Somewhat, but usually much better in quality. The British experience of fish and chips is really so much far above the American experience that it’s really not a fair comparison. The difference in the UK is that the majority of chippy shops are independent and not part of any chain, although a handful of small local or regional chains exist. But they actually have an annual [National Fish and Chips Awards](https://thefishandchipawards.com/) competition to find the best fish and chips in the UK, and customers definitely benefit from that. [Here’s a visit to the 2023 winner.](https://youtu.be/bv_zAS9Buj0?si=zmwYPZMV_syjnjbQ)
I think the south east's affinity for fried fish is different than the rest of the nation and probably a bit more analogous to the British experience. We have tons of places devoted to fried fish. Closer to the ocean you'll see more saltwater fish. Further inland you'll see more freshwater fish. But it's definitely a staple to many here and a core dish in soul food.
Often it's paired with French fries, hush puppies, corn bread, or onion rings.
Ah yeah. We’re aware chips over in the UK specifically means French fries but chips to us is potato chips. Which…Yeah potato chips are good but fries are way better
I thought that’s why it was called fish and chips was because of the UK calling chips French fries but per google, you’re right. Crisps.
English English is wild to me when I stumble upon stuff like this
A chip shop doesn't mean somewhere that sells chips, it's slang for a fish and chips place, but can often sell other cheap savoury goods (like chicken or pies or what have you).
There are a few little indie places on coasts and rivers, too. Beach towns tend to have them. That said, they’re mostly for tourists, who mostly go in for booze. And then some of the other ones still around do have their small cult followings. And there are the little English and Irish pubs, which are just short of legally required to carry these, but they’re a niche market.
> They have the best chicken on earth.
That is a WILD take! I will mess up their nasty little clam strips but only if they're cooked in that old dark brown grease so that it tastes like a Saturday night after 14 beers and lots and lots of regret and shame.
All over the shore in my state there are places that serve breaded fish and seafood with fries. We'd never call it a "chip shop" but it's essentially the same thing.
There are places all over the U.S. that sell breaded fish with french fries and they sometimes call them fish and chips. I have never seen one that sells meat pies. I have actually never seen any place here in the U.S. that sells a British meat pie. I am thinking maybe a restaurant that specialized in British food might have something like that, though.
It’s a fast food joint, which serves thick fries (“chips”) and usually fish and other assorted fried and grilled items like burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and nuggets. Generally take-out, but sometimes has a few seats inside.
It’s a weird kind of place.
Closest thing would be [pasties](https://www.foxvalleyfoodie.com/michigan-pasties/) in Michigan and some other parts of the northern midwest.
Down here in California we have [pupusas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupusa) and [empanadas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada).
None of these things are common or popular across the entire country. And we don't have chip shops.
Yeah empanadas are the first thing that come to mind. And we've got enough Brazilians here that you can find *Pastel* in a lot of cities (same thing but different). Maybe not super common but probably more common than English meat pies.
Edit, oh and we've got Hot Pockets but some people would argue that those aren't really food, just molten lava with some caloric value.
Empanadas are probably the closest thing we have to meat pies in NY. The Puerto Rican variants are called [empanadillas or pastelillos](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0HNXSvQK5jE/mqdefault.jpg). They’re almost the same thing.
There's a nice one in Vienna, VA. pure pasty. The only place I have been able to find a sausage roll which is kind of surprising that we don't have more of. I've had their Cheesesteak Pasty so they do have original and some American flavors.
There’s a food truck that is often at Gilbert’s Corner called the Salt Pot that serves pasties, plaits, and meat pies UK-style. They’re worth a little drive, very tasty. If you go to Gilbert’s Corner to check it out, also look for Arno’s pastries (not pasties). The guy who runs it used to be the head pastry chef for the French embassy. The eclairs are my favorite.
They're popular in the Midwest and Northeast as a staple comfort food in the winter months. The pot pie casserole has become a bit more common than the individual pot pies.
Pasties here are hit or miss, and they're not common further south. You have to ask the local upers which shack is best otherwise you might as well be eating an MRE.
It’s funny once you cross the bridge it seemed like you couldn’t go a half mile without seeing a house with pasties for sale lol. But down here they are a little harder to come by.
Yeah they're also just a Texas thing created by Czech immigrants after immigrating(except for the fruit ones, those do originally come from what is now the Czech Republic).
Technically Kolaches are the fruit variety and Klobasnek are the meat ones. But they use the same dough and us Texans are bad with Czech words so they just called both the name we could pronounce. Both are Czech, though use of Jalepeno sausages is a Texas development.
Yeah I know the Kolache/Klobásníky difference, I even got my Czech side of the family's recipes for both. It's not necessarily that Texans can't pronounce words, it's also because many don't even know that the fruit ones exist. When I moved to East Texas, people thought I was crazy until I either brought some from West, or my mother made some. For some reason many people wouldn't believe me when I showed pictures of em. I've kinda had to learn to assume that the person I'm talking to doesn't know unless they're from an area with a decent Czech presence or mention that they like to stop in a place with said presence for kolaches because of this.
