American restaurant in UK

In Glasgow there is no shortage of pancakes on breakfast menus (we have a few American style restaurants... even Wetherspoons are doing pancakes).  But you only get the smallest of small portions of syrup, and usually have to ask for butter.

Shockingly, the last non-Wetherspoon place i had pancakes in charged £11.99 for 3 pancakes and 2 rashers of bacon.     £11.99!?!?!

Re brunch - it's fairly prolific now in London (another recommendation: Kentish Canteen!). But if you are going to do it, put a short stack of pancakes in the menu. What I wouldn't do to have an american style pancake every once in a while. And a good, old fashioned American breakfast: 2 eggs any style, (streaky) bacon, toast and home fries. Oh, and a bloody mary bar.

I think prolific is fairly strong.  While some weekend menus include things like omelets and eggs benedict they usually stop serving them at noon.  Give me a proper brunch with proper brunch choices-including bloody marys-and serve them until 4pm!

I liked in New England for over 20 years and never had any American chop suey. I have heard of it, though, but never knew exactly what was in it.

Never heard of chop suey like this and I am from PA. But hey, whatever floats your boat! 

I pass by this place on my way to work everyday and the sign never fails to amuse me. How do you all think a halal diner (halal written in Arabic no less) would go down in the US? 

http://www.tinseltown.co.uk/Bayswater/

While some weekend menus include things like omelets and eggs benedict they usually stop serving them at noon.  Give me a proper brunch with proper brunch choices-including bloody marys-and serve them until 4pm!

Then get thee to the Kentish Canteen! 10-4 with a bloody mary to boot.

I'll give you yankees pizza, pasta, hoagies, bagels, deli stuffs and so forth - you just do them better. But I read up on american chop suey and found out about some of your other culinary concoctions like hot dish (tater tot casserole?) and garbage plate and quite frankly I think I'd rather just have a bowl of gumbo and a cold beer (with a side of hush puppies).

**Got me to thinking Hot Dish would be a good name for the band....but as always it is taken.


 

There have been a lot of good suggestions on this thread, and I would second (or fifth) most of them: buffalo wings, fried chicken, mac & cheese, salad bar.  All good suggestions.  But, to be honest, I think the key to making a really good, authentic American restaurant is not just filling the menu with 'American foods,' but making sure that all the food is made in the right way.

For example, lots of places have 'American' pancakes, but they're never quite right.  And I've never seen proper hashbrowns, just the frozen, pre-formed kind.  Or take steaks, as an example.  They're not exclusively American, by any means, but whenever I've had them in 'American' restaurants here, again, they're just not right.  There's no seasoning, and they're rarely char-grilled, so they just don't taste the same.  There are lots of other examples of things that I've ordered, and just been disappointed in, because they weren't what I was hoping for.

So, whenever you've settled on what you want on the menu, go to the states yourself and find out how they're supposed to taste.  Then, ask yourself if it's possible to replicate that in the U.K..  Often, the answer will be yes.  But sometimes it will be no, because the available ingredients just aren't the same.  In that case, for the love of God, just don't try.  Because there are tons of Midwestern staples that I miss dearly, but if I saw them on a menu here, I wouldn't dare order them for fear of how badly wrong they'd be.

Or take steaks, as an example.  They're not exclusively American, by any means, but whenever I've had them in 'American' restaurants here, again, they're just not right.  There's no seasoning, and they're rarely char-grilled, so they just don't taste the same. 

Steaks taste different here because UK beef  is grass fed as opposed to US beef which is grain fed.  No amount of seasoning or char grilling is going to make a UK steak taste like a US steak.   

I'll give you yankees pizza, pasta, hoagies, bagels, deli stuffs and so forth - you just do them better. But I read up on american chop suey and found out about some of your other culinary concoctions like hot dish (tater tot casserole?) and garbage plate and quite frankly I think I'd rather just have a bowl of gumbo and a cold beer (with a side of hush puppies).

**Got me to thinking Hot Dish would be a good name for the band....but as always it is taken.


 

Ick. Tater Tot Casserole. That does not sound good. What is Garbage Plate? I've never heard of it.

.... I think the key to making a really good, authentic American restaurant is not just filling the menu with 'American foods,' but making sure that all the food is made in the right way.

For example, lots of places have 'American' pancakes, but they're never quite right.  ... There are lots of other examples of things that I've ordered, and just been disappointed in, because they weren't what I was hoping for.

So, whenever you've settled on what you want on the menu, go to the states yourself and find out how they're supposed to taste.  Then, ask yourself if it's possible to replicate that in the U.K..  Often, the answer will be yes.  But sometimes it will be no, because the available ingredients just aren't the same.  In that case, for the love of God, just don't try.  Because there are tons of Midwestern staples that I miss dearly, but if I saw them on a menu here, I wouldn't dare order them for fear of how badly wrong they'd be.

