On Monday, a Reddit thread asked, "Non-USA residents of Reddit, does your country have local 'American' restaurants similar to 'Chinese' and 'Mexican' ones in the US? If yes, what do they present as American cuisine?" Here are some of best submissions:
1. They're decorated like '50s-style diners:
2. Actually, they're really into anything retro:
"In France, there's a restaurant that was called Memphis, I think, and it was designed to be like a 1950s/'60s-type restaurant with Elvis statues and waiters wearing uniforms from that era. It also played music from things like Grease and rock 'n' roll. All the burgers came in double or triple patties with American cheese with sides like onion rings and Dr. Pepper."
3. In India, they serve steamed corn:
"American here, but I visit in-laws in India every year. One thing has always perplexed me, which is the street stalls and mall kiosks selling 'steamed American corn'. Basically, it's sweet corn, served plain in a cup or with various spices including chili, chat masala, mint pudina, black pepper, punjabi tadka, etc. My father-in-law thinks this is what all Americans eat as snack food and keeps offering to buy it for me when we go out on an excursion."
4. Chinese "American" restaurants cover everything in black pepper:
"In China, there are lots of independent American restaurants run by locals. They tend to have burgers and fries, terrible steak (usually with black pepper sauce), weak coffee, and lots of not-quite-Chinese but definitely not American dishes like curry beef, and black pepper spaghetti."
5. They also serve lots and lots of barbecue:
6. In Germany, they have banana juice (!!):
"I went to an American diner when visiting Germany. The one thing that stood out was banana juice."
7. They pretty much always serve burgers:
"In Germany and Denmark, there are American restaurants, usually serving burgers, fries, chili, ribs, steak, and corn. I've even seen ones with waiters dressed up as cowboys with fake guns in holsters!"
"Here in Moscow, we have a restaurant network called Beverly Hills. It serves burgers and shakes mainly, and every single one has a classic jukebox."
8. Singaporeans think Americans are really into chicken cutlets:
"In Singapore, hawker centres (outdoor food courts) often have a 'Western food stall' and they always serve chicken cutlets. My Singaporean friends asked me if chicken cutlets were popular in the US because they assumed it was an American food and I'm like...WTF is chicken cutlet?"
9. They serve fries with all kinds of toppings in England:
10. In Korea, they feature lots of Chicago-style pizza:
"Last year, Chicago pizza exploded in Korea (Korea has a new American food obsession to to three times a year, this year's being Subway), and my city suddenly had five Chicago pizza restaurants open up in the span of about two weeks. They were okay, though I've never had authentic Chicago pizza. One of my mates told me that they, like most Asian pizzas, pale in comparison to the real deal."
11. And they serve garlic bread with a sprinkling of sugar on top:
"In Korea, garlic bread has sugar on it. Pizza has corn. Bread is terrible in general."
12. "Indiana cafés" in France serve Caesar salad and Tex-Mex:
"Saw this place in Paris. As someone from Indiana, I did a double-take. I love that it serves that famous Hoosier style of food, known as Tex-Mex."
"I'm not French, but I studied in Paris for a bit, and I remember craving burritos and I got so excited when I found 'Cafe Indiana.' It was tackily decorated with Native American headdresses and whatnot. The servings were large, they had large Cokes with ice, but the burrito was very much a letdown."
13. In Japan, they're casual steak restaurants:
14. Or they offer French fries and hot dogs for breakfast:
"I'm an American, but I went to Japan and had what they called an American breakfast buffet. They served French fries and labeled them hash browns. They served hot dogs boiled in water still floating in the water and labeled those sausages. Technically true, but wrong in spirit. The worst thing was the bacon. They boiled the bacon (American bacon) in water and served it in the water like the aforementioned hot dog. There's only one bad way to serve bacon, and that's it."
15. And Australian ones have anything you'd eat at a backyard party:
"In Australia, we have bacon burgers, ribs, buffalo wings, fried chicken, corn."
16. In Italy, they have bad steak and good fries:
"I'm an American living in Italy. There is a chain called 'Wild West,' which is, you guessed it, Wild West themed. I have never seen more than one table occupied in ANY of them, and they can seat over 100 people each. They serve bad steak and good fries."
17. And in South Africa, they often have a Native American theme:
"In South Africa, we have Spur. It's Native American-themed and wrong on a number of levels."
*Some submissions have been edited for length and clarity.