Does "American" Food exist around the world?

The "big chain" type certainly exists basically everywhere by now. There is a reason why the Big Mac Index is suitable as an economic indicator: you can calculate it for almost all countries in the world, because you can buy a Big Mac in almost all countries in the world.

A second type of "American restaurant" is much harder to find. It is the kind of small diner which serves grilled cheese sandwiches, thick pancakes and other American style food, without being a chain. I have seen this in places with large expat populations, but most Europeans will probably spend their lives without ever having been in one. I can't talk about other continents.

A third category of "American food" would be American homemade food. Chicken pot pie, eggplant parmesan, Southern biscuits, that kind of stuff. I have not seen it served in any restaurant in Europe. I have never seen an "American home food restaurant", nor an "American fine dining restaurant". They could exist, but as I've visited many large European cities and lived in places with a large number of American expats, they are likely to be quite rare, or maybe clustered somewhere I haven't been.

What I have seen more in later years seem to be fancy burger places - they are sometimes chains, sometimes not, but I would distinguish them from fast food chains because they tend to have things like mushroom-and-arugula burgers on sourdough bread. Also, you nowadays see more burgers in restaurants which are some sort of middle tier without special relation to a specific cuisine - more of a nonfrench equivalent of a bistro. Also, Starbucks style chains (including Starbucks itself) are pretty established - while Europe had an extensive coffee culture before them, the type of drinks served there is pretty distinctive.

American packaged food such as marshmallows or pumpkin pie filling can be also found in specialized grocery stores selling American products, and as a seasonal article in large European supermarket chains like Lidl, who tend to have "American week", "Greek week" etc. in rotation. A few selected American products are also found as staples in most stores, such as Snickers bars or Coca-Cola, or are less available but still within easy reach, such as Jelly Belly candy.

I have to mention "Hard Rock Cafe", "Planet Hollywood", and other movie/music themed restaurants that pay homage to this particular aspect of America. There seem to be at least one of these in each major city. There were smaller, less chain operations that did this at one point but the ones that I visited years ago have all apparently closed.

An interesting note is Hooters. Not only is it heavily American themed, but I visited one a number of years ago in Europe where the waitresses were brought over from the United States.

I actually know a couple in continental Europe - cowboy/Texas themed, serving large steaks.

There are also some American-inspired burger restaurants - proper ones, not McDonalds.

But of course. Why would there not be?

There are McDonald's in almost every country around the world... along with many other American chain restaurants including Chili's, KFC, Subway, and many others... In fact, all of the 12 top world food chains are American based.

Cool image from this foodbeast article:

As others have mentioned, American owned restaurants are prevalent around the world, though the exact menu they serve in different countries varies based on local cuisine and preferences.

While traveling abroad, I have encountered "American Inspired" sections on a menu. While not a full fledged restaurant, it was a unique look at how the rest of our world views what "American" food is.

The Salisbury steak sushi and cheeseburger sushi I had in the Philippines was definitely an experience.

We go to an amazing deep Southern place in Brisbane (Australia), but not sure if we'd refer to it as American food, maybe Southern food though.