Many decades ago when I was in boarding school I liked to get mail. So I acquired a lot of penpals from around the world. I was alway very amused when they would tell me about their 'american' restaurants. Mostly the food was familiar but not necessarily what I would eat in one meal. Large amounts of a variety of meats followed by chocolate cake seemed to be the running theme.

But most of the time when I go to an ethnic restaurant with someone from that country it's not what that person would consider authentic. A combination of availability and marketability I think. Anyone ever see the movie 'Big Night' where someone wanted pasta with their risotto.\?

There are so many MacD's everywhere, I came to regard the Big Mac as a unit to compare currency. When you see how much it costs in any foreign currency, you get an idea of what cost of food is generally.

There are local variations which surprise me. You can get hamburgers in Asia with rice patties instead of buns. I saw a MacDonalds in Prague with a pastry selection. I've seen "Boston BBQ" as an advertisement in South Africa. It's quite bizarre. People's notions of what Americans eat is based on TV and movies.

Cheryl

There are lots of American style restaurants in Europe. McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, etc. are all in Rome and Vienna, as is Hard Rock Cafe and mom-and-pop burger-type joints. I've lived off and on in Rome and every so often just had to bypass the endless pasta and go to Hard Rock Cafe where the meals were 100% American (as were the outrageous portions). The place was always jam packed with both expats and Italians. They also had a very good American style happy hour.

Well I remember being in Nerja, Spain and seeing lots of restaurants flying a banner of "Authentic British Cuisine"...but I suspect these places were run by Brits and for the Brits.
And in the Seychelles, places touting German cuisine....seems too often travellers are looking for a taste of home.

"Our foods are as diverse as our country and our culture, embracing everything from fresh seafood to barbequed brisket, U.P. Michigan pasties to Gilroy garlic."

Can I hear a cheer for that! Annie, I could not agree more that "American cuisine" is reflective of our melting pot heritage. I love that in my little town we have 3 Thai restaurants, several Italian (Northern and Sicilian and everything inbetween) a Michelin starred French chef, several Chinese places, a couple of great sushi places and a couple that bill themselves as "fun food and drink". I am linking the menu to one of the really great places that we frequent.

Alexa

Here is a link that might be useful: Isaac Newtons Menu

In my experience, there are fast food places(like MD, KFC, etc), but NO real american food estaurants.
Olga

Marita,

Back in 1991, the year the USSR dissolved, our DS spent several months there as a US Student Ambassador traveling all over the country from Vladivostok, Kiev, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Moscow, Saratov, and I can't remember where else he went. But, in that year, there were terrible food shortages. We'd sent him with a full suitcase of American snacks as gifts (peanut butter, crackers, candy bars, etc.) but it was no where near enough because everybody he met was hungry. He would be walking to the American Embassy to work in the morning & go by huge lines at the bakeries. He did not want to take food from the Russians so he wouldn't buy anything even though he had US dollars in his pocket. He went hungry just like everybody else. His host families shared all they had and more but food was just really hard to get. A REALLY GOOD life lesson for a teenage American boy.

Anyway, on his way back to Boston, he had a layover in Amsterdam. Where did he go? HARD ROCK! He gorged. He snitched a menu and it's framed and still hanging in his home.

/tricia

Don't forget that Travolta instructed Sam Jackson on this very topic: what American food is like in Europe.

(Caution: it's a Tarantino film, coarse language and f-bombs are par for the course.)

Here is a link that might be useful: royale with cheese (caution: Language)

I guess I misunderstood the OP...while it it's true you can find McDonalds and some chains in the big cities, it never occurred to me that is how one defines American cuisine. Quite sad actually given your amazing regional foods such as BBQ, Cajun, Creole, lobster, clams, tex mex, grits....none of Which you see in Europe. However if your definition of American cuisine is McDonalds then yes you can find it.

As far as the bacon and egg style breakfast, I believe that is more British than American.

Chase,

Take a look at the menu for Hard Rock in Amsterdam where my DS had his first real meal in over 3 months. It reads just like any American menu.

Look at the Smokehouse sandwiches. Many regional American cooking styles are represented.

It's not just McD's that's available throughout the world. Many American restaurant companies are generating significant earnings internationally today.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Hard Rock, Amsterdam, Menu

I had a business meal at a Denny's near Tokyo. My Japanese colleagues considered it an exotic treat suitable for a business lunch.

When on a business trip in Beppu, Japan, I stumbled across a non-chain restaurant that was like a US coffee shop/deli. Lots of sandwiches and such. It is a town that caters to Japanese tourists, not international ones so it was memorable as the hardest place I've ever had to order - I'm reasonably able to order Japanese food in Japanese. Translating the menu with a phrase book was a trial.