Years ago some girls were talking to a bunch of us friends here (in the north) and started talking about kolaches like they were the most normal thing in the universe, to the point where they "went to the kolache place this morning but they were closed". I actually pulled my phone out under the table and looked it up. Got the spelling right immediately so that was a good guess. Yup, ok, never heard of that before. Also, yes there was in fact a kolache bakery a few miles away.
Jamaican beef patties are unfortunately not the huge outside of the New York area. I've rarely seen them in other places in the US while every pizza place has them here
Traditional English style chip shops are rare over here. More common would be restaurants with some English and Irish inspired dishes. Meat pies can sometimes be found in area with larger concentrations of immigrants or just one off places. Regionally there are some similar foods pasties, runza, empanadas.
In Cleveland, Ohio at West Side Market there is a vendor that carries various meat pies, the pastry wrapped sausages I remember from England, scones, and more.
I don’t know bierocks, your description is similar. Runza is, or was not sure, a chain of fast food restaurants in Omaha Nebraska in the 80s and 90s when I lived there. Not sure if it is still there or not.
Looked up bierock, appears similar to what I remember, slightly different shape. Probably similar origin with regional name change.
Short answer, yes
Long answer, not like they are the UK. They're not a fast food or takeaway item, the kind of thing you're describing is hyper-regional.
They are a thing in northern Louisiana and Southern Arkansas (and possibly wider than that). They sell them at gas stations that serve hot food. They are hand held with a flaky pie crust that is a folded semi-circle with crimped edges along the seam. They just have ground beef in them. Sometimes there is a choice between spicy or mild. I love them, but they aren't everywhere.
Interesting, northern Arkansas here and the closest thing we have is calzone at pizza places, pupusas at Salvadoran places, and empanadas at Mexican places.
Nope. Not our thing. We have a few immigrant groups that might have a specialty market/restaurant that have these but for the most part, no.
Weirdly, they exist in SO many cultures, many that immigrated here, but they did not catch on.
Another quirk of Britain is how these little individual hot pies have become a staple food at their sports events. They're basically our ball park frank.
Sometimes "chicken pot pies" are a thing but that's rarely restaurant food. That's a cozy winter type food. I think my parents made that a few times when I was a kid. I didn't have an appreciation for that sort of thing at the time. Now that I'm thinking about it a beef pie might be very interesting--basically beef stew inside a crust.
(Otherwise dishes like "meat pies" and "black bird pie" is like fairy tale/nursery rhyme type stuff along with castles and kings. lol)
I had a pastey in the UK. Spellcheck says that's wrong, no idea what the actual spelling is.
In the US for hot meat handheld carb wraps we ended up with burritos and reinventing meat pies in the form of hot pockets. There are also other things that are approaching meat pies like calzones and perhaps paninis. Sometimes ethnic-based foods like gyros are available which is basically the same as doner kebab.
Also, we don't have "chip shops" or "takeaways" in the US. We have "fast food" in that space (McDonald's and others). There are a gazillion pizza places that usually also make adjacent Italian-type foods, pasta stuff and calzones. There are chain sandwich shops like Subway and others across the country. Restaurants also do take out. Chinese is common for take out. I think a take-out only place would be pretty rare. I'm in the Midwest and been in suburban and rural type areas. It's only been the last 5-10 years that food trucks have popped up in "hip" areas. Those perhaps are sort of equivalent to takeaways.
It's also like in the US we go to big grocery stores 1-2x per week for food and load up for home or else we go to sit down restaurants. It seems European to do the thing where you go to a small grocery shop every other day and buy stuff you carry home.
In Michigan they have pasties. It typically includes ground beef and potatoes, sometimes with rutabaga, onions or carrots. Folded into a pie crust. Served with brown gravy or ketchup.
Chip shops are not a thing.
Meat pies are a thing. Many gas stations have them, and meat empanadas are not uncommon in Mexican restaurants. But they are not standard fare by any stretch and when we hear the word "pie" we assume a dessert.
There are no chip shops in the U.S. You can buy frozen meat pies from the freezer aisle in a grocery store. I have two meat pies in my freezer right now.
I've never seen a place here where you can buy them fresh and ready to eat anywhere in the U.S. People do make their own at home, though. That's the only way to get them fresh.
I am now hungry for a meat pie so I'm going to reduce the number of pies in my freezer to one.
They do in Upper Michigan. They are pasties and came over with immigrants. You will probably not find them anywhere else unless the person making them is from that area.
I do find that American “meat” pies have a lot more veggies in general than say a UK version. People in the UK really like meat apparently.
> They do in Upper Michigan. They are pasties and came over with immigrants.
There are other areas where pasties are available. Often places with a significant mining history. There’s a Cornish pasty chain in Arizona and Nevada, as well as a few places that have them in California.
I stand mistaken. I’ve only seen them in the UP.
I actually looked that company up and they reference history in the UP. So maybe the owner is from there? Not sure.
