Are there any examples of companies / products which are successful in USA but not that much in Europe or vice versa?

I don’t know offhand.

However, your question prompted me to wonder how many successful hamburger places there are in India, and then I realized you’re probably just the person to ask about that.

Montana steak houses. Hooters. Not enough meat supply and prudent citizens.

After giving it some thought, I’d say Monsanto and some if its products, aren’t as successful in Europe as they are in the US.

American Express cards in some areas of Ireland.

Pickups and SUVs, guns, and child sized ballistic vests.

Without doing any research, if there are any Trump products in Europe, I bet they’re doing even worse in Europe than they are over here.

Firearms of all calibers and descriptions.

Starbucks don’t do well in Australia so you can already imagine that it’s especially true in Italy.

I’m guessing that they don’t sell a lot of tacos in Europe. They really don’t sell a lot of tacos in most states in the US. Most of the tacos sold in the US are in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. California sells A LOT of tacos. They are originally from Mexico, so I guess the states that border Mexico, or those that are relatively close to Mexico sell more tacos than other states. I can’t even imagine seeing a taco in North Dakota, although I’m sure there are some there, somewhere. A friend of mine lives in Colorado. She said even the Taco Bell restaurants there, are very different than the ones in CA, even though Taco Bell is not exactly authentic, but apparently CA Taco Bells are much better than the ones in CO. But if you want a good taco in CA, all you have to do is step 20 yards outside of your house and you are bound to find one, either at a restaurant, or being made in someone’s home.

Those of you from other countries, or from states that don’t specialize in tacos, traditional Mexican-style tacos are corn tortillas that are stuffed with shredded beef, or ground beef, or sometimes chicken or shrimp or fish, then are deep fried and then lettuce, and cheese and tomatoes are added, along with additional salsa or hot sauce if you like.

Over the last 15 years or so, “soft tacos” have also become popular. They’re similar to the above, except that the corn tortilla has not been deep fried, so it’s more like the same ingredients being wrapped in a warm corn tortilla.

Another thing that has become relatively popular, at least in California, is potato filled tacos, for the vegetarian set, although apparently they originated in the Mexico City area of Mexico.

@Kardamom
“I’m guessing that they don’t sell a lot of tacos in Europe.”
That is what we have Kebabs for.

@kardamom We had really good tacos in Japan. Lol. They were the real deal, soft tacos (hard tacos are American) and they even had tacos al pastor.

In the last ten years I think every state in the lower 48 of America is now eating a lot of tacos. Taco Tuesday is a thing now. Just that some states still mostly serve the Americanized (US) deep fried corn tortilla. A lot of places put cheese on tacos that are made with corn tortillas too, which is an American thing.

Europe, I’m going to assume @ragingloli is right that kabobs are the equivalent in Europe. Sounds good to me. Can I get it with a side of tahini sauce? I wish we had more middle eastern food where I live. I can’t get a shawarma where I live. Closest is a gyro, but I don’t like Tzatziki sauce.

Can we get cif household cleaner in America? I was thinking to look for it. I like the products a lot. If we can get it here, it’s not sold in most supermarkets.

Velveeta. Cheese in a pressurised can. String cheese and cheese curds (but I’d love some, thanks). American Budwiser (most America beers, actually), handguns, American wines. Oreos. Hershey’s Chocolate. Monster Trucks. Nascar. Creationism. Corn dogs, NFL, AFC, baseball, grits and icetea. And the ever famous, relying on your customers to directly pay the servers wages in the form of tipping, so the food service businesses don’t have to pay a living wage.

Currywurst never in the USA. I don’t think I’ve seen curry ketchup at the stores.

Most of the tacos sold in the US are in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico

?? Tacos are everywhere in the US! They have been for decades.

There are seven non-chain Mexican restaurants within a half mile of me, from a tiny mom & pop to a place with maybe forty table. Plus Taco Bell and Chipotle within a mile.

Even growing up in a much smaller city in the late 70s, early 80s, there were family-owned Mexican places. Plus chains like Chi-Chis and Taco bell. Our school lunch program in the nearly all-white suburbs served tacos.

@ragingloli We have kebabs here too, but tacos are completely different. The Deep Fried Tacos, rather than the pre-fried ones that Taco Bell invented, are the best, although Taco Bell Tacos are very good too, but they are nothing like a kebab.

Even though some people would disagree, even Jack in the Box Tacos are really tasty. At least I remember them being tasty from back in the days when I still ate meat.

When I eat tacos, I eat Potato Tacos

@CallMeJay, I have been to some states where it was almost impossible to find a taco, at least the kind we have out here. Taco Bell will do in a pinch (well, not for me, because they don’t have a vegetarian version) but some of my relatives live in decidedly taco-free areas such as Minnesota and a lot of the Pacific Northwest, and a lot of the Midwest. I guess it just depends on where you are, but in Southern CA, you can’t walk 50 feet without bumping into a taco shop or a Mexican restaurant that serves tacos.

