Good western restaurants

Hi Barbara,

For pizza, there is this place called "Caesar's" but it's not Amerian style, more like European style with thicker crusts. It's very popular among the Portuguese(location = Nova Taipa).

Mexican foods = there is a tacos restaurant near the MGM Grand. I've only been there once, I thought it was pretty authentic. :)

As for burgers, the only one I find acceptable is Fat Burgers inside the Venetians. However I feel that it's not as good as when it first opened, and the prices are a little high. Therefore I feel there's definitely room for American style foods (something like Uno's would be nice) since the majority of the authentic Western restaurants here are Portuguese style.

And for expat ladies, there is an international ladies club. http://www.ilcm.org.mo/ They are very active in macau!

Hope you and your children will enjoy staying here!

I have not yet found a diner here, but think that it is a fabulous idea. The Chinese version of western style cooking is slightly different and really doesn't compare. I've never had a decent cup of coffee unless it was from Starbucks or even... McDonalds! Ugh. A 24 hour diner akin to Denny's or Applebee's would get a lot of business here, especially if it were near the casinos and clubs along the water in Macau.

I think another fabulous idea would be a coffee shop with wi-fi and sandwiches. I haven't seen anything like that either.

As far as shopping goes, the Hyper Gourmet store in the Ocean Gardens complex imports a lot of things from the US and Australia and Europe.

Sorry about your kids. They will definitely have to adapt. We all did too.

Good luck!

Thare are a few good western restaurants in macau, but the prices are high, I mean I can't afford dining in a decent restaurant everyday. Luckly the Macanese cuisine is ok for me, some of the restaurants serve real good food, and not expensive.
In Macau you can find restaurants serving different cuisine, and I did enjoy to try something new.

Mexican > Try Mexicana in Taipa, I own the place and we went as authentic as possible as I hired a Mexican Chef when we getting started up. We've Mex & TexMex

With the American Casinos here there has been a big influx of western foods. You can find Burgers at FatBurger, Pizza at Pizza Pizza both in Venetian

Pizza at Ceasars in Taipa also or Pizza Hut in Macao, both deliver

French can be had in a few places either out in Taipa or in the MGM

Brazilian in the Venetian or next to the French in Taipa

McD's and KFC in Taipa and/or Macao

Indian in Taipa x 2

An Australian place in Macao waterfront.

Lebanese near there too and some Italian places.

There is also a good Italian place in Taipa village and a Spanish place across the road from there. Was a Bar/Grill place next door too called Rascals.

There is Angela's cafe for sandwiches and light meals inside the New Yaohan

And a "American" Diner in Fishermans wharf.

And of course there is Portuguese food everywhere you look.

So, there is a bit too choose from western wise now.

Happy munching!

As far as starting your own...

Well, It is a lot of work to open a place in Macao. It took me about a year and a half to get the doors open for Mexicana. The government here does not make it easy or simple to invest in their economy. It almost seems as if they actively try to discourage you from doing it. Especially if you do it all by the book as I did.
As I struggled to do everything the right way I saw plenty of other places open in half the time because they did it all the shady way. Sooo many places were opening without a license it was incredible.
Anyhow, that is over and done with. My place has been open for 2 1/2 years now and growing steadily.
For western food there is always room for growth now with all the expats coming.

Good luck if you decide to do it. An American Bar and grill would be great.

There's definitely room for American breakfast (not a biscuit and gravy to be found... (or moons over my hammy:)... And there is a lack of desserts that I'm accustomed to. Desserts here are very mild and not very sweet. I'd love to see some cobblers, lemon meringue or pecan pie, chocolate suicide cake. Can you tell I'm from the midwest? There is plenty of "Western" food, but not a lot of American food my opinion. Good luck finding a meatloaf, pot roast, good baked ham, etc. Yum!! Good luck to you!!
On a more serious note, I have a three year old and we haven't had any trouble at all with the food. There is a Pizza Hut and McDonald's close to us (Taipa), peanut butter and jelly or chicken nuggets are available at the grocery store. She loves rice and noodles, which are served at every restaurant here. Spaghetti (portuguese style, I presume? the sauce is a little orange) is served in most restaurants we have been in. There is much more variety in drinks here than at restaurants back home, where sprite is likely to be the only option--there are all kinds of juice boxes and sweetened soymilk drinks. She enjoys the bean curd and tofu options much more than meats back home--I think it's a texture thing. Oh, and the fruit here is amazing. I have found the food here to be very kid friendly. May depend on the age of the kid, though...
Hope that helps!

Yes, pleassseee don't just think about it, just do it. i have nothing against, McDo and StarBucks early in the morning but you know, eating there everyday??? people need variety. i'am a breakfast person, that's why. so goodluck!!

God bless,

LdyHwk

I'm afraid I have to eat my words... We did try an American diner last week--Al's Diner at Fisherman's Wharf. The burger and fries were great, but the potato skins missed the mark (slices of white processed cheese, salsa with only tomatoes and onions), and there was no American beer on tap. The hot dog was in casing. We didn't try the breakfast, but I think I remember seeing that it has 24 hour breakfast. There was almost no business there--only about 5 tables at the dinner hour. I personally think that's because it isn't in the expat area (Taipa) and it's off the beaten path--a taxi would drop you far from the restaurant & you'd have to hike in. Anyway, there's a point of reference.
Please come with your restaurant, and bring Jimmy Dean. :)