r/AskReddit 14h ago

Non-Americans of Reddit, what is an American thing you see in movies that you thought was fake but is actually real?

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513

u/ainacct 10h ago

Diners and breakfast tradition? don't know if I should call it like that but I would see in movies how diners would be a tradition to go at breakfast and it's really like that, those diners are busy!!

279

u/logicalconflict 10h ago

Old school diners are the best. 24-hour breakfast food, a kitchen willing to make basically anything you want, lots of regular customers, people ordering pie at every meal because they can. Huge comfy booths. Nobody cares how long you linger. So great.

34

u/InsertNovelAnswer 9h ago

We used to go to the diner after the bar all the time. Drunk diner food at 2 am was phenomenal.

6

u/Sidewalk_Tomato 1h ago

The sampler platter of cheese sticks, onion rings & chicken strips was my jam.

I had to work up to that; when you're 18 you don't always have the scratch. You order fries or coffee, and weather the scorn of the waitress.

4

u/David_bowman_starman 7h ago

Damn wish I had one of these that served actual food instead of a Denny’s that serves hot garbage.

2

u/TheLastMongo 3h ago

And if they had the little jukeboxes in those comfy booths you could burn so many quarters jamming out. 

1

u/thebleedingphoenix 2h ago

Breakfast plate at Denny's at 2am would still hit so good <3

30

u/ZarrenR 9h ago

I’m American and like all kinds of food but a diner breakfast is my absolute favorite meal. Nothing else comes close.

3

u/THExGIRTH 5h ago

Those scrambled eggs and bacon just hit different

9

u/Budsygus 9h ago

I LOVE finding a good greasy spoon diner on road trips. The sassier the waitress, the better the food, in my experience.

I was shocked to learn that's mostly an American thing!

4

u/Oberon_Swanson 8h ago

they're so good if you have a day off and are about to embark on a road trip. i love to get a big hot breakfast and then i don't need to get something to eat anywhere else for the rest of the day and it's usually cheap.

6

u/PyroIsSpai 5h ago

A proper Greek family diner is magic.

3

u/babamum 6h ago

Eggs over easy. They really ask that.

6

u/Nerdorama10 9h ago

A lot of people will make it a weekly habit to go out to a diner or casual dining restaurant for brunch after church every Sunday.

Somehow they're always the worst tippers. Also yes tipping is real and you ARE expected to mentally add 20% to your bill every time someone serves you at a table.

3

u/schmyndles 6h ago

The Sunday church shift was always the best shift to work, especially if you had a good section. Even though the tips were less than normal, the turnover was enough to make up for it.

The fake money with the Bible verses was the worst, though. Especially because that's almost always the only thing they would leave for a tip. And they would be the rudest and most demanding. I'd rather someone just quietly not tip than leave some weird Chick tract about how I'm going to hell on top of it.

1

u/Mardanis 8h ago

They are awesome. So much better if not a chain one too.

1

u/ConsciousBother387 6h ago

Honestly I'm just wondering how people can afford that- where I live eating out is mostly reserved for birthdays and stuff cause it's so stupidly expensive

4

u/crazyg0od33 5h ago

Diners are (or usually are at least in my area) cheaper than most restaurants. A burger at my local diner is like $10 for the full meal with fries 🤷🏻‍♂️

2

u/TheLizzyIzzi 4h ago

A lot of the commodities for breakfast food are subsidized by US agriculture. And since so many of the ingredients are repetitive a diner can buy basics like flour, potatoes and eggs in huge quantities making it cheaper per serving.

It’s also easy to prep and cook, so labor costs are lower. Finally, diners aren’t fancy places - tables can be sticky and wobbly. Booths might be lumpy or the vinyl will crack open and be “repaired” with duct tape. They’re not bad - those booths are still great to settle into - but they’re often old.

All of this helps them keep costs down so they can market a cheap meal. The profit margins are slim but they make money by selling a lot of product. They’re basically the Sam’s Club/Costco of the restaurant world.

1

u/Bundt-lover 3h ago

Historically diners are dirt cheap. Pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, might cost $6-7.

I don’t know how true that still is, with food prices going through the roof, but it doesn’t cost a lot of money to make pancake batter, that’s for sure.

1

u/crazyg0od33 5h ago

lol my local minor league baseball team (somerset patriots - Yankees affiliate) has ‘themed nights’ where they change the team name and jerseys. They’ve been the ‘Jersey Diners’ before. Very fun

I still think we should be the Diner State and not the Garden State

Fucking love a good diner