Food is a big part of the experience when traveling. When you travel to a country where food has a very strong charge, as in the USA, the food is really at the center and you can’t help but make comparisons with what you are used to at home.
The USA has its very own food culture of what you eat and how you eat. Below are some distinctive things about the food and the food culture in the US. Note that this is generally speaking and regional differences may apply. The soft drinks are large, and free refills are standard. At a restaurant, they fill up as soon as they have taken a sip. The same applies to accessories such as French fries, where free refilling is often included in the price. “Contains genuine sugar” is a strong selling point that signals quality as it means that the product does not contain high fructose corn syrup. The staff will be incredibly surprised if you choose not to bring the leftovers home in a “doggy bag”.
It is popular with small packages of sweets, chips, and snacks. “100 calorie packs” are very common. It is free to change the menu according to your needs at a restaurant. It is not uncommon to customize the order entirely based on its preferences and more or less replace all ingredients. The staff always very accommodating in this, even on fast food hook. Legislation introduced in 2010 has meant that larger food chains must provide calorie information to their most common menus. Almost everywhere, therefore, detailed information on the energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate content in the menus is available.
Many eateries have “secret menus”, so unofficial menus with things you do not find on the physical menu, but which exist internally and sometimes can be found on different forums.
There is almost always an alternative menu that is referred to as healthier, often with lower fat and calorie content.
Protein is in focus. It’s not uncommon to get the question “what protein would you want with that order?” Protein-enriched drinks and bars are available anywhere.
Vitamin water, coconut water, smoothies, and similar “health drinks” is very popular in the USA. LCHF not as big a thing in the US. It is more a focus on “low fat” overall.