Do you have a hard time findin "real" food restaurants?

[Chefnot]

You're cool girl! You are NOT a loud to talk about yourself like that!

[gloomcookie]

Many thanks to those of you who replied to my query.
We've found that most of the ethnic restaurants we frequent use fresher foods than any of the "home cooking" restaurants do.
At one of our favorite Chinese restaurants the other night, I asked if they could add water chestnuts to the cashew chicken I was ordering and they politely said they didn't have any as they were canned and they didn't use anything from a can. I was sorry they didn't have the water chestnuts but I was happy to find out they were that dedicated to using only fresh ingredients.
There's a Mexican restaurant (and I'm going to put in a shameless plug here as any of you ever traveling this way should go to this place for real Tex Mex) called La Familia, located on Foch Street in Fort Worth right outside of down town. They state on their menu everything is fresh, made daily, nothing canned, no MSG, and my oh my, the food is just delicious.
The only Indian restaurant we've found in these parts that's good is the same way and has a daily fresh buffet that is to die for.

My question expands to wondering this:
Why is it ethnic restaurants are so geared towards using fresh ingredients and making from scratch, and American ones seem bent so far the other way? We got to discussing it and think there are maybe only 4 local "home style cooking" restaurants who do prepare from scratch and use fresh ingredients.
Thoughts and opinions as to why this is?

Note: We ate at Corino's tonight and for a chain, I've got to say I really don't care what is fresh or bought half prepared before it gets there - the food there is really good.

[BerryBaby]

That's not the case in the Pacific Northwest. Can't recall ever going to a restaurant that didn't use all fresh ingredients. Even the fast food places use only the freshest tomatoes and lettuce.

Maybe fresh ingredients are more expensive and they don't want to pay the higher cost? Just a thought.

[Food Network Fan]

I guess they just go with what sells best. A lot of people try and avoid the very heavy comfort foods at home and consider them a treat when going out. People seem to go out for dinner far more than they used to though.

I think some of the vegetable dishes in ethnic style restaurants are seasoned better and make them more pleasing to order. I mean if you just want fresh veggies that's easy to do at home.

Other than barbecue I can't think of a seasoning style that would be considered "American" like you would with Asian, Mexican, Greek or Italian. Those styles have specific types of herbs and spices we recognize as a defining quality of those type of cuisines. I guess because we tend to be a melting pot of many different types of people we do not have that. If anything I suppose much of our start here in this country would have been influenced by England, a place not known for flavorful or highly seasoned food considering there doesn't seem to be anything those folks won't boil.

So I guess maybe if you are looking at American dishes with fresh veggies they just aren't as exciting. You could just pick up some produce and munch at home.

[radiodugger]

Well, I just thought of one. Our Farmer's Market Restaurant. It is REAL old fashioned Southern cooking. The chef is a large black lady from Louisiana, and I LOVE her cooking! She makes everything from scratch, and is proud to tell you so.

The fried chicken is one of my favorites. Her collard greens is one I cannot duplicate. Gravy is another one. She makes a roux, and that's all I know. Green beans are PERFECT and have bacon in them. Apple pie? We won't go there...too good.

One spice I'd call American, would be CAJUN SPICE. And Farmer's Market has cajun seasoning on the table!

Radio Doug

[Food Network Fan]

That's true, cajun is very American. You usually can't find it nation wide though.

[bakerman]

Living in Raleigh NC, we have an amazingly diverse range of dining options, but local food seems all the same. Local specialties include BBQ (long cooked chopped pork, served with a spicy vinegar), not a favorite of mine, Fried chicken, NC does this really well, greens, biscuits, and chicken and dumplings. There are other dishes but not worth mentioning.

We have everything you can imagine as far as ethnic including Ethiopian! I agree that the ethnic places seem to use the freshest least processed ingredients. One of the best is a local Vietnamese place, fresh fresh fresh, and very good. We also have some awesome Mexican places, since we have a large Hispanic population, and even the Hispanics agree that the food is every bit as good as home. We have a Brazilian steakhouse that is also quite good.

You name it we have it here, along with all of the chains, which I have nothing against, some are pretty good. One of my favorite local places seems to do everything well everything from scratch, even salad dressings and chicken cordon blue!

MAC