Contrary to popular international beliefs, we do not eat only fast food in the USA.  It is true that fast food is very popular in the US, but we also have many traditional sit-down-and-eat restaurants including some really fine-dining establishments.  These restaurants tend to fall into several loosely-defined categories.

The chain restaurants are owned and operated by large corporations, and they have numerous facilities in various cities and towns across the country.  Their menus are typically similar in every location, and their quality is quite consistent.  if you frequent these type of restaurants, you can be fairly sure of the type abd quality of food that you will be served.  I go to such restaurants when I am looking for casual unadventuresome dining.  The chain restaurants include: TGI Fridays, Ruby Tuesdays, Houlihans and Chilis offering traditional American fare; Red Lobster and Joe's Crabshack offering seafood; the Olive Garden with Italian cuisine, or the Cracker Barrel with southern cooking.  There are many others.

When traveling, I often prefer to seek out more adventuresome dining experiences such as sampling the regional specialties in popular local restaurants.  I usually find those restaurants by asking for recommendations from the people I meet in the area.  They frequently tell me of some obscure local restaurant that offers the best fried chicken, the best barbeque, the best home made meatloaf or the best apple pie in town.  These restaurants often have names like "Mom's Diner", "Bubba's Barbeque", "Charlie's Chicken Shack" or the "Kettle Cafe".  I have found some wonderful food in such places.

Steak Houses are a typical USA specialty.  They all feature grilled beefsteak, but also offer a few other standard selections like chicken, and seafood.  If you visit the USA, I strongly recommend you try at least one meal in a good steak house.  I have traveled extensively throughout Europe and the UK.  I know it is possible to find a good steak dinner in those countries, but you must seek one out, and are likely to find it only in the more expensive restaurants.  The average quality of the steaks in most other countries seems to be inferior to what you are served in the USA.  Even the cheaper steak houses in the US serve some very tasty meals.  The higher priced steak houses serve some succulent steaks that are delicious beyond description.

Ruth's Chris Steak Houses, Morton's Steakhouses and the Capitol Grill are all high-end steakhouse chain restaurants.  They ate not cheap, but the quality of the steaks and the service is all top rate.  Landry's, Shulo's and a whole host of other local restaurants offer the same top quality at the same high-end prices.  If you can afford it, I suggest you try at least one meal featuring steak in one of these finer restaurants.  There is also a wide selection of more modestly priced steak houses that serve delicious steaks, but not quite as succulent as those in the higher priced steak houses.  Outback, The Lone Star Steakhouse and the Texas Steakhouse are popular steak house chains offering more modestly priced steaks.  The later two restaurants also feature cowboy-costumed staff that intermittently line dance for the entertainment of the diners.

We have some strange quirks in our restaurants throughout the USA.  On most menus, the term "entree" means the main course not the first course.  The first course is usually termed "appetizer" or "starter".  The side salad is typically not served along side of the main course.  It is served with the bread before the main course.  Coffee or tea are usually served with the meal, but can also be served after the meal in finer restaurants.  Most restaurants offer the "bottomless" cup of cofee or the "bottomless" glass of iced tea or softdrinks. This means that the waiters will continue to refill your coffee or softdrink throughout the meal, but will only charge for one drink.

The noonday meal or "lunch" is typically served between 11AM and 3PM at most restaurants and it is a smaller meal than the evening meal.  The evening meal or "dinner" is normally served between 4PM and 10PM and it is usually larger and more expensive than the lunch.  All restaurants tend to be very flexible, so you can order just an appetizer or two appetizers or just a desert if you prefer

Many restaurants offer vegetarian meals and low-calorie diet meals.  Dinner salads are quite popular.  These culinary concoctions are meant to replace the main course.  They usually consist of a large bowl of salad greens and/or vegetables topped with various meats cheeses or seafoods.  A steak salad has grilled strips of steak along with cheese and french fried potatoes atop the usual greens.  A chef's salad is topped with strips of ham, turkey and cheese.  A cobb salad has bacon, crumbled egg and blue cheese.  The grilled chicken salad, the salmon salad, the shrimp salad and the antepasta salad all have self-explanatory names.  Salad dressing is the sauce or salad creme served with nearly all salads in the USA.  Italian dressing is simply oil and vinegar with spices.  French dressing is a creamy, tomato-based sauce.  Thousand islands is more of a remoulade, and honey dijon is a piquant mustard based cream.  Dinner salads provide you with a lighter more healthful alternative to the usual fare, and they can be quite tasty.

Here are a few typically USA foods that you should sample on your visit to this country:  New England Clam Chowder, a white cream-based soup made from the meat of the sweet succulant shellfish found in our northern waters.   Maryland crab cakes made with the tasty flesh of the blue crab.  Barbeque pork spareribs and pulled pork barbeque served with differing regional sauces.  Sandwiches in countless varieties with infinite variations of ingredients.  Especially tasty are the submarine sandwiches or hoagies like the Philadelphia cheese steak hoagie.  Chili usually served as an appetizer, not in the finer restaurants, but in the neighvorhood cafes and diners especially in the Southwest.  Pies for dessert, especially those homemade confections found in local diners.  This includes fruit pies like apple, berry and cherry; cream pies like banana, coconut, lemon and chocolate; or regional varieties like pecan, key lime and shoo-fly.

During the summer months, fresh corn-on-the-cob is available in most areas.  You cannot find the good stuff in restaurants or cafes as it does not taste great unless it is very fresh and cooked immediately before eating. You can sometimes find it at festivals or at roadside stands.  If you have cooking facilities, you can buy some fresh corn directly from a farmer, boil it for a few minutes, smear it with some butter, sprinkle on some salt and eat it directly off of the cob.  What a great summertime delicacy! 

Remember, waiters and waitresses are usually paid very low salaries in the expectation that they will earn sufficient tip money to supplement those salaries.  If you get good service from the wait staff, you should add a generous tip to your reimbursement.  Good service means that your server pleasantly greets you, is attentive to your needs, makes helpful suggestions on choices, checks back frequently to insure you are kept satisfied and aplologizes for any delays.  Fifteen percent is normal, twenty percent is generous.  Anything less is either stingy or indicative that you were not satisfied with the service.  If you pay by credit card, there will be a space at the bottom of your bill where you can pencil in an additional tip amount.  It is also acceptable to leave tip money on the table as you depart.