If you go to China, Mexico, or Italy, do they have "American Restaurants"?

what is really considered american food anyways? i dont think the USA has any traditional food. not that i know of, good question though.

I think Charles nailed it, what is more American than McDonalds? Well, like many stereotypes, foreign people in the 'know' stereotype American food as 'steaks' nice thick t-bones grilled on an open flame (sometimes you have to settle for grilled on a metal pan) But I have seen "American cuisine/Steak" (written pretty much that way) In Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt, China, now Iraq, In afghanistan I was promised a steak but turns out it was an old water buffalo or something..and had the consistency and taste of shoe soles. The funniest restaraunt I have ever seen was in Kuwait, it was the "Indian Thai house of philipino and paki American Steak cuisine." no crap that was the name. And the food was about as good as you could get without having illegal mexican workers cook it, which I half expected with a name like that. aaah, the more I travel outside the US the more I just want to stay home. :)

Yes, American-style food is available in hotels, which are now found everywhere, including China. The restaurants will not be advertized as "American" but will often carry an international menu of "Continental" dishes with roasts, steaks, fried chicken, potatoes.

Fast food chains like Bennigan's, Chili's, Sirloin Stockade and the like serve food that is supposed to be the same thing you can get in the USA. Of course when you get down to traditional American food, not everyone goes for Turkey or mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, squash, Boston baked beans, clam chowder, jambalaya, shrimp remoulade, chili con carne or a good ol' fashioned cookout. The entire world has been sold on the idea that American food is hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza. The so called Mexican food you find in the USA is nothing like the real thing. It is the concept of Mexican food, tailored to American palates, same as the Chinese, Italian, or whatever. American fare gets treated exactly the same elsewhere.

I'm not sure about China or Italy... but Mexico has many such American restaurants

I have been to more that 60 countries, and 'American Restaurants' as such are rare. They are mostly novelty restaurants like "Captain Americas" in Ferntree Gully, an Eastern suburb on Melbourne, Australia, or chain stores like Hog's Breath. The issue is defining what is uniquely American cusine Bacon and eggs, Barbeques, steaks and so on are not uniquely American), and being able to market it. Truth is, there is not much that is unique to America and you can build a restaurant around. Steak houses and the like are not an American idea, exclusively, and burgers are pretty much debatable as to whether they are American too as there were many similar dishes developed in other countries. I wil concede that the US-style burger is the most common though. Sol Vanzi and others are right in stating that menus often have an 'American section", just as they might have an "Asian" or "continental" section. Remember that the US is an immigrant nation, and many other nations are very proud of their culinary heritages. Most people will equate 'American food' with McD's or KFC, assuming those companies operate there of course..

If the area where you visit have a lot of tourists from the US then usually they will provide a menu offering American style food such as steak and potato,pork chops,sea food,pasta etc.

Mexico does, I didn't see any in Italy and don't know about China. Why go to a foreign country to eat american food?

Sure, but that doesn't mean they serve American food.