OT, but my hotel in Beppu was the Sun Valley Hotel - just like one might find a US hotel with a French name to make it seem exotic. I soon learned that I had to carry a taxi card because it was nearly impossible to get a taxi driver to understand my pronunciation of Sun Valley with the exotic to Japan "v" and "l" sounds. I could get back to the hotel by pronouncing Valley with a bad Japanese accent which was uncomfortable or using the card.

In London, I recall a pizza place with an "American" pizza that had corn on it. Anything with corn seems to be considered American in Europe.

Starbucks! It's everywhere.

I have found that not only are there chain restaurants (if you can grace places like McD's, KFC etc with such a term), but stand-alone restaurants which bill themselves as serving "American" food. Whether they actually do is a bit of a crapshoot. Interestingly for us, the KFC in Ha Noi (which we only visited as we were taken by a Viet friend as what she considered a treat), has china plates, silverware and table service.
For quite a while we had a chain in Perth calling itself the "Lone Star Steakhouse" with a heavy Texas theme, but the menu as far as I can tell was pretty well identical to that of the Outback Steakhouse in the US, which is not in the slightest Australian food.

I guess I'm not making myself clear. If you consider large chain restraunts to be typical of American cusine, yes they can be found in the big cities.

We were in Paris in April for an "important" birthday and passed a fun place that seemed to be doing well (but we opted for French cafes and bistros, instead).

seagrass

Here is a link that might be useful: Breakfast-in-America

seagrass,

I find it more amazing that the food is described in English and then in French. Whodda thunk it?

Very interesting. Thank you seagrass!

tricia,

I think I'm guilty of also gorging at the Hard Rock Cafe in Rome. There were days while living there (not too many, thank God) where I just had to have an American-style "fix". Last time I was there (last fall) the prices, however, were sky high so it cured that need for a "fix" rather dramatically. We're talking $35-45 for such things as a burger, onion rings, and beer. Still, the atmosphere alone was sometimes worth it. One does miss one's culture.

How about turkey? I think that's a very American dish. If I had an American restaurant in a foreign country, I'd have Thanksgiving Dinner on the menu. Pumpkin pie for sure.

I agree that the chains really don't exactly qualify. It has to be prepared on the spot ethnic food, like French, Greek, Italian etc restaurants here in the USA. Not like Taco Bell!

So what would a Canadian restaurant serve in the USA? Peameal bacon? Nanaimo bars?

I don't think there is such a thing as Canadian restaurants or Canadian cuisine. Yes a few dishes that are Canadian but for the most part it is a regional thing based on what we find locally. Lobster in the Maritimes, deep cold water fish and sea food in BC, beef in the west, fruit and veggies in Ontario...cheese in Quebec. Just off the top of my head.

I still maintain that Europe does not have American "ethnic" restaurants the way we have ethnic restaurants in NA. Yes there are the American chains but they do not define American cuisine to me, not at all.

Never once have I seen a BBQ joint, a diner, a lobster shack, etc, quite frankly not even a great steak house! Those to me define American cuisine not McDonald's, Burger King or The Hard Rock Cafe.

Hmmm, Sharon, you might be right but I'd bet that many if not most Americans would disagree with you as to what defines American food. And when Americans are hungry for the taste of home, be it a good or bad thing, they would be mighty glad to see a Hard Rock Cafe.

Pam, I agree about T-Day dinner being very representative of America. An amazing percentage of us eat mostly the same menu on Thanksgiving.

/tricia

If I tried to think of one dish uniquely Canadian, it would be poutine. Or perhaps cretons. This may not be fair to the non-Francophile part of Canada, but this is what we always went for on trips to Quebec.

Chase - I don't think there is a substantial number of ex-Americans operating restaurants in Europe. That's what it takes for ethnic eateries. I lived in a city in South Africa which had a large number of American executives. A shop specialized in imported foods. You could buy chocolate chips, brownie mix, chili spices, maple syrup there. These were all very exotic to South Africans.

Cheryl

Check this Tripadvisor link out. It lists just some of the many Rome restaurants who advertise "American food."

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g187791-c2-Rome_Lazio.html

As I said, if you define American cuisine as fast food chains then you're right they are available in the big cities but thankfully only in the big cities.

By coincidence, there is an article in the New York Times today on American tastes in London.

Cheryl

Here is a link that might be useful: London restaurants - American flavors

Sharon, maybe we have a difference in what we consider a "fast food". I don't consider Hard Rock fast food and I don't think anybody I know would either. Fast food here is identified by places like McDs, Taco Bell, Burger King, Wendy's, Pop-eyes, KFC, etc.