@JLeslie We have tons of Middle Eastern food in Southern CA, you should take a trip out here and sample some. I love falafel, and hummus, and baba ganoush, and tabouli.

@Kardamom There is tons of middle eastern food in FL too, just not in the immediate area where I live.

One thing I find funny is a Mexican restaurant we used to go to in TN had signs up saying “I don’t care if you border state people think you know what goes on a taco we will not put cheese on it.” Lol.

We had incredible Mexican food in Seattle, so my Pacific Northwest experience was a good one for Mexican food.

Having said all of that, Mexican food is not one of my top three favorite foods, but I’m married to a Mexican, so I just know more than I otherwise would have.

Minnesota is sort of “remote” to use as an example of a state. The twin cities are large, and of course the Mall of America is a huge tourist attraction, and Mayo Clinic is just one company out of many that is worth mentioning, but of all states, I mean I just don’t expect MN to necessarily have “everything” that most other states have. My guess there is some Mexican food there though. MN has very very few Hispanics. You don’t have a lot of Mexicans up there opening restaurants. It’s very “white” state until about 15 years ago when the demographics started to change. Southern California was Mexico.

@JLeslie Ha ha, I can (and often do) eat Mexican food every day. Lol. I just wish there was more vegetarian options. There are a couple of vegetarian Mexican restaurants in the Los Angeles area, but they’re still too far from where I live to frequent them often, although what I ate there was incredible. A few places closer to my house have been adding potato tacos to their menus and I absolutely love those! I make my own variations on Mexican food at home all the time. I like to make enchiladas and I will change up the ingredients with broccoli, or sweet potatoes, or black beans, or cauliflower, or mushrooms depending upon what I have handy. I love to experiment. I don’t bother with fried tacos at home, I don’t like to fry stuff, it always gets grease all over the place, and I end up getting burned, so I don’t bother with those kind of tacos. I do occasionally buy the pre-made shells, like Taco Bell uses and fill them with all sorts of things, but usually with more of an Asian theme. Think of a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, only in a tortilla.

I think a lot of states have very regional tastes, and that is probably why tacos are not more popular in some areas as they are here. I would love to see one of our local taco shops create a butternut squash filled taco. I would totally devour that. One place makes them with mushrooms, and that is really tasty. I think Los Angeles, as opposed to other places in CA, are more open to experimenting with vegetarian options regarding Mexican food. I’m just happy when I find a place that doesn’t make their refried beans with lard.

One of my friends came out from Texas last year and we decided to go to a Mexican restaurant. She was very skeptical of “California-style Mexican” food, because Tex-Mex is a huge thing where she lives. She said she liked the food here, but it was different than the typical Mexican fare in Texas, but at least now she says she likes it, but it’s different. We took her to all kinds of vegetarian restaurants too, because my best friend and I are vegetarians. I was worried that she might be horribly disappointed, but not only was she a good sport, she really loved the places we took her too. She said they definitely do not have a lot (or any, probably) vegetarian restaurants where she lives in Texas. Her favorite thing that she ate out her in CA was a “breakfast pizza”. I plan to develop my own breakfast pizza as soon as it cools off. Basically it was a hand stretched, woodfired pizza crust that was topped with hash browns and fried eggs and bacon and sausage. I could easily adapt that to a veggie version, although I would keep the eggs and hash browns. It looked so good!

I would love to visit Seattle. I hear it is a food lover’s paradise. And the cool temperatures up there would be wonderful too.

Is anybody getting hungry yet? I know I am : )

@Kardamom Here’s what you’re not getting. Most of the US does eat lots of Mexican food. Where I live there are three Mexican restaurants within 5 miles, and a taco truck that is always around. During special events even more taco trucks are brought in.

When I lived in TN there were easily 5 Mexican restaurants very close by, and you can double that to ten if you’re willing to drive 15–25 minutes.

I’ve lived in NY, NC, TN, MI, MD, FL, and for sure there were tacos in all of those places.

Growing up in MD in the 70’s and 80’s, tacos were a regular item in school lunches, just like pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs.

Edit: Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis https://www.google.com/amp/s/twincities.eater.com/platform/amp/maps/best-mexican-restaurant-minneapolis-st-paul-twin-cities

Tacos are everywhere in the US.

I picked two small cities, not near large cities. These aren’t comprehensive lists, there may be more in each town.

Mankato, Minnesota, population 39,000

La Bamba Mexican Taco House
Zanz Mexican Restaurant
El Mazatlan Restaurant
La Terraza Mexican Grill and Bar
Chipotle Mexican Grill (2 Mankato locations)
Taco John’s (chain), 63 locations in Minnesota)
Vero’s Tacos

Mason City, Iowa, population 28,000
Mr. Taco
Taco Tico Inc
Taco John’s (62 locations in Iowa)
Plaza Mexico
Pancheros Mexican Grill
Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant
Cancun Mexican Restaurant