Does the U.S. have the best food in the world?

Still, by chain standards LS is one of the best, and they're quite acceptable by any standards other than non-chain ones. The US has some of the best chains in the world, IMO, especially Nobu, LS, Houston's, P.F. Chang's. These aren't great cuisine, but they're excellent for chains. Nobody can do chains the way the US does chains.

Everyone goes through the phase of enjoying chains.

Given the last two posts I beg to clarify my last one. I really don't like chains, but in the US anyway, it is good to know them because there are often no better choices, particularly if reasonable prices are part of the equation. OK, I also know Nobu is not renowned for reasonable prices.

Any city that has a Nobu has enough other selection.

I really prefer smaller cities, 120,000 or so people. That is where the chains are king, however with some work you can find local ethnic flair at some eateries, some of them have to have their items and then local favorites like fried chicken and catfish to survive. However they go to great lengths to do well on their own cuisine. I have recently found a Lebanese (and some Greek foods) restaurant in ACT that is quite good, it is not a fancy place the serve on Styrofoam, but the food is what counts. There is also a korean 'hamburger' joint that serves korean food on the menu that is a good place too. So I am certain that even in cities where the chains are the 'best dining' to some locals they have not experienced good food in their own backyards.

Like how everyone in my pre-school class LOVED McD's?

Hey, don't tell folks all our secrets. We stop there occasionally, since it's only a couple of blocks from Kitok, your pleasant Korean American burger+a few Korean standards joint. One of my secret favorites is in Katy, West of Houston, a little Middle Eastern eatery in a strip center on Frye Road just down from Targe'. The skewered marinated lamb is to kill for. "Siete Mares" in South Waco and "Mexicana Grill #9" on N. Valley Mills Dr. are worth visiting if forced to RON in ACT. There's always a sammitch or "Gut Buster" at Vitek's or chicken-fried and a "Big O" at George's when all else fails.

One caveat. One should not visit ACT with much in the way of culinary expectations. Starving Chinese conscript soldiers would mutiny if forced to dine at any of the local "Buffets" of vaguely Asian lineage.

So true, I am working to change that however, and if someone gives me time I can welcome them to some real Asian cuisine. 90% of the ingredients are here locally, just in how you blend them that counts(and the rest are in GRK, for the most part)

Amazing thread� but I think that many posters are juggling around various concepts that seem to get mixed up and belong in separate categories and perhaps separate discussions.

To state the obvious, absolute judgments are usually absolute rubbish�. I think that anybody that has been able to travel the world and work with a proper dining budget, and has done this for at least a few years will have to agree that there are a couple of Foodie Capitals of the World� these are cities where you can find outstanding foods that can compete in the �big leagues�. I think each real Foodie has his/her own list of Capitals.

I think it�s simply silly to even discuss chain restaurants in a real quality food thread. No, I don�t look down on chain restaurants, I enjoy various, but these places are just eateries�. go in or drive through, get automated service, get production line standardized food, pay and leave. You don�t get much more than that and honestly, you�re not supposed to�.. my motto is don�t ask a chain restaurant to offer what it wasn�t designed to give.

And I have to agree with those that have posted that an excellent meal is an excellent meal, no matter where it is served. The US has many top Restaurants, but its up there with many other countries that offer it stiff competition.

Gaucho100K is certainly correct. i think it is quite natural to gravitate towards chains when discussing the US food scene, just because there are so many of them. In absolute terms I think there are probably more fine restaurants in the US than in any other country. Even if fewer of them, proportionately, are the absolute finest in the world there are large numbers that do qualify for such a designation. Other threads can list them and I have candidates in many cities.

At this moment I'm in Coral Gables, Florida. Dinner at Pascals on Ponce was truly excellent and the dum sum served as it is in Hong Kong at Tropical Chinese(they don't count the plates but mark them on a paper) is a place I go every time I manage to be here on a Sunday. That is an experience worthy of approval even in HK.

One of the less pleasing points often mentioned in this thread is the typical quality of American eateries. On average the US food is absurdly plentiful but poorly prepared, though it is very, very cheap. The very title of this thread implies, to me at least, that we're discussing the average, not the best.

Maybe the thread needs some fine-tuning. It has been very enjoyable to read so far without absolute clarity in the definition .

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One other thing... while the US clearly has the BEST looking fruits and vegetables, unless you have the budget to pay for the most expensive organic produce the average grocery store stuff has zero taste.

Odd that you'd say that just now. I am in the Charlotte, NC US Airways Club right now and have just been having that conversation with a few people here in the club. My point was that the organic produce in bother Rio de Janeiro and France, to name two, is far superior in taste and texture, although it does spoil more quickly than US non-organic produce which seems to disintegrate rather than spoil, suggesting it may not be all vegetable at all. Even so, I remember the organic produce I used to buy in San franciso and New York with great fondness.

If organic produce has better taste and texture (and it often does), it is mostly because of different seed stock, not the farming method. Large factory farms normally use hybrid seeds to create produce that travels well, resists herbicides, grows uniformly, looks good, and has long shelf life. Taste and texture are secondary.

I tihnk the US produce companies focus too much on making huge fruits and veggies that look good instead of taste.
Everything here is 'super sized' compared to their counterparts around the world.
Even 'organics' have gotten to this point in the last years are they become sought after it just became a fad, and continues to this day, while they are basically going the same route as the other huge commercial operations now big, flavorless products.

You can still find some good stuff out there but at other places, if you pay more.

One thing to keep in mind is psychology. What you think, and expect, has an effect on flavor and one's perception of it. A peach from a roadside farm will undoubtedly taste better than the one you bought as the Walmart Super-Store. Why? Maybe because it's better. But you also expect that it will be better.

All these comments have merit, IMHO. The advantages of "organic" produce are certainly in large part due to using traditional seeds rather than seeds engineered for productivity. In some places one finds seeds engineered for taste, and those are quite good. Also, heavy use of pesticides interferes with good taste as well.

In fairness I think the standards almost worldwide have been rising in recent years.