Oh, our cafeteria food is actually pretty decent, but they just don't have Chinese food, which I do want from time to time. xDD LOL It's about not doing it all the time, because I don't have that kind of money.
I'm from a pretty smallish town in Minnesota. D; I live directly on the border of two towns, but the one I'm the closest to is the one that I tell people I'm from. We don't really have much of anything here, is why I love visiting other states because there's sooo much more food!
I've always been interested in actual Chinese food, but you're probably right, in that most Chinese restaurants in America make 'Americanized' Chinese food as to make the food more appealing to Americans.
Yeah, there'd be a lot of it if it did grow on trees.
When I live at home, we live in a tiny town, that's right near another tiny town, that doesn't have a lot, I have that issue too - I'm in a town where the people of it don't know where one town starts and the other one stops... xDD LOL! I tend to just combine the two into one name. A lot of people do that. xDD LOL
@Ava - Sounds like you're stuck in a cultural wasteland. D: A documentary recently came out called "The Search for General Tso". It's about looking for the origin of the dish, since it is unlike any actual Chinese dish and seems to be something that a bunch of Chinese restaurants in the US cooked up concurrently. I want to see it. :D
I grew up in a medium sized town in Louisiana not too far from New Orleans, so we made trips there now and then. But the town has gotten soooooooo much bigger since I moved away. And in high school, we moved to Scotland. I got exposed to culture all over the place and it is glorious :D
Dude, I don't care about authentic. As long as it's good. The authentic tends to be the gross or unappealing one, anyway. This one Chinese place has the most AMAZING noodles oh my GOSH. And they're not the gross thin yellow ones! They're thick, wide, and LOOONG. And they taste SO! GOOD!
Amane says that she doesn't care about authentic, but those long thick noodles are probably authentic homemade noodles :P Had them several times in Chinatown in NYC!
That does look like a very interesting documentary! :O
They're right, it definitely doesn't look like chicken, though. xD LOL.
Yeah, my town is pretty bland, culture wise. There's not much here. Typical midwestern stuff. People here like pasta salads, Chipotle and Buffalo Wild Wings...
Food here is so bland and plain. All of the good restaurants are far away. Dx
LOL. To me, not "bland and plain" is tossing dark seasoning on fries. Or bringing out the mustard. Gross. And why do tacos have lettuce? Picky eating 4lyfe.
Chipotle and Buffalo Wild Wings are popular but gross. There are a few places around here that have good chicken and fries.
/BWW served my fries with A PICKLE SLICE
/I cannot forgive what it did to the poor things‼
I hate Buffalo Wild Wings! I've tasted WAY better buffalo wings pretty much anywhere else! I have NO clue why they are so popular! They definitely are far from good.
I can stomach Chipotle. I used to be able to eat it everyday because I loved it so much, but ever since they changed who they hire there (ever since the actual Latino people stopped working there) the food has been... bland.
I'm all for loads of flavor! I like spicy things, (but not so spicy that you can't actually taste the food) and things with lots of seasoning. I love fries, but to me, a really good french fry doesn't need any sauce. :o
It smells bad in there because the place is Buffalo Wild WINGS. Rib/wing sauce smells terrible. I've never had Chipotle. I'm not even sure what the food there is like. But I think it's weird spicy stuff I've never heard of.
Fries are too dry for me without ketchup. I only eat fast food fries without because that would be unwieldy. Only seasoning I can stand on a fry is salt. It's the dark seasonings. They look too sickening to eat.
Real funny telling people about all the things I don't eat. There's actually a lot I eat. As long as it doesn't look or smell unfavorable. Or just give me a "nah" vibe.
/burgers and sandwiches have a huge "nah" vibe
I think Buffalo Wild Wings and similar chains are popular because they are simply mediocre and people with average to terrible taste enjoy the heck out of mediocre food. I went out with my childhood friend from afore mentioned middlesized town that has grown quite a bit. When picking someplace to eat, the suggestions brought to the table were Outback Steakhouse, Hooters and Twin Peaks (a Hooters Clone with similarly skimpily dressed waitresses.) She said "Nothing weird, like Chinese or anything" as if Chinese was so foreign and strange, that they just wouldn't eat it. Which is funny, because she definitely ate Chinese with me when we were teenagers. What happened in all the years that I was gone? I figure, my world grew bigger and hers stayed the same size, maybe even shrunk a bit! No weird stuff like Chinese indeed!
Anyway, Hooters was chosen. They had a spectacularly average "American" food menu of burgers and fries and all that. The loaded tater tots that they claimed were "So Good!" Were simply standard frozen tater tots smothered under nacho cheese and bacon. Something you could easily make at home in five minutes. It was not so good, it was so average. And it was also packed. Not only was it packed, but it was full of pregnant women! That one boggled my mind. It's been a while since I've seen that many pregnant people wandering around in one place.
So yes, I think Buffalo Wild Wings and it's ilk are just spectacularly average and your average close minded bland tastebudded person is perfectly content with that. I can't even tell you the number of average to terrible places my Nana has taken me to that she thinks are great. Nana, I love you, but your tastebuds suck.
That makes sense, Cookie.
I have never been to Hooters, but I can't get over the fact that the waitresses are dressed so skimply. I think I'd feel gross knowing that they're walking through the kitchen in close to underwear and being around my food like that.
I like American food, but I prefer more than just burgers and fries. I like New Orleans food, particularly. D: America has a many cultures of food and I like to experience all of it, not just burgers and fries.
o___o; I don't think it matters what the waitresses are wearing. They don't make the food, and the only time they come in contact with your food is to bring it to you- So all that should be touching is their hands, and that's the same no matter where you go.
I know they don't actually touch the food, but I would still lose my appetite seeing a half naked woman bringing me my food. Even a half naked man bringing me my food would weird me out too.
The Hooters outfits are a little more modest than underwear. I mean, even if it is underwear, they're wearing something. As long as no one's pubic hair is flying around, we should all be fine right?
I'm fine with "american" food, but 90% of it is better when you make it at home. I'm not really a fan of going out for steaks or hamburgers or most pasta dishes, which is the life bread of most of those place. I'd rather make that at home. An alfredo sauce I whip up at home is gonna be way better than theirs. Some are ok, but some are so watery and gross.
@Amane - Depends on the kind. I like to go out for Chik-fil-A (I know it's evil, but it's tasty) but I also love frying chicken at home. Om nom nom.
Hey Dystopia.
At least you don't have to eat off the waitresses right?
If you don't like a restaurant, you don't have to go there. Nothing wrong with having different tastes and wanting better food than those sorts of places serve.
It's not bad to hit them up now and then. They usually get chicken fingers right so Amane can go ;)
I tend to go out to Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Indian places when I eat out. :D Even though we're a tiny state, we have a pretty good diversity of food.
I've never been to Hooters, so I can't really say much on their clothes except for what I've seen on Google Images. Lol! Who knows? Maybe Hooters has changed since then?
I also prefer making my own pasta sauces. It's hard to find places with a good Alfredo sauce! D; I love pasta, but I'm usually pretty picky about it. Many chains don't have good pasta.
When I was there they wore tiny white shirts tied up and little orange bootie shorts. Like I said, the food was average. No reason for me to ever go back. :P
But every average food place has at least one pasta dish on the menu. Usually something in a cream sauce that will be hit or miss.
I mean, even if it is underwear, they're wearing something. 
As long as no one's pubic hair is flying around, we should all be fine right? 