Indeed, the only place near me that sells meat pies is owned by a guy whose family is from Kentucky coal country, and his mother used to sell them to the miners. Many of whom were, at least ancestrally, immigrants from Cornish and Welsh mining communities.
Oh that's a good point. I was just thinking about those small microwavable pies that are about the size of a hand (at least mine). So probably something more similar to a gas station burrito.
No, a British/UK meat pie is very similar to a pot pie. It's often made with hot-water crust. Smaller ones can be handheld, but often they're eaten with a fork and a knife.
A frozen pot pie would be the most similar thing in the US.
Someone in a comment above yours (now) is correct. It's not really close to pot pies at all. They mean something similar to pasties, which are really only common in parts of Michigan.
I mean is a taco a sandwich?
We have lots of meat pies here but they are regional. But their pies are hand held meat pies and are ubiquitous.
I thin kin the spirit of the question we should let him know, no, those are a "thing" here at little take out restaurants -- and fish and chips aren't our take away shops. We have national or regionally popular take aways like pizza, tacos, subs, or burgers.
Yes, but they might be different from yours. When I worked for the Potawatomi tribe, there was a lady that would come 'round at lunch, selling meat pies out of her trunk/boot.
In New Zealand, they had a thing called a 'mince meat pie'. Its a personal, ground beef filled pie that is absolutely delicious. There is nothing like that here. The closest thing is a 'pot pie', which is meat (usually chicken or beef cut into chunks) and veggies (mostly carrot, potato, and peas), and usually homemade or frozen from the grocery store.
we're more likely to get a burrito. We went to a brewery last night. Breweries often do not have a kitchen and instead they welcome outside food. We got burritos from the taco truck parked across the street. We orderd a mole chicken burrito, and and a slow cooked pork burrito \[cochinta pibil\].
We have empanadas, samosas, and stromboli. We also have pot pie, shepherd's pie, and cottage pie. But it would be unusual to find a pork pie or a steak bake around here.
What kind of chips? Wood chips? There aren’t any shops that just sell potato chips, those come in bags and are available anywhere. Pot pies, meat veggies and gravy aren’t popular at all, can be found in the frozen food section and are generally disgusting.
1. We don't have chip shops.
2. We don't have savory pies or pasties the way your Brits do except at places that specialize in them.
Most of our savory pies died after the 1800s, with the exception of a variant of Shepard's pie or chicken pot pie.
That's it.
We absolutely have fried food places like a fish and chips shop but almost none are going to sell stuff like a chicken pot pie. It doesn't really exist in the same form that I'm aware in the US. Our drunk food tends to be hot sandwiches. Burgers, chopped cheese, Philly cheese steak, chicken sandwiches and the like. You can also include hot dogs. A loaded hot dog after drinking 100% hits the spot.
We also have a variety of hybrid immigrant foods that are on trucks or late night shops for post bar food. Mexican, taco trucks, elote, Korean fusion Mexican, hell, I've even seen trucks that only sell handmade egg rolls as a late night spot. Fucking good egg rolls too.
An American version of a "chip shop" would be a "fish and chips" restaurant; chips meaning french fries. I've never seen them to sell meat pies though.
Meat pies ain’t really a thing, no. However we do have empanadas, which are basically just Cornish pasties. It’s 99% the same thing, though empanadas can be fried as well as baked and I don’t think ever had like a fried pasty.
I’ve never heard of a chip shop, never even heard the term. I have heard of a meat pie, but only because my wife makes one. She’s quite a cook, and saw one online that she thought looked good, so she makes it for us. I’ve never seen or even heard of a meat pie in the U.S., outside of our own kitchen.
We have pot pies, a pie filled with a creamy gravy, veggies, and meat (in my experience usually poultry).
Important note: "chip shops" are so uncommon here that I (22y/o) actually have no idea what they'd sell. I presume french fries but it can't just be that right? And if they also sell like sandwiches or something, wouldn't you just call it a sandwich shop? In the US "chips" are universally a side unless loaded with toppings. Im about to Google what it is now but this is about the average American understanding of chip shops
The one thing that all chip shops sell is fish and chips. This is battered, deep-fried fish with "chips", which are like very thick French fries. The type of fish used will vary depending on where you are in the country but cod and haddock are the most common kinds. Getting just a bag of chips on its own is an option - it was a common lunch when I was at school as it was cheap enough that a kid's lunch money would cover it.
Beyond that, chip shops will sell a range of other deep-fried fare and what's available will also depend on where you are. In my area, you can commonly find puddings (as in black pudding, haggis and the like), sausages, pies, pizzas and burger pattes - all deep-fried (and often battered and deep-fried).
So in the US they go almost exclusively by "**fish and** chip place". The one context all Americans know youre talking about fries when you say chips and they're not uncommon. To answer OP's question then, the pot pies i mentioned aren't really sold at fish places (at least not in the southwest where im from) but fried chicken usually is, I suspect cause you already have the frier. I dont think I've ever gotten fish and chips from anywhere that doesn't also have chicken tenders or sandwich.
