Hi Yankee!

Here's some history on American restaurants in Madrid.

Whe I first moved there in '83 you couldn't get pizza anywhere in the city. Eventually they opened a Pizza Hut, but it didn't taste the same as in the US, and it wasn't too popular. (They have since improved enormously and are doing better.)

Then, an American opened a pizzeria on c/ Orense - Pizza King, or Queen (I could never keep them straight). It became a wildly popular chain, and started all the others. I met the guy - very nice - after he'd made his fortune and sold the business. He went into another restaurant venture in Madrid, but did not have the same success.

A couple of restaurants called Foster's Hollywood opened. They called their menu American. Hamburgers, cole slaw, Reuben sandwiches, some Mexican... As an American planning on spending my life in Spain, I went out of curiousity. It was AWFUL. I went again a few months later, thinking it must have been a bad day, and it was still AWFUL. No one could stand it. It went out of business.

Then the chains came. Tony Roma's, TGIFridays, Hard Rock Cafe joined McD's, Wendy's, Burger King. They're doing well. Why? I think it's because they follow a formula to the letter. Those ribs at Tony Roma's are out of this world!!! They import the meat, and follow their recipes. The meals at Fridays are the same as in the US, and they are good. (I refuse to go into the Hard Rock Cafe, so no comment there!) Unless you have a proven formula, it won't work. Spanish food is SO GOOD (the BEST in the world), you have to have something that is REALLY good to win their approval.

By the way, this holds true about food from any country outside of Spain. Last year I went to an Australian restaurant outside Madrid. All the food was dreadful, and we ordered a variety of dishes. The waiter was very nice, but it was obvious that they didn't know what to do in the kitchen.