Sundays in My City

This week we had the unique experience of visiting a new American restaurant in Wuppertal, Germany called "Road Stop American Bar and Grill."

It has only been open for 3 weeks and is a success - it was really hard to get a table at 6 pm. The place was packed, and guess what - not smoky! That is a huge plus and a real sign of an authentic American restaurant for me. The smokers were closed away in another room.

It looked just like an Applebee's, and my hopes were raised that this could be authentic. There were license plates and traffic signs all over the walls, including one of Interstate 94's signs. (Wonder what city is missing that?)

What would not happen in Applebee's though - dogs. I saw at least three dogs in there.

The American Way of Food and Drinks.

What was truly American -- they put ice in the soda. Real honest to God ice cubes, which I have not seen an any German restaurant. They only give you about 3, though, cuz there are no free refills. We asked for refills, just in case.

I was very amused to see American Budweiser beer on the menu in authentic American cans. They make a big deal of the authentic American cans and I said, "But, you can get a can of coke in Germany, why is it cool to drink beer out of a can?" *shrug* However, you will have to pay for it. Guess how much a can of Bud Light costs in Germany?

3,95 Euros.

Our food came and I was impressed with the burgers. They were hefty and dripping with sauce, mmmmm. There were large amounts of potato wedges on the side. The ketchup and mayo will cost you ,45E extra. (This is the case at McDonalds too, no little packets of free ketchup.)

I told stories of the many hip new German restaurants that are springing up in Seattle. I said, "What do you mean you guys don't drink beer out of boot-shaped pitchers - we have those at all the German restaurants!" I guess cultural misinterpretations go both ways.

I ordered chicken wings, thinking I'd get some spicy sloppy things but I was mistaken. They were great, but dry and not seasoned. Aha, that is why my waitress wanted to know which bbq sauce I'd like. The thought of dipping spicy chicken wings into bbq sauce was crazy to me. But I did it - and the bbq sauce was amazing. It was the smoky hickory kind that I love. My friend even asked if we could buy a bottle to take home for me.

I was especially interested in whether or not they would have Ranch dressing. Because that is something virtually every American restaurant offers. Again, no. I am going to have to go on some sort of crusade to bring Ranch over the ocean, cuz of the 3 American restaurants I've been to so far, none have had it. The waitress was confused when I kept asking about the salad dressings for my chicken wings. She said, "That's a salad dressing" and I said, "Yes, tell me what's in it."

On every table is a booklet telling the history of this new chain. It is based on the "Road House" style restaurants in Massachusetts, with a casual atmosphere and sports on the TV. There were plenty of big screens in that place with soccer on, causing the clientele to erupt yelling every so often.

My man asked if American restaurants play soccer and I said, "It depends on the game. If it's a big soccer game, they will."

The history booklet said that American food is the most underestimated food on the planet. It is also has the most variety of any cuisine, it says.

What could they mean by the most variety, I wonder.

What possible interpretation of American food would define it as having the most variety of any cuisine?? You can see I pondered this at length.

***TWENTY TYPES OF BURGERS!!!*** Oh! That type of variety! *LOL* Also fish and chicken burgers. Steaks, ribs, and wings are also served here. Then there are the appetizers - and now I feel I'm back at Dennys. Mozzerella sticks, nachos, onion rings, jalepeno poppers, or hot dogs with sauerkraut (wait --- sauerkraut?).

They say that no one will stare at you if you eat your appetizers with your fingers. I would like to note that both of my German hosts ate their hamburgers with a knife and fork. That was a unique experience for me! (My man picked his sloppy huge burger up and ate it right!)

What I thought would be a nice easy read was not - the small text is all in German.

In the end, the waitress came to take our bill - and used a pad and pen to do the math herself. I feel so bad for waiters in Germany - doing all that math by hand! I forked over 40 American dollars (which I carry around to make me feel "normal") and she was totally fascinated with our money.

And like no other German restaurant, they brought me my to-go container and it was atctually a to-go container, made for that purpose. In German restaurants you often get a piece of tin foil and that is it, good luck! This detail was important to me, because I almost always ask for a doggie bag at restaurants.

Other odd details:

* Milk is listed under Soft Drinks on the menu. (Just as strangely, at Burger King, milkshakes are listed under Desserts!)

* Cigarettes are on the menu.

* On the Beer menu, the first 24 beers listed are German varieties, the 25th entry is MGD, and the 30th is Budweiser (American). I guess German beer wins even in an American bar and grill. Now that I'm thinking about beer (which I rarely do), I'd happily fork over 10 American dollars for an Alaskan Amber.

* Although it's a Pepsi product restaurant, you won't find Root Beer or Mtn. Dew. (I'd also pay 10 bucks for an A&W right now, mmmmmmmmmmm.)

* Homemade American tunafish pizza. (The breakfast menu has a tunafish baguette, and the wraps menu has a tunafish wrap.)


When I lived in America, American food would always be at the bottom of my list of choices. (Same with Starbucks coffee.) But I find it fascinating that it could be considered cool to imitate a roadhouse type restaurant in Europe.

It's hard for me not to be critical of the differences ("Bring me my ranch dressing hose!!"*) but when invited, I'll say yes. (And when I find a Starbucks, I go in (SHHH!).)

___
* H. Simpson

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