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When I came to the US in early 2000s, there were a lot of "Chinese restaurants" especially buffet restaurants. They typically sold "General Tso's chicken", "beef with broccoli", "sweet and sour pork"...things you hardly see in China. Authentic Chinese restaurants were rare and usually they could be found in China towns only. (Even in China town most were Americanized Chinese restaurants.)
However, nowadays many buffet restaurants have been closed. Others start to sell more authentic Chinese dishes too. This is particularly true in big cities. The one near my home used to be called "XXX Dumplings", but now changed to "Sichuan Gourmet" and sells spicy Szechuan cuisine. Mandarin speakers and even Indians love this place. Some Americans still order egg rolls and sesame chicken, but I also see some of them eat super spicy food there.
Chinese restaurants are a dime a dozen here in Seattle
I personally favor the Thai restaurants as I like their food choices better and it seems much healthier than the battered and deep fried foods most Chinese / American places push.
I will gladly pay alittle more for a very well prepared meal vs one served buffett style. The cost is pretty similar unless your objective is to be a glutten and eat enough for 2-3 people
When I came to the US in early 2000s, there were a lot of "Chinese restaurants" especially buffet restaurants. They typically sold "General Tso's chicken", "beef with broccoli", "sweet and sour pork"...things you hardly see in China. Authentic Chinese restaurants were rare and usually they could be found in China towns only. (Even in China town most were Americanized Chinese restaurants.)
However, nowadays many buffet restaurants have been closed. Others start to sell more authentic Chinese dishes too. This is particularly true in big cities. The one near my home used to be called "XXX Dumplings", but now changed to "Sichuan Gourmet" and sells spicy Szechuan cuisine. Mandarin speakers and even Indians love this place. Some Americans still order egg rolls and sesame chicken, but I also see some of them eat super spicy food there.
I own a Chinese-American style restaurant (not a buffet) and I don't think it's fading out. It is said that there are 8 (major) regional Chinese cuisines and Chinese-American cuisine is the 9th regional Chinese cuisine. I think there is a lot of truth to that. We do have some traditional foods like baozi and some other dishes from northern China.
I do think traditional Chinese food is becoming more popular and common, but it won't necessarily replace Chinese-American food, they will both exist. Dishes like General Tsos Chicken and Sweet and Sour Dishes are here to stay. They are very mainstream American foods.
What I see happening is instead of 20 Chinese restaurants in one city all basically having the same foods, they will start to bring in traditional Chinese cuisines. In China if one goes to 20 restaurants, I'd be surprised if 2 of them carried many of the same menu items. In the US its ridiculous that so many restaurants have the exact same menu items.
One of my biggest peeves is when customers come in and ask if we cook a dish like such and such restaurant. I typically reply, no, we have our own style of cooking. Which is true, but if one wants the same dish that other restaurant has, why not just go there, why expect some other restaurant to be the same. Anyway, thats just a little rant, but I do think that is changing and more and more Americans expect different restaurants to be different.
Buffets are still popular here, because most people eating there don't care about authenticity - they just want to fill their belly on the cheap.
Or just legitimately enjoy General Tso's chicken, crab Rangoon, broccoli beef, hot and sour soup, etc.
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