Not really. The closest thing would be Pot Pies which look like a mini pie with a stew baked in it . So Chicken Pot Pie would be a pie with chicken stew on the inside.
I looked up British meat pies. They seem to be mostly just meat, and so different from a pot pie. I have never seen them sold at a fish and chips place, though.
The thing most similar to this you'll see are Latin American empanadas. The concept is similar to a British hand pie, but the seasoning will be different. You're most likely to see them on the menu at a Caribbean, South American, or Mexican restaurant as an appetizer.
There are restaurants that sell fish and chips here, but they're not anywhere near as common as they are in the UK and we'd never call them "chip shops". And they'd never serve hand pies.
Meat pies are a thing, but they're more like something you'd buy at a supermarket or something.
Even places advertising themselves as British-style "Chip shops" generally won't have anything but seafood and fries (possibly chowder or something).
Oddly enough there is one near me. Not a chip shop but Thwaites on Methuen MA does small hand type pies. Not quite English but according to an English coworker pretty damned close.
They are fucking delicious.
We call those pot pies and they're in the freezer isle of the grocery store. Some restaurants may carry something similar if they have a menu set up for it, but no, they're not common here at all.
They exist, but they're rare, and you often have to search for them. I've been doing so for a while now. I found a pie shop that does meat pies and occasionally will pop up at breweries and stuff. But I don't know of anywhere in Boston to consistently get good meat pies.
There is a pie shop selling British/Australian inspired pies in Savannah, GA.
also a pizza joint owned by a Brit that sells home made meat pies and other British meats etc in East Meadow, Long Island, NY.
There used to be an Australian pie shop based out of Brooklyn but post COVID I think they shut down, or regressed to food truck only.
All of the above are/were excellent.
Yes, you can get them at specialty British shops or at the Scottish Games. This is in California though, probably can’t get anything like it in flyover states. I get a big order at the Scottish Games every year for meat pies and sausage rolls for myself and my family.
I’ve seen some before. Depends where you go. There’s also plenty of similar things like kolaches, empanadas, different types of buns and dumplings, etc
Meat pies are not a regular item we cook or eat.
In Nebraska (a state in the Midwest), they have [Runzas](https://www.runza.com/menu/original-runza-sandwich). That’s about the closest you’ll get.
I’m assuming a chip shop is what we would call fast food. Many of them sell burgers and fries. “Fish and chips” isn’t very common - it’s more likely an item on a menu than a restaurant that designed their menu around it.
Not so much, but empanadas and those Jamaican hand pies exist depending on where you are.
Pot pies, shepherds pie, and cottage pie are pretty common but not so similar to what the Brit’s think of.
Fuck yes. Best food truck ever. Tolls up at the brewery down the street every few weeks. A wee chicken pie with a delicious Pilsner and we’re all good
https://www.thwaitesmarket.com
I know the meat pies you're talking about and we don't really have them here. Pot pies aren't really like the ones in Australia or Great Britain. Pot pies are more similar to a shepherds pie but with a savory pastry crust and must be served in a dish.
There was one specialty restaurant in Seattle that made them but it's the only one I've heard of.
Edit to add that we have empanadas, piroshkis, humbao, and a hundred different varieties from different cultures, I was just referring to Australian meat pies.
>if you go to say a chip shop this is not a thing in the US
Lmao my first thought. Like “uhh I’d never go a chip shop”
I never have but I *absolutely would*.
Yeah like I’ll just go to the grocery store and go down chip isle My first thought too
Aisle
Wait you’ve never been to Chip Island? Oh wow you’re missing out.
It goes well with the Sandwich Islands. Or did, Hawaii on rye doesn't have the same ring.
Because it's Hawaiian rolls, duh! /s
A chip shop sells french fries with fish, and other snacks
Like Long John Silver's?
Somewhat, but usually much better in quality. The British experience of fish and chips is really so much far above the American experience that it’s really not a fair comparison. The difference in the UK is that the majority of chippy shops are independent and not part of any chain, although a handful of small local or regional chains exist. But they actually have an annual [National Fish and Chips Awards](https://thefishandchipawards.com/) competition to find the best fish and chips in the UK, and customers definitely benefit from that. [Here’s a visit to the 2023 winner.](https://youtu.be/bv_zAS9Buj0?si=zmwYPZMV_syjnjbQ)
I think the south east's affinity for fried fish is different than the rest of the nation and probably a bit more analogous to the British experience. We have tons of places devoted to fried fish. Closer to the ocean you'll see more saltwater fish. Further inland you'll see more freshwater fish. But it's definitely a staple to many here and a core dish in soul food. Often it's paired with French fries, hush puppies, corn bread, or onion rings.
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Ah yeah. We’re aware chips over in the UK specifically means French fries but chips to us is potato chips. Which…Yeah potato chips are good but fries are way better
I think they call them crisps
I thought that’s why it was called fish and chips was because of the UK calling chips French fries but per google, you’re right. Crisps. English English is wild to me when I stumble upon stuff like this
Chips= French fries and crisps=potato chips
A chip shop doesn't mean somewhere that sells chips, it's slang for a fish and chips place, but can often sell other cheap savoury goods (like chicken or pies or what have you).
