Neither are most of the places claiming to be Thai, Chinese, Indian, etc around my area, but they still consider themselves to be.

In Greece, there are Applebees (so ScottC can't be right when he says that all European Applebees have closed! :p ), Ruby Tuesday, TGIF, and Bennigans, all of which would qualify as "American cuisine". They're popular with a lot of people in the 16-21 age range, but range from the awful (Bennigans) to the decent-but-too-expensive-for-what-it-is (TGIF), hence I never visit them...
Most of the patrons seem to go there for the fact that both the customers and waiters are in the same age group as themselves (and the youth/inexperience/poor training of some waiters really does show)

Mash???
 

Yup, China has succumb to themes/franchises! I mean Maccers/Pizza Hut etc and now Lawrys! I was amused having roast beef with mash and sweetcorn in the latter :)
Or is that typical Americana cuisine????

Yes, but more to Taiwanese than American franchise concepts. Actually I've never been to Dairy Queen in the States but was rather happy to find one nearby my temporary residence. What a nice blueberry shake on a hot summer day.

Never heard of Lawry's. Roast beef with mash[ed potatoes?] and sweet corn would be American but not necessarily typical--it might be something you'd cook for a Sunday evening special dinner with family, but it's certainly not something you'd eat every day.

Mashed potatoes and corn are somewhat common sides, though. A real roast beef is for special occasions.

Prime Rib place!
 

Sorry - here's the link...www.lawrysonline.comPerhaps it's called Prime Rib and not Roast Beef!

This is a great question, OP, and I have always wondered what non-Americans think about this. My experiences living in the Middle East are the same -- we think of Chili's, TGI Fridays, or fast food, or steak houses as "American."

It's a shame. All of those are certainly legitimate dining options in certain circumstances, which I enjoy sometimes, but it's missing out on the real American food that is certainly competitive with the great cuisines of the world.

For example, in Washington, DC, the U.S. city in which I have spent the most time eating out, I used to enjoy going to Olives, Vidalia, CityZen, Corduroy, Mendocino Grille, Paolo's, DC Coast, Firefly, and Zola, to name a few. I would call of these "American" -- or perhaps in some cases American accents to other cuisines -- but they are hard to typify.

For anyone who has been to some of these places, what would you call them? And how would they be positioned in a city outside the U.S.?

In Sweden, the fast-food joints aren't regarded as "american" food.

However, there are alot of products, especially meat/barbecue in the grocery stores which is regarded as American. Like.. there are tons of "American BBQ Sauce", and "American ribs" and so on.

Au contraire, at least we don't eat Marmite :D

Yes, indeed, we ran across one in Athens and almost died of laughter. Who would have thought, the very sight of it was rather jarring.

When we were in Paris last Christmas there were people on the street everywhere handing out flyers for Subway, so I think they're making a big push. It wasn't called Subway, but the graphics and colors used made it clear what it actually was.

In Spain there are definitely "American" restaurants, aside from fast-food chains. They do very well, though not from me because they suck. :)

There are a couple of global chains like Hard Rock, TGIF and Tony Roma's in Madrid, but nationwide we get the home-grown places with off-sounding names that seem to have been subject to a literal translation: Foster's Hollywood and Rock & Ribs are the two biggest. Both their names and menus remind me of "Americatown", the restaurant the Simpsons visited in Tokyo.

You can dine on such sort-of-familiar sounding things as Bacon & Cheese Fries, Pizza Fajitas, "Salad Cheese Cabra", and of course a stack of pancakes smothered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream for dessert. All washed down with a 7-ounce Coke, no ice.

Part of my disappointment is due to all of these things being passed through the Spanish cultural filter in order to make them palatable for the market - much the same way Spaniards would just shake their head at what passes for paella served in the US - but I suspect it's got as much to do with the fact that the people cooking and serving these dishes have never eaten the thing they're supposed to be a copy of so there's not really a point of reference.

It's not like we don't have plenty of great food here, but once in a while a guy does get homesick for B&G, CFS, or blueberry cobbler. And now I make those at home.

^^

.. corn bread and turkey with stuffing and gravy!

Thanks, MD. :)

Also I will add that the supermarkets here sell frozen fries, reconstituted onion ring-shaped food product, and chicken fingers in a red-white-and-blue starred-and-striped bag under the McKennedy brand. If I were a cynic I'd roll my eyes at that!

there is definitely southern and midwestern cuisine.

theres also "cookout" and/or barbecue type stuff, which can overlap with the aforementioned regions.

sometimes american vs elsewhere is more subtle - like hotdogs vs other sausages.

california has also gone "organic" etc crazy, which has spread to a certain degree, and im not saying its not found in other countries, especially naturally, but nowhere else has the same kind of (pop)culture.