/tricia

Hard Rock is not fast food, but it is definitely a chain.

We have a wonderful little Mexican "joint" nearby called El Limon. They barely speak English and I have trouble understanding them, but wowza, it is good authentic Mexican food.

Cheryl, that's a good point. There aren;t nearly as many American ex-pats in Europe or elsewhere opening a restaurant. In America, a good ethnic restaurant can be the first step toward the American dream for immigrants.

There aren't that many American expats in Europe opening restaurants because what would we have to offer better than the cuisines of Europe? I will make an exception for the Dutch. I lived there and travelled the country. Overall, their cuisine sucks.

seagrass

I think we have a lot to offer. I love the way Americans aren't afraid to break from what's considered traditional and to blend more than one type of cuisine. I haven't been to Europe since the 90's, but when I did live there we travelled all over. I'll never forget how excited we were to find American restaurants at Euro Disney- a New York style bagel shop and a little diner. BTW, I will never understand why bagels haven't made their way over there yet. As much as I love their breads, bagels stand in a league of their own for me.

Cheesesteaks and hoagies! Let's face it, not all "foreign" food is fine cuisine.

A couple variations on the theme:

When abroad, if you search for restaurants on your GPS, is "American" one of the categories offered? If so, how often does it pull up anything beyond international chains?

When abroad, if you go to a book store and look in the international cookbook section, how many choices are billed as American cuisine?

I don't know the answer to either question; for the latter I'd expect to find grilling and bbq, but what else?

Searching the various countries online amazon gives results -

Here's a listing of american (Amerikanish) cookbooks at amazon.de (Germany)

Searching 'etats-unis' (United States) at amazon.fr (France) results in only one cookbook so I'm obviously using the wrong term in french.

Searching 'ricetta americana' at amazon.it (Italy) gives a few results.

Here is a link that might be useful: German 'American' cookbooks

A little off topic:

It seems to me that tailgate food is very much American cooking.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: tailgate

The only dish that I can think of that is truely
American, is apple pie, (and I'm not sure about that one).
I was devastated to find out that pizza did not originate
in Italy. Maybe Al Gore can take over this one, and
begin a tirade on 'Global Cooking'.

A dish originated in the US is "General Tso's Chicken"

dcarch

Pizza sure did originate in Italy....Perhaps not Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza...but a yeast crust with tomato sauce and cheese sure did.

When Jim was in Iasi Romania a few years ago, we noticed this restaurant and htel, Little Texas. Alas, he did not get to go there so we can't report.

Here is a link that might be useful: Little Texas

Coincidentally, a show called Fast Foods Gone Global was on the Travel Channel one night this week.

Although it doesn't really answer angelaid's question, it does address the modifications made to the US menus of restaurant chains like Subway, McDonalds, and KFC, to accommodate local tastes and religious dietary restrictions in foreign countries.

It was very interesting.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fast Foods Gone Global

Sanborn's, in Mexico City, is an American style restaurant that caters to American tourists, but there are also other American style restaurants in Mexico City. One group of new friends once took me to an American style restaurant (I forget the name of it, but it was not part of a chain), and I told them that I did not go to Mexico to have American food! I don't know if these restaurants are still there, but I did not see American chain restaurants in Mexico when I was there last. There is a French department store chain that has a store there, however. The chain restaurants may have made it to Mexico by now, but they were not there in the 1970s and early 1980s. I've been to Mexico since then, but on much shorter trips than I used to take. Still, the Mexicans were proud to have American style restaurants back in the 1970s. They also had Argentine restaurants, Jewish delis, Scandinavian pastry shops, a Swiss Fondue restaurant, and some pizza places. Now they have many more international restaurants, including Japanese.

Lars

I can only speak for France; I've never seen an American restaurant here. "MacDo" (as it's called) etc is not considered to be a restaurant nor to be real food. It's fast food and thought of as being something to fill you up quickly when you don't have the time for your real lunch or as something amusing for the kids. Sounds very condescending, I know but America isn't known for its cuisine as far as the French think. My DH will only eat it once a year or so on a long road trip.
I don't think meat in bread is an American invention either. You may find that the sandwich is an English invention ha!

Europeans are very protective and proud of their food heritage and are deeply worried of the influence over young people of places like MacDo. Also, with increasing problems of obesity, people don't want to see their children eating that stuff. I looked up a Big Mac - there are 490 calories in one. Add on the chips and a drink and perhaps a pudding and you've eaten your daily allowance more or less. We see many programmes on TV talking about weight problems in the US and how they're migrating to Europe.

