/10 "2004-03-19T01:05:26Z")
That Canadian chef on Ironchef said something about American chefs having no style, so apparently at least one Canadian gourmet thinks of Canadian food as vastly different (and superior) to American food. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/11 "2004-03-19T01:40:54Z")
I’ve seen a fair number of TGI Fridays while traveling abroad. Always the same menu as in the States. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/12 "2004-03-19T02:02:50Z")
And, btw, even though everybody posting knows this, (because it’s a common misperception, I think) it’s wrong, I think, to say there’s no American cuisine, or that American food is just fast food hamburgers. There’s Tex-Mex, there’s Cajun and Creole cooking, there’s California Fusion, there’s “new American”, there’s African-American cuisine, not to mention traditional American dishes. ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/13 "2004-03-19T03:24:33Z")
And of course “Mexican” food, which is really US-American. I went to an “American” restaurant while in Paris (feeling homesick). It had “50s diner” decor, but served what amounted to burgers and TexMex. There I encountered 1 of the 2 “no smoking” areas I found in Europe (of course occupied by rude French smokers who refused to move or extinguish their cigs when asked by the waitress) and the absolute worst nacho I’ve ever had in my life. Re: domestic chains abroad, I noticed that in every country, McDonalds had minor “local” variations in their menu, not necessarily related to that particular country. For example, IIRC in Germany McDonalds had some kind of “special” Italian-style sandwich on the menu. And then there’s more minor regionalisms, such as having vinegar for your fries in Canada (and I assume in England as well). Oh, and “McPizza”, which seemed to be very common outside of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/14 "2004-03-19T03:33:27Z")
> [@tadc](#): > > I went to an “American” restaurant while in Paris (feeling homesick). It had “50s diner” decor, but served what amounted to burgers and TexMex. There I encountered 1 of the 2 “no smoking” areas I found in Europe (of course occupied by rude French smokers who refused to move or extinguish their cigs when asked by the waitress) and the absolute worst nacho I’ve ever had in my life. This made me laugh. The French can do lots with food, but replicate Tex-Mex is not one of them. There is one Tex-Mex restaurant in Monaco, whose name escapes me, that is owned by a guy from Dallas who is good friends with Prince Albert. That place is probably the best bet within 1500+ miles for decent mexican food. ---
**Author:** ![Bob55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Bob55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob55)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/15 "2004-03-19T05:47:14Z")
The Food Network had a history of American foods, and the ones that I recall are pizza, burgers, hot dogs, subs, and fried chicken. Of course they’re all common all over the world, but many were either made big in America or altered slightly from their European counterparts. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/16 "2004-03-19T05:50:31Z")
Corn dogs are called “American dogs” here in Japan. I’ve been to one American-style restaurant. It was typical American diner food, or an attempt to reproduce it. I had a Reuben sandwitch and rhubarb pie. (Both were unimpressive, to put it politely.) ---
**Author:** ![tadc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@tadc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tadc)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/17 "2004-03-19T06:08:38Z")
“American cookies” = Chocolate chip. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/18 "2004-03-19T06:12:18Z")
American foods (note my New England bias): Clam chowder (New England: cream based, and Manhattan: tomato based) Fried Clams Corn on the cob Indian Pudding Brown Bread Boston Baked Beans Boiled Dinner (kind of like corned beef and cabbage) Corn Bread Grits Greens Barbecue: ribs, brisket, chicken Pie: apple, lemon merengue, cherry, chess, peach Cheese cake Bagels Chicken and Dumplings Crab Cakes Lobster Rolls Caeser Salad Cobb Salad Roast turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce Virginia Ham Biscuits (not English biscuits which are cookies) And then all the Cajun and Mexican foods ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/19 "2004-03-19T06:39:04Z")
Holy crap, I just realized how much I love this damn country. How about desserts? Especially pies. Mmmm… pumpkin pie… ---
**Author:** ![epepke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@epepke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epepke)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092/20 "2004-03-19T06:41:56Z")
> [@DanBlather](#): > > American foods (note my New England bias): > … > Caeser Salad Caeser salad is genuinely Mexican, though it was invented in Tijuana. Most of the US/Mexican foods actually exist in Mexico but are considered snacks. Nachos and fajitas are uniquely Tex-Mex, though. From a Southern bias, you would have to add fried chicken, boiled greens, chitterlings, almost everything made with maize including hush puppes and grits, fried catfish, blue crab, and infinite varieties of gumbo. From the southwest you also get chile stew (which is made with pork and is more like a soup). And, of course, there are all the foods invented by immigrants that are usually confused with the food of their countries of origin. New York pizza, Chicago pizza, chicken parmesan, chop suey, egg foo young, meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, etc. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-considered-american-food/235092.md?page=2)