The steak poll, Trump edition

[Admiral Yi]

Also, it's not like Australians don't eat steaks and an Australian steak house is some crazy unheard of thing. 

E:  Here's one: http://www.outbackjacks.com.au/menu/ 

There's a crocodile on the ceiling.

It's interesting to me that the first thing you see on their web site is a half rack of ribs.  That suggests to me this is not exactly home style Australian cooking.

[CountDeMoney]

Hey, I take Yi's side here.  It's worth pondering why all of a sudden it seemed necessary to rebranding a huge chain based on a vague national stereotype to get Americans eating at the same Sizzlers they'd been going to for years.

Because the people that had been going to Sizzlers for years were fucking dying from old age.  I don't know about you, but I do not recall a time in my youth when we went to Sizzlers without a grandparent.

[MadBurgerMaker]

It's interesting to me that the first thing you see on their web site is a half rack of ribs.  That suggests to me this is not exactly home style Australian cooking.

Yeah, the first photo on there should be Vegemite on bread.

[sbr]

Hey, I take Yi's side here.  It's worth pondering why all of a sudden it seemed necessary to rebranding a huge chain based on a vague national stereotype to get Americans eating at the same Sizzlers they'd been going to for years.

Outback is better than Sizzler.

[derspiess]

Hey, I take Yi's side here.  It's worth pondering why all of a sudden it seemed necessary to rebranding a huge chain based on a vague national stereotype to get Americans eating at the same Sizzlers they'd been going to for years.

Because the people that had been going to Sizzlers for years were fucking dying from old age.  I don't know about you, but I do not recall a time in my youth when we went to Sizzlers without a grandparent.

Ditto.  And when I go eat reasonably priced steak I wanna see boomerangs & shit.  None of that boring Sizzler decor.

[derspiess]

Forgot to add, for those who have never been to an Outback-- one of their fun gimmicks is that they serve dark wheat (?) bread stabbed with a knife:

[Admiral Yi]

Ditto.  And when I go eat reasonably priced steak I wanna see boomerangs & shit.  None of that boring Sizzler decor.

Anyone know if the Outback people invented the onion ring bouquet, or did they rip it off?  Definitely a very cool idea.

[derspiess]

Pretty healthy, too

If you eat the whole thing with the dressing (not that any human would), that will give you your day's worth of calories.

[MadBurgerMaker]

Pretty healthy, too

If you eat the whole thing with the dressing (not that any human would), that will give you your day's worth of calories.

  I'd probably have a heart attack just watching someone else do that.

[Barrister]

Ditto.  And when I go eat reasonably priced steak I wanna see boomerangs & shit.  None of that boring Sizzler decor.

Anyone know if the Outback people invented the onion ring bouquet, or did they rip it off?  Definitely a very cool idea.

They claim to have invented it.

[derspiess]

Okay, so when should we start explaining to foreigners what Buca di Beppo is?

[Barrister]

Okay, so when should we start explaining to foreigners what Buca di Beppo is?

Never heard of it, but what's to explain?  Italian-American restaurants are a well known phenomenon.

[Admiral Yi]

Okay, so when should we start explaining to foreigners what Buca di Beppo is?

Completely different thing.  Virtually every country in the world takes foreign food and tweaks it for local tastes.

[celedhring]

I went once to Bucca di Beppo. Was as close to "Italian American" as I could imagine without involving mob clichés.

[The Larch]

Over here in my neck of the woods steakhouses and grills, if they do have a theme, it's Argentinian/Uruguayan, but that's mostly because they're run by people from there. Not a single US themed steakhouse that I'm aware (although we do have a diner style chain with burgers, milkshakes and waitresses in bright pink and blue 50s uniforms).