I would love to see a proper American Restaurant with all the dishes that you talk about here that I've never eaten. I've tried to make a few - but not brilliant. I've trie"d meat loaf a couple of times and it was horrible so I'm obviously doing something wrong! A real restaurant would be packed out,I bet! I'd be there!

Etymology
The first written usage of the English word appeared in Edward Gibbon's journal, in longhand, referring to "bits of cold meat" as a "Sandwich".[9] It was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th-century English aristocrat, although he was neither the inventor nor sustainer of the food. It is said that he ordered his valet to bring him meat tucked between two pieces of bread, and because Montagu also happened to be the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, others began to order "the same as Sandwich!"[10][6] It is said that Lord Sandwich was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue playing cards, particularly cribbage, while eating without getting his cards greasy from eating meat with his bare hands.[6]

We have always planned vacations around food. I can't imagine going to any other country, especially Italy or France and actually eating in a McD's or even a Hard Rock Cafe. It just wouldn't enter my mind to eat in an American or Canadian style restaurant.

As for pizza. I learned to make pizza or what my friend called pizza. First generation, moved to Canada when she was 11 and it was her responsibility to get dinner started when she got home from school. Pizza was often served as the bread with dinner. Yeast dough, topped with just homemade tomato sauce and just a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Not covered with mozzarella.

Although apparently Greek in origin, the Greek pizza/pita wasn't topped with tomato sauce. According to Wikipedia.

American Restaurants in France

American Restaurants in England

It appears that both London and Paris have American style restaurants, which does not surprise me that much. Didn't the movie Casablanca take place in an American restaurant in Morocco?

Personally, I would not go to an American restaurant in a foreign country, but it may be a sort of novelty for the people there. At any rate, they do not appear to be at all common.

Lars

Lars,

Was that Swiss Fondu restaurant back in the 60s perhaps in Mexico City? If so, I also enjoyed a meal there a couple times.

/tricia

We just got back from a long trip, mostly in Germany. I can report that in Berlin, there are some restaurants that are at least supposed to be American. I didn't eat in any, but I understand that they are popular with ironic, hip young people and travelers. They have some shockingly un-PC names -- like "White Trash."

As a matter of fact, on this trip, my family and I were thinking of what we would put on the menu at a nice, American cuisine restaurant abroad. Here's some of the things we thought of:

Turkey - with all the trimmings
Crab cakes
Jambalaya
Lobster
New England boiled dinner
Fried clams
Tex-Mex chili
Corn on the cob
Pie, especially apple, pumpkin, pecan, and blueberry
Barbecue -- lots of kinds!
Cole slaw
Baked beans
Biscuits
Meat loaf
Navajo fry bread
Hot dogs! And hamburgers, too -- why not?
Watermelon
Fried chicken
Chocolate chip cookies
Chowders
Cornbread
Fish fry
PBJ

What did we forget?

gellchom - brownies!

Tricia, yes the Swiss Fondue House was in Mexico City and was there in the 1960s, although I went there in the 1970s. I believe it was in Zona Rosa, or perhaps Col. Cuahtemoc, on the other side of Reforma. I remember that it was old when I went there. It's not there any more, but there is a newer Fondue restaurant in Col. Polanco, which is the neighborhood where I mostly stayed and is also the most Jewish neighborhood. The deli I went to there on Avendia Mazarik was called Shep's, and it's no longer there - Polanco has changed a lot since I used to visit, and Mazarik is becoming like Rodeo Drive. I stayed at a friend's house one and a half blocks from Mazarik, and there is now a 7 story Condo building where his house used to be. The last place I went to for brunch in Polanco was very much like a cafe at Sunset Plaza in L.A. with a very similar menu.

Lars

"Didn't the movie Casablanca take place in an American restaurant in Morocco?"

According to Wiki,it was an
"upscale nightclub and gambling den"!!!

And the name of that nightclub was "Rick's Cafe Americain". However, I do not remember what food was served there, if any, although I expect it was bar food of some sort.

There is a new Rick's Cafe in Casablanca that serves a combination of Moroccan and American dishes but has nothing to do with the movie, other than the name. There is a restaurant in Venice, California called "Casablanca", but it serves only Mexican food!

Lars

And Gellchom....you forgot potroast, with mashed potatoes and gravy!

I believe potroast, with mashed potatoes and gravy is quite universal. Not possible to claim as american dish :)
I had more than my share of potroast, with mashed potatoes and gravy in the past long before we moved here.
Olga