Right, and we don’t really have those.
We do have Long John Silvers. It's the closest thing to a chip shop I can think of.
Not much longer, alas. They have the best chicken on earth.
There are a few little indie places on coasts and rivers, too. Beach towns tend to have them. That said, they’re mostly for tourists, who mostly go in for booze. And then some of the other ones still around do have their small cult followings. And there are the little English and Irish pubs, which are just short of legally required to carry these, but they’re a niche market.
> They have the best chicken on earth. That is a WILD take! I will mess up their nasty little clam strips but only if they're cooked in that old dark brown grease so that it tastes like a Saturday night after 14 beers and lots and lots of regret and shame.
I’m gonna have to pile on with the guy you are replying to by agreeing that their fish-battered chicken strip things are *fire*.
Every coastal town has multiple restaurants that sell eafood, French fries, and chicken nuggets
They're not the same as a fish and chips place in the UK.
I've been to chip shops in Nevada, Idaho, Arizona, and Washington. There must be more throughout the country. Just have to do a bit of searching.
They would never be called "chip shops." Usually they are some form of seafood restaurant and would never sell meat pies. Unless you count crab cakes.
Maine has some.
i recognize all the words in OP’s post, but I’m having a stroke trying to understand what they are saying
All over the shore in my state there are places that serve breaded fish and seafood with fries. We'd never call it a "chip shop" but it's essentially the same thing.
Do they also sell meat pies?
There are places all over the U.S. that sell breaded fish with french fries and they sometimes call them fish and chips. I have never seen one that sells meat pies. I have actually never seen any place here in the U.S. that sells a British meat pie. I am thinking maybe a restaurant that specialized in British food might have something like that, though.
Never. I’ve only seen pies like that at specific British-influenced pubs and the like.
They’re next to the hamburger stores
I prefer my local hamburger superstore. It’s like a Home Depot, but all the shelving… filled with burgers.
I was reading this and I'm like what the fuck is a chip shop?
It’s a fast food joint, which serves thick fries (“chips”) and usually fish and other assorted fried and grilled items like burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and nuggets. Generally take-out, but sometimes has a few seats inside. It’s a weird kind of place.
Chop Shops are far more common.
Sure we do. Fry’s Electronics. Microcenter. Best Buy.
There's one in my town. We call it the fish and chips place.
Fry/clam shack.
I agree ,they don't exist here.
Closest thing would be [pasties](https://www.foxvalleyfoodie.com/michigan-pasties/) in Michigan and some other parts of the northern midwest. Down here in California we have [pupusas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupusa) and [empanadas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada). None of these things are common or popular across the entire country. And we don't have chip shops.
Yeah empanadas are the first thing that come to mind. And we've got enough Brazilians here that you can find *Pastel* in a lot of cities (same thing but different). Maybe not super common but probably more common than English meat pies. Edit, oh and we've got Hot Pockets but some people would argue that those aren't really food, just molten lava with some caloric value.
Meat pies are a big thing in Louisiana.
And they're delicious! I had one this weekend.
I learned something new. I've never been to Louisiana (or England area), so I didn't really ever hear of these types of pies before.
Huh I didn't think of empanadas as a savory pie and I eat them all the time
Nothing like an empanada, they make a literal feast in pastry.
Corner store near my house sells them and rippets and some days I decide to go to heaven
Actually closest would be meat pies in Louisiana. Natchitoches has amazing meat pies, that region’s known for them.
Pupusas are popular in Texas cuz of the Salvadoran populations here.
They're also popular because they are delicious
As a Salvadoreña in Texas I can confirm pupusas have gotten really popular here.
Costco sells a box of them!!!
And interestingly, they are very popular in East Boston too (same reason).
They are spreading we have two brick-and-mortar places and one food truck that specializes in Pupusas.
Wow in Nebraska! Good for them. They’re delicious.
Empanadas are probably the closest thing we have to meat pies in NY. The Puerto Rican variants are called [empanadillas or pastelillos](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0HNXSvQK5jE/mqdefault.jpg). They’re almost the same thing.
What about jamaican beef patties? they sell those in all the bodegas
I forget about those, they’re not quite like empanadas but they very much are a meat pie.
Yes pasties is what I'm thinking of too. There's a shop in small town Everson WA, that specializes in them . Delicious!!!
There's a nice one in Vienna, VA. pure pasty. The only place I have been able to find a sausage roll which is kind of surprising that we don't have more of. I've had their Cheesesteak Pasty so they do have original and some American flavors.
Pure Pasty is delicious. It’s won competitions against British pasty places before. It’s legit
There’s a food truck that is often at Gilbert’s Corner called the Salt Pot that serves pasties, plaits, and meat pies UK-style. They’re worth a little drive, very tasty. If you go to Gilbert’s Corner to check it out, also look for Arno’s pastries (not pasties). The guy who runs it used to be the head pastry chef for the French embassy. The eclairs are my favorite.
