Reduce Tariff Tensions w/ These 7 "Incredible!" US Restaurants

Slow Boat Brewery
Slow Boat Brewery's brewpub, with its 36 beer taps over three floors, has been a consistent part of the Beijing expat scene for the past two years. While their menu offers a vast variety of American cuisine, the pick of the litter for founder and boss Chandler Jurinka is the Classic Burger (though you also can't go wrong with their three-time Burger Cup winning Fryburger). "It's a 100 percent beef patty topped with American cheese and onion, plus mayo or mustard," explains Jurinka. "It's a classic, no-frills example of classic American fare." Uncle Sam would be proud.

Pie Squared
This Shunyi-based pizzeria has been cooking up Detroit-style square pizza since opening in 2013, feeding a whole neighborhood with crunchy, gooey, cheesy, and addictive slices. According to owner and Michigan native Asher Gillespie, Pie Squared's most American dish is, you guessed it, "Pizza!" Why? "Because it's pizza! It sounds pretty simple but that's the truth. When I think of American cuisine, I think of pizza, burgers, hot dogs, and so on."

The Local
Located in Sanlitun's Courtyard 4, The Local is the area's trusted pub hub and no-pretense American joint. Once lured into the five-year-old bar, you'll find a wide range of hearty American cuisine on offer, with everything from mac 'n' cheese to a full American breakfast. Kenn Bermel, co-owner and manager of The Local tells us, "So, we had a little discussion, and decided that the Buffalo chicken and blue cheese pizza is the most American thing on our menu. While many come to The Local specifically to order this pizza, most are American. The intense flavors are an acquired taste, to say the least."

Jing-A
Jing-A, a six-year-running North American creation, was founded by two long-time Beijing expats and as well as featuring multi-award-winning craft brews, also sports a damn fine range of classic Amerian grub. Of that belly-rubbing hot-off-the-grill fare, Emmy Andréasson, manager of Jing-A, explains, "The Carnivore Platter is a ridiculously big American-sized portion of all our best Texas-style barbecue meats: beef brisket, pulled pork, sausage links, and pork ribs, and it comes with coleslaw, pickles, and grilled mantou on the side. All meats are slow-smoked in our custom built smoker in the back of the brewpub. It feeds between three to four people, so it works great as a shared meal over a pint (or two)."

Home Plate
This barbecue mecca has been serving up Beijing's most American food since 2009, with joints in Sanlitun and Sanyuanqiao, and countless iconic American dishes on their deep and diverse menu. "It's a bit hard as everything on our menu is pretty damn American," says Home Plate's General Manager Charlie De Pellette, "but at a push, I would choose our New Fangled BBQ Trail. It has a pork chop, house-smoked pastrami, sausage, pork belly, and barbecued duck, and comes with six sides! Basically the most you can get in one order, so that would make it the most American thing on our menu!" Legend has it that this BBQ Trail actually causes you to hear the Star-Spangled Banner as you deliriously chow down its various meats.

The famous 50 Stars are best exemplified through their tacos, according to Michael Tsai of Palms LA

Palms L.A. Kitchen and Bar
Despite the name, Palms L.A. might not be the first restaurant that springs to mind when thinking of classic American food in Beijing. However, don't deny this Korean-Mexican eatery its strong American roots. According to owner and professional drag queen Michael "Tiger Lily" Tsai, "Tacos are surely our most American dish, even though they are Mexican. The US has fully embraced tacos as a staple in the American diet. We have fusion-ized our tacos which make them even more American because we took the best of Mexican and Korean cuisines to create what we feel is the most American thing to do ... which is to bastardize other countries' cuisine and to call it our own." Amen to that, and so was born a true 21st century American dish.

3 Little Pigs
Having been ousted from his small Yashow-adjacent digs early last year, owner and New Jersey native Andy Horowitz's meat-based business has been on the up and up. Having now settled into his 3 Little Pigs digs located just east of Nanluogu Xiang, Horowitz now serves Dongcheng with some fine American classics. Horowitz reckons his Reuben sandwich (pictured above) best encompasses the USA out of all the items on his menu, explaining, "We make it with our own corned beef and sauerkraut; this is something that few places even in the US still do. The Reuben is such a great combination of the great things Jewish, German, and Irish immigrants in the lower east side of Manhattan had to offer. Such a good example of the immigrant spirit and entrepreneurship that defines America." God(s) would be proud.