You can get excellent food in restaurants in Britain, expect to pay for it. Most pizzas are sold through kebab/pizza takeaway shops run by middle easterners. Pizza in the US has evolved. In Britain it seems to be the product of a standardized supply chain. Pizza in Cornwall is the same as pizza in Yorkshire. I have never been able to get an Italian sausage pizza in Britain. Sausage in British pizzas means either pepperoni or salami. No Italians own, manage, or run pizzerias in Britain. Restaurants yes, pizzerias no. I once wondered if the absence or Italian sausage was a religious thing as many of the staff are often Islamic. But that couldn’t be as they offered ham pizza.
I’ve travelled far and wide in Italy and pizza varies not only region to region but town to town as well. Never could get ahold of a Sicilian pie, not even in Sicily. The best pizza in Europe? Finland. Finnish pizza is similar to Chicago style with an excellent choice of fillings.
Nothing beats American pizza for quality and consistency. Yes, I know it varies, but, we’re talking about on the average. Don’t buy Mexican in Lichtenstein or Chinese in Brussels.
Most of the big pizza chains are in Europe. However, something happens in the translation. I’ve never be a fan of franchised food.
In Holland they put mayonnaise on French fries. In Britain if you order fish and chips the fish is usually superb while the chips (French fries) are from hell, soggy and greasy. Never go to any European restaurant that specialises in “American” food. It ain’t. The German idea of American corn bread is more like gypsum board. They do their own food wonderfully.
Good to know, and thank you.
“No Italians own, manage, or run pizzerias in Britain.”
As a wild child hitchhiking thru Europe one summer, a group of us in Athens went to a restaurant run by a NEW YORK CITY transplant. The guy was behind the counter cooking and talking in his NYC accent! It was breakfast so we ate bacon, eggs, toast, etc. Absolutely wonderful.
One of my favorite meals while stationed in Sicily was Sicilian pizza at an AMF BOWLING ALLEY in Catania. White table cloth, good silverware, the waiter in a vest and tie. Lots of wine.