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Fast Food Popularity In Italy- Not So Much, But They Keep Coming
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KlausSchadenfreude
Dec 19, 2021, 3:38:01 PM12/19/21
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Italian food is the third most popular type of restaurant in the US,
after Mexican and Chinese.
chefspencil.com/most-popular-ethnic-cuisines-in-america/
But how does American fast food do in Italy?
https://fortune.com/2021/12/11/big-macs-flop-american-fast-food-chains-mcdonalds-five-guys-starbucks-italy/
In ancient times, anyone hungry and far from home in Rome could stop
by a thermopolium for a quick bite to eat.
There, a cook would serve hungry passers-by sweet wine and hot stews
and soups made of fava beans, cabbage, or onions with bits of pork,
fish, snails, or beef. The meal was served out of deep terra-cotta
jars. There were even reminders for pet owners to keep dogs on a leash
while eating.
Historians consider the thermopolium—which roughly translates to a
place where hot meals are sold—as the forerunner to today's fast-food
restaurants.
Centuries later, many of the world's biggest fast-food chains are
finding it difficult to survive in Italy, a complex culinary market
that features exquisite staples like pasta carbonara, lasagne, and
saltimbocca and an emergent local street-food scene.
The latest to try to crack the Italian market is the Virginia-based
burgers-and-fries chain Five Guys. The $1.7 billion giant opened in
Rome in October, and, in so doing, doubled its Italian footprint. Its
first entry in the country was in Milan in 2018, a debut that earned a
rough review from the Italian food blog Dissapore, which found the
burger overcooked, the fries too salty, and the rest of the fixings
"forgettable." One bonus: You can order a beer with your meal.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the opening of Italy’s first
McDonald’s, near the Spanish Steps in Rome. The chain is by far
Italy’s largest fast-food import, with 615 locations nationally. But
that is still fewer than the number of Micky D's located elsewhere in
Europe.
The U.K., which has around the same population as Italy, has more than
twice as many McDonald’s locations. And France, which has a similar
population and a similar gastronomic tradition, has nearly 1,500
McDonald’s locations within its territory.
Burger King, for example, arrived in Italy in 1999, but still operates
only 220 locations in a country of 60 million residents, enough to
make it the second-largest American fast-food chain in the country.
There are 50 KFC franchisees in Italy, 17 Subway locations, and 34
Domino’s pizza stores. Dunkin’ Donuts first opened shop in Italy in
1999. Its last location, near Rome’s Trevi Fountain, closed less than
four years later.
“There’s no single reason that can explain why, but it’s clear that
despite decades of trying, and a great deal of money spent, Italians
don’t embrace American fast food the way people in many other
countries do,” says Marta Manzo, a Rome journalist who has researched
fast-food trends and wears a necklace shaped like a slice of pizza.
Who would bring Domino's Pizza to Italy? I mean, really? That seems
somewhere between an insult and an act of war.
after Mexican and Chinese.
chefspencil.com/most-popular-ethnic-cuisines-in-america/
But how does American fast food do in Italy?
https://fortune.com/2021/12/11/big-macs-flop-american-fast-food-chains-mcdonalds-five-guys-starbucks-italy/
In ancient times, anyone hungry and far from home in Rome could stop
by a thermopolium for a quick bite to eat.
There, a cook would serve hungry passers-by sweet wine and hot stews
and soups made of fava beans, cabbage, or onions with bits of pork,
fish, snails, or beef. The meal was served out of deep terra-cotta
jars. There were even reminders for pet owners to keep dogs on a leash
while eating.
Historians consider the thermopolium—which roughly translates to a
place where hot meals are sold—as the forerunner to today's fast-food
restaurants.
Centuries later, many of the world's biggest fast-food chains are
finding it difficult to survive in Italy, a complex culinary market
that features exquisite staples like pasta carbonara, lasagne, and
saltimbocca and an emergent local street-food scene.
The latest to try to crack the Italian market is the Virginia-based
burgers-and-fries chain Five Guys. The $1.7 billion giant opened in
Rome in October, and, in so doing, doubled its Italian footprint. Its
first entry in the country was in Milan in 2018, a debut that earned a
rough review from the Italian food blog Dissapore, which found the
burger overcooked, the fries too salty, and the rest of the fixings
"forgettable." One bonus: You can order a beer with your meal.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of the opening of Italy’s first
McDonald’s, near the Spanish Steps in Rome. The chain is by far
Italy’s largest fast-food import, with 615 locations nationally. But
that is still fewer than the number of Micky D's located elsewhere in
Europe.
The U.K., which has around the same population as Italy, has more than
twice as many McDonald’s locations. And France, which has a similar
population and a similar gastronomic tradition, has nearly 1,500
McDonald’s locations within its territory.
Burger King, for example, arrived in Italy in 1999, but still operates
only 220 locations in a country of 60 million residents, enough to
make it the second-largest American fast-food chain in the country.
There are 50 KFC franchisees in Italy, 17 Subway locations, and 34
Domino’s pizza stores. Dunkin’ Donuts first opened shop in Italy in
1999. Its last location, near Rome’s Trevi Fountain, closed less than
four years later.
“There’s no single reason that can explain why, but it’s clear that
despite decades of trying, and a great deal of money spent, Italians
don’t embrace American fast food the way people in many other
countries do,” says Marta Manzo, a Rome journalist who has researched
fast-food trends and wears a necklace shaped like a slice of pizza.
Who would bring Domino's Pizza to Italy? I mean, really? That seems
somewhere between an insult and an act of war.
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