This is America

While staying with Geoffrey and Arnaud I had the pleasure of visiting a French restaurant. Most of my experience in France has been with home cooked meals. That felt sort of right to me (i.e. very French) so I was excited to see what dining out was like. 

It looks like this:

And also a lot like this:

Since we wanted something quick, but didn't want to opt for fast food (MdDonald's has monopolized France, but the first Burger King is opening this month) we settled on a something both inexpensive, but with the amenities of fine dining (chairs and waiters). This idea, of course, is an American export.

Buffalo Grill is best described as the love child between T.G.I.Fridays and Applebee's--if the baby was conceived at a tailgate... on top of an indian burial ground. 

The restaurant as a whole is an effort to reduce "America" to its smallest, most essential parts. Obviously there's a lot of Native American imagery-

But also pinball-

It's like the founder of the restaurant watched a bunch of cowboy films and then accidentally popped in "Tommy."

All of that I can look past though. At least the chosen details--while anachronistic and tangential--are accurate. What really gets me is the dessert menu-

OK. They got the brownie with ice cream right. Fine. But that's like knowing that Eskimo's live in igloos (am I dating myself and being slightly racist? Who knows!). Pancakes on the dessert menu? Nice try but that's firmly a breakfast staple! Although I get why that my be confusing. It is basically a cake...But sorbet! Yogurt! 

Nice try Buffalo Grill but those aren't the makings of an American dessert. I'm calling you out!

But they really did get the brownie right. Seriously. It was delicious.