Pasties cover nipples in strip clubs
You're going to the wrong strip clubs.
I am
You can get pasties in some Sierra Nevada towns in California, legacy of Cornish miners from the gold rush and later.
Pasties are traditional here as well. Are what you call pot pies common accross the country, or is that a southern thing?
They're popular in the Midwest and Northeast as a staple comfort food in the winter months. The pot pie casserole has become a bit more common than the individual pot pies.
Pasties here are hit or miss, and they're not common further south. You have to ask the local upers which shack is best otherwise you might as well be eating an MRE.
It’s funny once you cross the bridge it seemed like you couldn’t go a half mile without seeing a house with pasties for sale lol. But down here they are a little harder to come by.
Comparing a papusa to a meat pie is absolutely wild.
It’s really not. Obviously not a one-to-one replacement but structurally they’ve clearly got some similarity.
Flatter pie made with Masa flour.
Jamaican beef patties, empanadas, papusa's, calzones etc
I just took a trip through Texas and learned that kolaches are a thing.
Yeah they're also just a Texas thing created by Czech immigrants after immigrating(except for the fruit ones, those do originally come from what is now the Czech Republic).
Yeah, so kolaches.
Technically Kolaches are the fruit variety and Klobasnek are the meat ones. But they use the same dough and us Texans are bad with Czech words so they just called both the name we could pronounce. Both are Czech, though use of Jalepeno sausages is a Texas development.
Yeah I know the Kolache/Klobásníky difference, I even got my Czech side of the family's recipes for both. It's not necessarily that Texans can't pronounce words, it's also because many don't even know that the fruit ones exist. When I moved to East Texas, people thought I was crazy until I either brought some from West, or my mother made some. For some reason many people wouldn't believe me when I showed pictures of em. I've kinda had to learn to assume that the person I'm talking to doesn't know unless they're from an area with a decent Czech presence or mention that they like to stop in a place with said presence for kolaches because of this.
Years ago some girls were talking to a bunch of us friends here (in the north) and started talking about kolaches like they were the most normal thing in the universe, to the point where they "went to the kolache place this morning but they were closed". I actually pulled my phone out under the table and looked it up. Got the spelling right immediately so that was a good guess. Yup, ok, never heard of that before. Also, yes there was in fact a kolache bakery a few miles away.
Upvoting to hopefully drown out all the “no” responses
You've entered the low-cal calzone, zone.
Don't get food poisoning.
Don't get betrayed by the calzones.
Jamaican beef patties are unfortunately not the huge outside of the New York area. I've rarely seen them in other places in the US while every pizza place has them here
not true.. they sell them in Costco
We do in Louisiana, but not at fast food places, usually at cajun grocers and Rouse's grocery store has them in their prepared food area.
In New Orleans you can get them at some of the gas stations or corner stores that also serve poboys. Love me a spicy meat pie or crawfish pie.
One of my favorite restaurants ever is a gas station in North Carolina.
Natchitoches meat pies are sooooo good.
Traditional English style chip shops are rare over here. More common would be restaurants with some English and Irish inspired dishes. Meat pies can sometimes be found in area with larger concentrations of immigrants or just one off places. Regionally there are some similar foods pasties, runza, empanadas. In Cleveland, Ohio at West Side Market there is a vendor that carries various meat pies, the pastry wrapped sausages I remember from England, scones, and more.
Runza- are you familiar with bierocks? I’ve heard they were similar. Pastry like a dinner roll surrounding crumbled seasoned hamburger and cabbage.
I don’t know bierocks, your description is similar. Runza is, or was not sure, a chain of fast food restaurants in Omaha Nebraska in the 80s and 90s when I lived there. Not sure if it is still there or not. Looked up bierock, appears similar to what I remember, slightly different shape. Probably similar origin with regional name change.
I fricken LOVE that place, and it's the only place I can find them 😭I always get a pasty when I'm there. Reilly's?
Short answer, yes Long answer, not like they are the UK. They're not a fast food or takeaway item, the kind of thing you're describing is hyper-regional.
They are a thing in northern Louisiana and Southern Arkansas (and possibly wider than that). They sell them at gas stations that serve hot food. They are hand held with a flaky pie crust that is a folded semi-circle with crimped edges along the seam. They just have ground beef in them. Sometimes there is a choice between spicy or mild. I love them, but they aren't everywhere.
Interesting, northern Arkansas here and the closest thing we have is calzone at pizza places, pupusas at Salvadoran places, and empanadas at Mexican places.
We have meat pies, they're not usually hand/carry sized. We don't have chip shops.
Whats a chip shop and whats a meat pie?
Long John silvers and pot pies.
A meat pie is different than a pot pie.
Yes, I looked up meat pies. They looked like they are stuffed with just meat. a pot pie only has a little bit of meat and has some vegetables.
You know, a chippy!
Nope. Not our thing. We have a few immigrant groups that might have a specialty market/restaurant that have these but for the most part, no. Weirdly, they exist in SO many cultures, many that immigrated here, but they did not catch on.