This is excellent advice from woadgrrl.   London is loaded with "American" style restaurants and American offerings on menus.  It's all very hit and miss.  First, defining what American is tricky.  There is a continent of regional variation in tastes and ingredients, all thinking theirs is the "best".  Think of the many variations of stuffing at Thanksgiving, and you get an idea.   My partner is originally from the South, and I am from the Midwest.  We grew up eating very different foods.  I've also lived in New Mexico and Washington State which have distinct cuisines as well.  I would suggest picking a region of the US and sticking with it because it would come across as more authentic and meaningful.

What's currently available in London?
-American diner food.  There are the chains like Ed's where you can get burgers, chili dogs, shakes, fires, and all the usual suspects.  The Diner off Carnaby St even attempts corn dogs last I was there.  There are plenty of UK chains that do American inspired burgers as well like Byron's.
-Southern food.  There are various faux Cajun-inspired places, and you have Bodeans and various places that do barbeque.  My partner (raised in Memphis) is always a bit disappointed there.  For him, the cornbread is too sweet, the slaw not vinegary enough, and of course he would rather have dry-rubbed ribs to NC or TX style bbq sauces.  
-American take-away.  Check out the online take-away sites (like Just Eat, etc.) that categorise food by type.   The "American" offerings are usually typical fried chicken, buffalo/hot wings, and sad attempts at BBQ, soul food and the like.  
-Breakfast and brunch.  You can typically find American style breakfast items here and there on menus containing usually pancakes and French toast.  It's never quite right though as the others have said, and it leaves me wanting to kill for a Lumberjack Slam at Denny's!  I imagine that some of the best pancakes are found at hotels that cater to their American guests' palates.  

I wish it were so easy to be able to easily identify a niche for you.  Much of it will depend on what part of town you're in and what your competition is.  Most Americans I know talk about missing breakfast foods more than anything else.   Ultimately, you may have to adjust to the English palate as I doubt only American customers alone will make your business model work.  I think you could easily build up a loyal following though.  There was a nice little breakfast and lunch place in Maida Vale called Plan 9 run by a woman from Wisconsin.  It closed last year and is sorely missed by many of the Yanks in this part of town, especially Pancake Tuesdays!

Best of luck  

As others have said, a proper baked mac and cheese. I've had it a few times in various parts of the UK, and it has been nothing but disappointing and tasteless at best, vile at worst.

NYC style pizza, and NYC style bagels - especially salt bagels. Oh, how I miss a salt bagel!

What about philly cheese steak?

NYC style pizza, and NYC style bagels...

Now that I'm back, I fear moving out the NY-NJ area again for precisely these reasons! I mentally hug every slice I order and every egg and cheese on an everything bagel that passes before me. 

Steaks taste different here because UK beef  is grass fed as opposed to US beef which is grain fed.  No amount of seasoning or char grilling is going to make a UK steak taste like a US steak.  

Yes, I'm well aware of that, since I raise beef cattle.  That's not what I'm talking about.  I'm talking about, specifically, the lack of any seasoning, and the way that they're cooked-- not to mention the fact that most places seem not to know when to stop cooking them!

-American diner food.  There are the chains like Ed's where you can get burgers, chili dogs, shakes, fires, and all the usual suspects.  The Diner off Carnaby St even attempts corn dogs last I was there.  There are plenty of UK chains that do American inspired burgers as well like Byron's.

This is actually the thing that annoys me the most!  I won't order an 'American' burger, unless it's McDonalds/Burger King, because they never, ever have the right pickles!  Putting sweet pickles (i.e. what we'd call Bread & Butter pickles) on a burger, and calling it American, should be classed as a hate crime!

I'll give you yankees pizza, pasta, hoagies, bagels, deli stuffs and so forth - you just do them better. But I read up on american chop suey and found out about some of your other culinary concoctions like hot dish (tater tot casserole?) and garbage plate and quite frankly I think I'd rather just have a bowl of gumbo and a cold beer (with a side of hush puppies).

**Got me to thinking Hot Dish would be a good name for the band....but as always it is taken.
 

I'm American and have never heard of American Chop Suey. It sounds absolutely awful, to be honest. I had never heard of Tater Tot Hot Dish until sometime after college when some friends who grew up in the Midwest introduced me and honestly, YUCK. They would make it and bring it to parties and think it was the best thing ever but honestly I thought it was pretty gross.

But yes, pizza and bagels are really not the same outside of the NYC area. I don't know if they're really worth trying to replicate.

I'm American and have never heard of American Chop Suey. It sounds absolutely awful, to be honest. I had never heard of Tater Tot Hot Dish until sometime after college when some friends who grew up in the Midwest introduced me and honestly, YUCK. They would make it and bring it to parties and think it was the best thing ever but honestly I thought it was pretty gross.

I've not heard of those either, and they don't sound very good to me.

But yes, pizza and bagels are really not the same outside of the NYC area. I don't know if they're really worth trying to replicate.

In the neighborhood I grew up in (in Phila) we had a place called Brooklyn Bagels.  They were made fresh on the spot (this was the 70s and 80s--don't know if it still exists) and were awesome!  But judging by the name, they probably were a true NY bagel.