The Weirdest Things About the US That Americans Don’t Realize Are Odd (Food Edition)

If Twitter says so, it must be true. Or is it?

There is this one thing about American food that Americans have no idea is happening: their food is the best in the world. Not the hospitals, not the cars, not anything else that they’ve been indoctrinated to believe is the best.

But their food… omg! And they don’t even know it.

It’s true that this is my very personal and extremely biased opinion, but also keep in mind that I’m not just a foodie, I’ve crossed the threshold of food addiction a long time before. So I should know.

I’m a connoisseur of everything food and I can say without a doubt that if I had only one choice of food for the rest of my life, it would be whatever they concoct in their American cuisine labs, made of spice and everything nice, sweet, fiery, sour, crunchy, unapologetically fat, and insanely delicious. All at the same time.

Now let me make something clear here. When I say the best I don’t mean the best for your health, and I don’t mean the best for your figure, well-being, or anything leading to a good life. However… it’s the best tasting. And that’s my only criterion when I say ‘good food’.

However, my opinion vastly differs from the opinions of other travelers to the Land of Sugar (did you guys know everything is vastly sweeter in the US than anywhere else?).

I found that out from the Land of Inappropriate Opinions and Loud Mouths: the platform formerly known as Twitter and currently also known as Twitter, because it’s hard to change a name that has seeped into people’s consciousness for two decades. So suck it, Elon!

That being said, one of these days, as I was mindlessly scrolling through Twitter, I came across a post that kept me hooked for hours. The author was asking non-Americans who have been to the US ‘What is the weirdest thing about America that Americans don’t realize it’s weird?’

I read through all (all!) of the comments, then took the time to select some of them (ok, most of them) and I put them in categories. I took out the ugliest ones, but I did keep the honest ones, whether I agree with them or not.

I was so enthralled with the subject that I even wrote an article about it:

But because there was so much to say, and people voiced so many opinions, I decided to save the most important part for a separate article.

I’m talking about the food, of course.

Some opinions are spot on, some are weird, some are bordering on the offensive. But the latter are just jealous because they don’t get to experience your awesome American food every day of their sad lives.

Or is that just me? Yeah, must just be me…

Here is what people had to say about American food.

‘Grocery stores are out of control, and people do not know how to cook with raw ingredients. It’s all bottled X and canned Y. It’s gross weird.’

‘I’m sick of it — I can’t get a small pack of anything.’

‘I was surprised to see that Americans literally live on Pizza, Burgers, and Coke.’

‘Portion size at the American food restaurant was what made my eyes pop out when we went for a dinner for the very first time when we arrived in 1991. Omg’

‘When you go to a hotel and the breakfast buffet and every item is wrapped single-use plastic everywhere. Even the plates are disposable.’

‘How unnecessarily unhealthy their food is and the size of meals.’

‘Those weird ‘biscuits’ (plain sponge cakes) that taste of nothing yet are part of a cooked breakfast…Why? Oh, and don’t get me started on that tasteless big dollop of white, thick ‘sausage’ gravy on a breakfast.’

‘The size of the meals in restaurants! We ordered a main course — chicken — in a restaurant in San Francisco. It came with a serving of spaghetti the size of a main! We didn’t want to offend, but just couldn’t eat it all. Sacramento — smallest serve of chicken was half a chicken!’

‘Portion size of food when you eat out like wtf why so much.’

‘When I was there I saw fruit juice for sale “with real sugar”. Which, like…as opposed to what? And I asked for an aubergine pizza and it had no tomato sauce and the aubergine was battered and deep fried. Everything about US food is unnecessarily processed and so sweet.’

‘Food portions. American restaurant portions are ridiculously large compared to other countries. I’ve lived in Canada, several states (SC, NC, ME) and the UK. UK and Canada are pretty close to each other, US is about 50–75% larger.’

‘Why you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner specific joints? Most of our hotels serve every meal round the clock.’

‘What’s with the ice cold glass of water before food even during winter?’

‘The milk in the US tastes weird and doesn’t doesn’t perish in the fridge for a month. Milk is supposed to go bad in like 2 to 3 days. What kind of chemicals do they add in that milk?’

‘Americans don’t eat real food. I probably think this because I’m Brazilian, but it’s nonsense to me that lunch can be a sandwich. Where’s the rice, beans and meat? It’s tastier, even though slower to eat.’

‘Entrée selections on a US restaurant menu are the main course and they are usually huge servings. Elsewhere, entrée is generally the appetizer or a small serving to whet your appetite.’

‘Being warned by your coffee cup that it may contain a hot beverage. What’s that good for? If you ordered something hot, you’re expecting it. If you didn’t order something hot you’re not expecting it and get burnt anyway if you get the wrong one.’

‘Food portions! Go anywhere and the food portions are excessive. Ordered a small ice cream cup and it had two very large scoops. When I looked shocked by the quantity, the server asked if I wanted more!’

‘Level of food processing. You can leave American strawberries for weeks in the fridge — without consequences. My best guess is low-dose radiation. In Switzerland you can watch them deteriorate on the way home from the grocery store.’

‘Why are iced tea and sweet tea two different things. If I want a black tea on ice I’ll say that.’

‘Those mini toaster ovens instead of pop up ones? All these different fruit pies? Artichoke dip everywhere? Ranch sauce? No veggie burgers at fast food places?’

‘They despise fiber in their diet; damn it just bread and endless meat. Lettuce is for garnish.’

‘One time I was at a restaurant inside a park — and I couldn’t finish my meal so we asked for a to-go box, and I received the biggest side eye ever.’

‘How incredibly sweet your sweets are. I couldn’t eat anything without feeling like the sugar or high fructose corn syrup was literally pumping through my veins. I bought a sweet treat at a small pastry shop, and it felt like my teeth were falling out after just one bite.’

‘Salt added to desserts. Desserts are supposed to be sweet!! Adding salt makes the flavor profile confusing.’

‘Everything is big when it comes to food, giant cokes, giant gaytorates, huge meals, and then they wonder why they are fat. You do not need so much! Trust me you don’t need that.’

I have no idea how you feel about it, but I’d love to know. Have you been to the US and fell in love with their pork rinds and hotdogs? Are you an American citizen living in the US and dreading/ or loving the food? Let me know in the comments. The more food talk, the better.

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