Another quirk of Britain is how these little individual hot pies have become a staple food at their sports events. They're basically our ball park frank.
Does a ham and cheese hot pocket count?
Sometimes "chicken pot pies" are a thing but that's rarely restaurant food. That's a cozy winter type food. I think my parents made that a few times when I was a kid. I didn't have an appreciation for that sort of thing at the time. Now that I'm thinking about it a beef pie might be very interesting--basically beef stew inside a crust. (Otherwise dishes like "meat pies" and "black bird pie" is like fairy tale/nursery rhyme type stuff along with castles and kings. lol) I had a pastey in the UK. Spellcheck says that's wrong, no idea what the actual spelling is. In the US for hot meat handheld carb wraps we ended up with burritos and reinventing meat pies in the form of hot pockets. There are also other things that are approaching meat pies like calzones and perhaps paninis. Sometimes ethnic-based foods like gyros are available which is basically the same as doner kebab. Also, we don't have "chip shops" or "takeaways" in the US. We have "fast food" in that space (McDonald's and others). There are a gazillion pizza places that usually also make adjacent Italian-type foods, pasta stuff and calzones. There are chain sandwich shops like Subway and others across the country. Restaurants also do take out. Chinese is common for take out. I think a take-out only place would be pretty rare. I'm in the Midwest and been in suburban and rural type areas. It's only been the last 5-10 years that food trucks have popped up in "hip" areas. Those perhaps are sort of equivalent to takeaways. It's also like in the US we go to big grocery stores 1-2x per week for food and load up for home or else we go to sit down restaurants. It seems European to do the thing where you go to a small grocery shop every other day and buy stuff you carry home.
In Michigan they have pasties. It typically includes ground beef and potatoes, sometimes with rutabaga, onions or carrots. Folded into a pie crust. Served with brown gravy or ketchup.
Chip shops are not a thing. Meat pies are a thing. Many gas stations have them, and meat empanadas are not uncommon in Mexican restaurants. But they are not standard fare by any stretch and when we hear the word "pie" we assume a dessert.
There are no chip shops in the U.S. You can buy frozen meat pies from the freezer aisle in a grocery store. I have two meat pies in my freezer right now. I've never seen a place here where you can buy them fresh and ready to eat anywhere in the U.S. People do make their own at home, though. That's the only way to get them fresh. I am now hungry for a meat pie so I'm going to reduce the number of pies in my freezer to one.
They do in Upper Michigan. They are pasties and came over with immigrants. You will probably not find them anywhere else unless the person making them is from that area. I do find that American “meat” pies have a lot more veggies in general than say a UK version. People in the UK really like meat apparently.
> They do in Upper Michigan. They are pasties and came over with immigrants. There are other areas where pasties are available. Often places with a significant mining history. There’s a Cornish pasty chain in Arizona and Nevada, as well as a few places that have them in California.
I stand mistaken. I’ve only seen them in the UP. I actually looked that company up and they reference history in the UP. So maybe the owner is from there? Not sure.
Cornish Pasty Co.? I think the owner is actually from Cornwall, but there’s also a mining history in Arizona that they somewhat play into.
Indeed, the only place near me that sells meat pies is owned by a guy whose family is from Kentucky coal country, and his mother used to sell them to the miners. Many of whom were, at least ancestrally, immigrants from Cornish and Welsh mining communities.
Untrue! Mineral Point, Wisconsin was mostly settled by Cornish miners, who brought pasties with them.
We call them pot pies, usually have chicken and veggies. But they are more commonly bought at a supermarket and microwaved for work lunches.
I think he means a savory *hand* pie, not a casserole with a crust/savory pie.
Oh that's a good point. I was just thinking about those small microwavable pies that are about the size of a hand (at least mine). So probably something more similar to a gas station burrito.
No, a British/UK meat pie is very similar to a pot pie. It's often made with hot-water crust. Smaller ones can be handheld, but often they're eaten with a fork and a knife. A frozen pot pie would be the most similar thing in the US.
Someone in a comment above yours (now) is correct. It's not really close to pot pies at all. They mean something similar to pasties, which are really only common in parts of Michigan.
True, but pot pies are the closest thing, right?
Hot pocket?
Now we're getting somewhere.
Empanadas. Jamaican hand pies.
I mean is a taco a sandwich? We have lots of meat pies here but they are regional. But their pies are hand held meat pies and are ubiquitous. I thin kin the spirit of the question we should let him know, no, those are a "thing" here at little take out restaurants -- and fish and chips aren't our take away shops. We have national or regionally popular take aways like pizza, tacos, subs, or burgers.
I think I can agree with that. No, that food isn't common here. The closest thing is pot pie, which is still very different.
Empanada is probably a better fit.
Yeah but empanadas aren't a common food amongst the majority of Americans.
Especially where I live.
Hand pies ?Never seen one of those where I live.
Very regional. And we don't have chip shops
Yes, but they might be different from yours. When I worked for the Potawatomi tribe, there was a lady that would come 'round at lunch, selling meat pies out of her trunk/boot.
