American Restaurants in the UK??

I know that we have a lot of American Restaurants(not counting the fast food joints) in the UK, like TGI Fridays, Frankie & Bennys(although thats not an American restaurant as such per se, but it makes people beleive that it is, judging by the description in their menu), Ruby Tuesdays(only in Cardiff right now), and even Dennys is looking into the UK market, but heres my list of restaurants that I would LOVE to see over here:

Perkins(Excellent breakfasts!!)
Fuddruckers
Outback Steakhouse
Famous Daves
Buffalo Wild Wings
Don Pablos(Excellent Mexican Restaurant)
Mongolian Grill
Olive Garden
Red Lobster
Applebees
Houligans
Bubba Shrimp(based on the movie Forrest Gump)
Dunkin Donuts
Pantera Bread

And thats just for starters!!

Outback Steakhouse is in the UK.

Where?

Frankie and Benny's has the worst service ever.

DH and I have walked out of Frankie and Benny's due to their horrible service.

http://www.outbackpom.com/

Buffalo Wild Wings
Don Pablos(Excellent Mexican Restaurant)

I would DIE for buffalo chicken tenders with ranch and ANY good Mexican!

http://www.outbackpom.com/

Thats no good, when I am stuck down here in crappy Bournemouth!!!

The only one on the original list that I'd really like is Dunkin Donuts.  And they were here (at least in London) until the mid-90s or so.  

I miss Dunk.  

I don't like any of those restaurants, I'm not a huge fan of American chains, also the nutritional info for those restaurants scare me, I went to the Olive Garden for the first time last year with my in-laws and the menu was a nightmare of cheese and cream as I was dieting, I ended up picking one of their "Garden Fayre, low fat options"  and when I checked later it still had over 800 calories Next time I'll just have the minstrone soup a 100cals

I would like some good mexican food, but good mexican rarely comes from chains, it comes from little stalls and unassuming restaurants in strip malls that end up being amazing.

My boy really likes fuddruckers though, but I've never been

I don't like any of those restaurants, I'm not a huge fan of American chains, also the nutritional info for those restaurants scare me, I went to the Olive Garden for the first time last year with my in-laws and the menu was a nightmare of cheese and cream as I was dieting, I ended up picking one of their "Garden Fayre, low fat options"  and when I checked later it still had over 800 calories Next time I'll just have the minstrone soup a 100cals

I would like some good mexican food, but good mexican rarely comes from chains, it comes from little stalls and unassuming restaurants in strip malls that end up being amazing.

My boy really likes fuddruckers though, but I've never been

To Hell with diets!!!!

Anyway, you could have picked from their diabetic menu or, if I recall they do have a healthy options section in their menus!!

Also, I do tend to agree regarding Mexican restaurants in the USA, some of the best food is served in "mom and pop" restaurants which are usually located in the downtown(older parts) of towns or cities!! One of the best Mexican Restaurants I have been to is one called Plaza Garibaldi in North Mankato, Minnesota!! We even got to know the staff there on first named basis and they even gave us regular customer discounts!! The food was excellent and totally authentic and stuck to original Mexican recipes!!

To Hell with diets!!!!

Anyway, you could have picked from their diabetic menu or, if I recall they do have a healthy options section in their menus!!

Also, I do tend to agree regarding Mexican restaurants in the USA, some of the best food is served in "mom and pop" restaurants which are usually located in the downtown(older parts) of towns or cities!! One of the best Mexican Restaurants I have been to is one called Plaza Garibaldi in North Mankato, Minnesota!! We even got to know the staff there on first named basis and they even gave us regular customer discounts!! The food was excellent and totally authentic and stuck to original Mexican recipes!!

To Hell with diets!!!!

Anyway, you could have picked from their diabetic menu or, if I recall they do have a healthy options section in their menus!!

Also, I do tend to agree regarding Mexican restaurants in the USA, some of the best food is served in "mom and pop" restaurants which are usually located in the downtown(older parts) of towns or cities!! One of the best Mexican Restaurants I have been to is one called Plaza Garibaldi in North Mankato, Minnesota!! We even got to know the staff there on first named basis and they even gave us regular customer discounts!! The food was excellent and totally authentic and stuck to original Mexican recipes!!

I did, I was saying the healthy options aren't that healthy.

There's some amazing restaurants and food in the UK, but there aren't the chains which offer that bland/safe consistency for low prices. Good food seems harder to find here, but when you do it's amazing. I might be spoiled as I lived in London and Brighton which both have amazing restaurant scenes. When I go to the US I go to Austin and NYC which again have amazing restaurant scenes so there's no need to settle for the known territory of a chain, I really plan my trips to NYC and Austin so I get to experience different things, trends in food, new restaurants etc so I may have a skewed perspective.

Bah!  I don't want to see *any* of those places.  It's bad enough as it is with KFCs and Dominoes and American-style strip malls everywhere you turn (hubby says that's only been in the last 15 or so years).  I would hate to see the UK become even more American-ized.

That *doesn't* mean I wouldn't want to see more good Mexican restaurants (not chains!) or even nice steak-houses for the carnivores among us (no me!), etc.

I agree with Andee and Cheesebiscuit.  The lack of chain restaurants in the UK is an excellent thing, and helps to keep unique, independent restaurants in business.  Bournemouth has some lovely places to eat.  La Strada, for example, is head and shoulders above the Olive Garden--the chef is actually Italian, for a start--and there is all kinds of gorgeous ethnic food on Charminster Road.  I'd far rather eat there than standard American blah. 

And Frankie and Bennys?  Ugh.  I tried a hamburger there once and it was truly disgusting.  Never again. 

Bah!  I don't want to see *any* of those places.  It's bad enough as it is with KFCs and Dominoes and American-style strip malls everywhere you turn (hubby says that's only been in the last 15 or so years).  I would hate to see the UK become even more American-ized.

I agree wholeheartedly. If you want to live in the UK, then you want to live in the UK. What's the point of it if it's just a replica of the US??

Though, actually, I never went to any of those places when I lived in the US either. I mean, if I wanted Italian food, I'd go to an Italian restaurant, not to Olive Garden.