[greasepaint]

Wierd British food habits, are the result of the attempt
to adapt to wierd British food taxes, duty, tax on the
duty, duty of the cost of subsidies, EU vat,
plus tax.
Otherwise, British would want American style food.

[Xenalyte]

Whereas in England we would have an aisle of grains and jams and cereals, Americans will dedicate an area the size of a tennis court just to varieties of bread: loafs of every shape and shade, bagels and buns, waffle mix.

Apparently she didn't make her way to the condiment aisle, where jams can be found in abundance, or the breakfast aisle, where exists every variety of cereal known to man.

My grocery store, unlike the one the Brit frequented, has only a bread aisle, not a bread tennis court.

[axel f]

Whenever my family hosts Europeans, we always take them to Buffalo Bob's BBQ in Lawrence, KS. It is hilarious watching their faces as the food is delivered--platefuls of fries, huge portions of BBQ, and half-gallon glasses of pop. They always look so amazed at the amount of food and drink they get.

[alnitak]

I just got back from a trip to the US, and I have to say the food portions are enormous. For lunch one day we want to "Black Eyed Pea" (I had the pot roast) and one of my friends ordered the chocolate cake for dessert. When it came it was the biggest piece of chocolate cake I had ever seen in my life. He ate some, then passed it round the table and 5 or 6 people took healthy spoonfuls.....and it WAS SO BIG THAT IT DIDN'T LOOK ANY SMALLER. He eventually had to get a doggy bag.

[The Great RJ]

She is right in that US has some terrible junk food and mainstream American beer has a lot in common with a bodily fluid of a similar color. However, she apparently never sampled some of America's best cuisine. Out here on the prairie incredible steaks are common and well prepared buffalo is a treat. American BBQ in its many variations is surely a better choice than "bangers and mash" and blood puddings.

I have heard it said that in hell the English are the cooks, the French are the engineers and the Germans are the police.

[dirtboy]

This from a country where the difference between medium and well done is how long you boil it...

[Kerfuffle]

"Have you ever tried an American apple? They look perfect — enormous, red and shiny — but have the consistency of cotton wool."

Have to agree here. Our supermarket apples, particularly, are huge but flavorless. But across the pond, I've survived what the British call a "sandwich" (think slices of used flypaper between white bread).

[Hemingway's Ghost]

The envy practically oozes out of this piece. British food plain sucks. British beer? That's a different story.

[chilepepper]

the author has never tasted texas bbq or north carolina ribs or fresh florida orange juice or (your favorite goes here)

[HungarianGypsy]

This is sad! Apparently, the only American food the author bothered with was what we consider junk food. Apparently never even bothered with anything else, just so they'd have something to complain about.

[pblax8]

Snails , Squid and Sushi make for good bait. (Maybe not the snails).

[Utah Binger]

‘Just the turkey, please.’ ‘The dish comes that way.’ ‘But I only want the turkey, thanks.’ ‘I’m sorry, miss, that’s not possible.’ ‘But I know you’ve got grilled turkey — it says so right here.’ ‘That’s our Grilled Turkey Sandwich, miss. Our Grilled Turkey’s on our dinner menu.’ ‘But surely you can just remove the bread?’ ‘No — I’m sorry. Like I told you before, the Grilled Turkey Sandwich comes with the bread.’ ‘You make it sound like it’s born with the bread.’

You forgot to credit Jack Nicholson.

[Steve_Seattle]

"The Cheesecake Factory is one of the most popular family food chains in the US — and for me the most grotesque example of American food."

I've only been to one CF, in downtown Seattle, and I wouldn't call it a "family" restaurant at all - more of a Yuppie business lunch kind of place. As for it's large (unusually large) menu, since when is there anything wrong with that? If they can do the recipes, why is a large selection a problem?

[Steve_Seattle]

Somebody needs to put this jerk out of his misery.

[Honorary Serb]

There is American food and American food. If you want taste, health, and love, eat at home most of the time! Most of the dishes that you concoct will be probably be versions of American food, despite the foreign influences. And eating that way will enable you and your family to chose the best food when you eat out, not sugary, saturated-fat laden glop.

When I am in England, I eat Indian food, as do many knowledgeable travelers. The Brits do make good ale, though!

[Conservomax]

Having lived in England and having witnessed English people eat, I give this article no worth.

[Uncle Vlad]

The British telling us our food is "gunky" is like Carrot Top telling Lenny Bruce, "You need to develop an edge."

[Steve_Seattle]

Any generalization about "American food" is probably outdated. In this country, you can now get just about every kind of food imaginable.

[AgentEcho]

I don't entirely agree or disagree with the writer.

First of all I want to make one thing clear, I'm a big guy (6'3" / 250+) and I'm an eater. I love food. And being half Cajun and living in south Texas you can guess my favorites.

I avoid fast food joints because I don't care for most of the food. McDonald's and Burger King actually make me feel ill. Jack in the Box is just gross. Taco Bell always sits like a rock. KFC, I grew up around chickens and the size of KFC's really concerns me. Wendy's, at least the lettuce looks like lettuce. Subway, they're good for a couple of months when they're new and the franchisee cares. After that the quality of the employee tends to sag.

As far as portion size I agree completely with the writer. I see people much smaller than me gorge themselves and then complain at how full they are. My wife and I go out with friends for an evening and the others stuff themselves where we get to go boxes and have a complete second meal the next day, and we;re not so miserable. It almost seems that people have this idea that "if it's in front of me I have no choice but to eat it". I'd gladly forfeit quantity for quality.

I try not to even go to chain normal 'sit down' restaurants because the quality isn't there.

I much prefer smaller restaurants that are trying to carve out their place in the market. You get to know those cooking. The wait staff has a low turn over, some haven been there for years. Management actually cares what you're saying when they ask how things are. They're asking because they want to, not because it's been dictated that they do so from their national headquarters.

I'm not meaning to sound like a prude, I just know what I like. Obviously fast food and chains have a place in the USA, just not so much in my life.

Æ

[Little Ray]

This poor person has not be introduced to Bar-B-Que yet! Someone get him to Maurice's or some other famous BBQ joint!