are italian, chinese, mexican considered ethnic food ? (grilled, tuna, pizzas)

[justanokie]

This is all subjective.

But for me, what I consider an ethnic restaurant is one that strives to recreate dishes from a specific ethnicity or region as those dishes are served currently or even how they used to be served.

Every place, not just America, takes food from other places and makes changes to make it more palatable to the local population. Thats just business. These places stop being ethnic restaurants when they do that. I don't think having a chain of 1000 stores or a single mom and pop shop has any bearing on it.

Its ridiculous that some of these places display "Authentic (insert ethnicity here) Cuisine" when half of what they serve is an American invention thats not even served over there and most of the rest would be unrecognizable by someone from there.

I don't think I have ever been in a chain restaurant that I would consider as authentic ethnic anything. I have had most luck in mom and pop places usually run by immigrants of that ethnicity and sometimes even people who have an obsession with it.

And I am not saying one place is automatically better than the other. I do love to get some Panda express because they serve some good food. I do eat at some Italian places just not Olive Garden. Ditto Tex-Mex joints. They all completely miss the mark on being real ethnic restaurants but thats ok....they still serve good food.

[Waterlily Pad]

No need to fake PC here. When most people say ethnic, they mean non-Europen white.

So food from Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa are in that category.

[GeoffD]

If you're sitting in China, a hamburger at McDonald's is ethnic food. Ethnic food is any cuisine that isn't the local/regional cuisine.

It's kind of fuzzy in the United States because it's an immigrant population. If you're in Chicago, is a peirogi an ethnic food when there are a million ethnic Polish in the region?

[snj90]

Yes, it's all ethnic. Pizza is ethnic (Italian, of course) - so are subs & cheesesteaks (Italian-American cuisine). Plus all the other Italian dishes commonly consumed in America that are too numerous to mention. It doesn't matter whether it's a Pizza Hut pizza or some specialty one - it's all in the same category. Of course, the mass produced pizzas are usually considered inferior food products, but this fact does not change its classification as ethnic or put it in some other category.

[snj90]

Originally Posted by Waterlily Pad

No need to fake PC here. When most people say ethnic, they mean non-Europen white.

So food from Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa are in that category.

Not true. In the US, there are "ethnic whites." Definitions here can very, but most people have at least an idea of what ethnicities fall under that umbrella.

[runswithscissors]

Originally Posted by Waterlily Pad

No need to fake PC here. When most people say ethnic, they mean non-Europen white.

So food from Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa are in that category.

Oh boy. No need to be political and dismissive of other ethnicities here.

Yeah, as IF Philly doesn't have a huge demographic of Germans, and all the Amish living in the suburbs who bring their Amish stuff to market don't exist.

http://cannstatter.org/

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...74480137416373

Polish

This is the PROBLEM when Politicians politicize ethnicity to the ridiculous point where the voters think the only ETHNIC category is NON WHITE.

Where's my Greek road signs???? I know where my Greek restaurants are. But I seem to have misplaced my Bureau of the Census political power.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...nsylvania.html

[runswithscissors]

Yes of course they're ethnic.

There is NO justification to say they aren't.

INCLUDING Taco Bell.

Everybody in the whole world knows what "Asian food" means. or "Italian". or whatever.

You don't go in Chinese take out and ask for a cannoli do you? A burrito? Gravlax?

Yet even "the media" focuses on a very limited subset of what they consider "ethnic". IE this article completely omits the FAMOUS GERMAN and other white ethnic places in Philly because it's not HIP to be German, or Polish, or Greek, or Scandinavian now.

The Philly neighborhood restaurant index: How we dine, mapped

[Ginge McFantaPants]

Depends. I think of Americanized versions to be more ethic-inspired than ethnic. Not that it's wrong for ethnic cuisine to be adapted to appeal to our palates, or to make ingredient substitutions based on what is available here, but IMO food being truly ethnic implies a high level of authenticity.

[ralphfr]

First I was going to say no but after some thought I now have to say yes. The most ubiquitous cuisines in the country have to be Italian and Chinese. These restaurants are everywhere. Now add to the list Japanese food. I believe the next cuisine to become overtly commonplace is Indian food neck and neck with Thai food. For sure these foods will/have become Americanized because it's driven by the tastes of the market but they all will continue to have roots in their ethnicity.


The one case where this may change is Asian food. Interestingly, the two cuisines that seem to remain entrenched in their specific niches are Korean and Vietnamese for some reason but the trend I've noticed is that most menus in Asian restaurants have a combination of at least two cuisines. I guess you could consider them Pan-Asian restaurants if the menus stay separate but if they merge into an Asian-Fusion menu then what is their ethnicity? Now I have a headache and I'm hungry.

[prospectheightsresident]

While I think pizza has become so Americanized as to not be considered "ethnic food" as the term has come to be known, I still definitely consider Mexican and Chinese "ethnic" food. Well, with one qualification . . . I don't consider Americanized Chinese food to be "ethnic food."