As I sit here tonight planning my next trip and about to feast on my slab of barbecued baby back ribs and home grown corn on the cob with a side of slaw, it strikes me that for me, this is the quintessential American meal and what I would recommend first to any visitor to the states.

How about you, what would you say is the quintessential American meal? I'm especially curious as to what visitors to the USA think?

We were on a cruise on July 4th one year, and what you are having tonight is precisely what the chef recommended for the evening meal. Now, if you just have some banana pudding for dessert!!

When we had visitors from Europe (teenagers staying at our house - twice from England and once from Spain) we always cooked them a Thanksgiving-style dinner once.

I grew up in NC..I would have said fried chicken, okra and potato salad with cobbler for dessert..washed down with iced tea (sweet).

I spent the majority of the years since, in NYC...I cannot think of what is the quintessential "American" meal now...my friend Houng Yee and husband (both born in the US) would say Stir fry tofu and seafood..the young man from India that worked for my husband (born in NJ) would describe a Punjabi feast..
I guess now that I live outside of the US, I would look back on things that I have not found here (yet)..lobster dipped in butter at the beach, roast turkey/chicken with stuffing and potatoes etc..
If you ask my son, he would say Spaghetti

Cheeseburger with fries (and Heinz ketchup) with a Coca-Cola.

I think this is a regional thing. I never had BBQ until I went to the midwest - and frankly, it's not my favorite.

Althoug I do love sweet corn - but only local - if it wasn;t picked that day it's no good - so our access in NYC is limited.

I agree to the turkey dinner - typical both in a culinary and historical sense.

Anf yes, by brother - th eonly one with a backyard - does grill - but mostly chicken, marinated veggie kabobs, and tilapia or tuna steaks - once in a while lobster.

Agree - Thanksgiving Dinner - turkey with all the trimmings is the closest we have to a quintessentially american meal. Otherwise, there are so many regional variations that it's going to be hard to nail down. The previously mentioned, burger, fries, and a coke comes pretty close, too.

Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas, hot buttered rolls, salad with orange -y french dressing and apple pie a la mode with vanilla ice cream. Real diner dinner!

Debi

The burger is a national symbol recognized as widely as Old Glory, the Eagle, and the Statue of Liberty.

Not our best by a long shot, but I think, quintesential.

Personally, I'd have the lobster or fried chicken.

I'll have all of the above and lets throw in some pot roast with root veggies for good measure

Since I'm in Seattle, I'll say broiled salmon.

definately regional. EAST COAST FOR ME MEANS: Salmon for the 4th or a BBQ.
Goose for Christmass or NeW Years.
Lamb for Easter.
Turkey for Thanksgiving

European guests cannot see themselves eating "horse food" -- that's what they call corn on the cob. That's OK -- we are glad to eat theirs.

YES USNR but that is differnt breed of corn. It's a variety grown for animal food.

hot dogs and beer or pop. with a bag of peanuts (roasted, in shell), maybe some Cracker Jacks.

Not a meal, of course, but is there anything more quintessentially American than popcorn?

We once ate what we thought to be a conventional home dinner in the USA:meatloaf with mashed potatoes and we liked it.That was on our last day before returning to Belgium in 2004.It was in Plymouth Ma.Last year when we toured the southeast states I wanted to have the meatloaf again but we could not find a restaurant serving it. The receptionist in Asheville called several restaurants for us enquiring whether they had meatloaf on the menu but no luck.Paul

Our visitors are all amazed with sodas in restaurants. When taking teenagers to standard chain type restaurants (Chilis, Applebees) in US they were all amazed with being served a huge soft drink that was refilled spontaneously whenever the level edged towards empty. Drinking a quart of Pepsi with a meal was a pleasant oddity to them.

My first thought was the full Thanksgiving type meal ending with apple pie ala mode or the hamburger with fries and a coke or milkshake.