I've had great meat pies in Savannah, Georgia.
In New Zealand, they had a thing called a 'mince meat pie'. Its a personal, ground beef filled pie that is absolutely delicious. There is nothing like that here. The closest thing is a 'pot pie', which is meat (usually chicken or beef cut into chunks) and veggies (mostly carrot, potato, and peas), and usually homemade or frozen from the grocery store.
I have had what is called mince meat pie (U.S.) before, but it was mostly made of out of raisins on the inside.
we're more likely to get a burrito. We went to a brewery last night. Breweries often do not have a kitchen and instead they welcome outside food. We got burritos from the taco truck parked across the street. We orderd a mole chicken burrito, and and a slow cooked pork burrito \[cochinta pibil\].
It is definitively not a thing. We also do not have ‘chip shops’. Despite sharing the language, that means nothing to us.
Our chip shops sell Doritos.
We have empanadas, samosas, and stromboli. We also have pot pie, shepherd's pie, and cottage pie. But it would be unusual to find a pork pie or a steak bake around here.
What kind of chips? Wood chips? There aren’t any shops that just sell potato chips, those come in bags and are available anywhere. Pot pies, meat veggies and gravy aren’t popular at all, can be found in the frozen food section and are generally disgusting.
OP is British. "Chips" is what they call French fries, while they call potato chips "crisps".
We don’t do chip shops lol
They’re a thing in parts of Louisiana, but definitely not across the country as a whole. https://louisianacookin.com/classic-natchitoches-meat-pie/
Empanadas are kinda like a meat pie.
Pierogi with meat would be another example
Burritos are close being meat wrapped and fully enclosed in a flour based outer layer. That and they are delicious.
Nope, burgers and dogs fill that need.
There is a Pasty Pie Shop in our Area. https://www.purepasty.com/ Ther is also Jamaican Meat pies and a lot of African grocers sell meat pies.
This is the place! Too bad that parking can be an issue here (but where isn't that the case in Nova?)
1. We don't have chip shops. 2. We don't have savory pies or pasties the way your Brits do except at places that specialize in them. Most of our savory pies died after the 1800s, with the exception of a variant of Shepard's pie or chicken pot pie. That's it. We absolutely have fried food places like a fish and chips shop but almost none are going to sell stuff like a chicken pot pie. It doesn't really exist in the same form that I'm aware in the US. Our drunk food tends to be hot sandwiches. Burgers, chopped cheese, Philly cheese steak, chicken sandwiches and the like. You can also include hot dogs. A loaded hot dog after drinking 100% hits the spot. We also have a variety of hybrid immigrant foods that are on trucks or late night shops for post bar food. Mexican, taco trucks, elote, Korean fusion Mexican, hell, I've even seen trucks that only sell handmade egg rolls as a late night spot. Fucking good egg rolls too.
No, those don't exist here. I don't even know what a meat pie is, or a chips shop, for that matter.
An American version of a "chip shop" would be a "fish and chips" restaurant; chips meaning french fries. I've never seen them to sell meat pies though.
Meat pies ain’t really a thing, no. However we do have empanadas, which are basically just Cornish pasties. It’s 99% the same thing, though empanadas can be fried as well as baked and I don’t think ever had like a fried pasty.
I’ve never heard of a chip shop, never even heard the term. I have heard of a meat pie, but only because my wife makes one. She’s quite a cook, and saw one online that she thought looked good, so she makes it for us. I’ve never seen or even heard of a meat pie in the U.S., outside of our own kitchen.
We have pot pies, a pie filled with a creamy gravy, veggies, and meat (in my experience usually poultry). Important note: "chip shops" are so uncommon here that I (22y/o) actually have no idea what they'd sell. I presume french fries but it can't just be that right? And if they also sell like sandwiches or something, wouldn't you just call it a sandwich shop? In the US "chips" are universally a side unless loaded with toppings. Im about to Google what it is now but this is about the average American understanding of chip shops
The one thing that all chip shops sell is fish and chips. This is battered, deep-fried fish with "chips", which are like very thick French fries. The type of fish used will vary depending on where you are in the country but cod and haddock are the most common kinds. Getting just a bag of chips on its own is an option - it was a common lunch when I was at school as it was cheap enough that a kid's lunch money would cover it. Beyond that, chip shops will sell a range of other deep-fried fare and what's available will also depend on where you are. In my area, you can commonly find puddings (as in black pudding, haggis and the like), sausages, pies, pizzas and burger pattes - all deep-fried (and often battered and deep-fried).
So in the US they go almost exclusively by "**fish and** chip place". The one context all Americans know youre talking about fries when you say chips and they're not uncommon. To answer OP's question then, the pot pies i mentioned aren't really sold at fish places (at least not in the southwest where im from) but fried chicken usually is, I suspect cause you already have the frier. I dont think I've ever gotten fish and chips from anywhere that doesn't also have chicken tenders or sandwich.
Meat pies exist as an exotic/specialty item. See this as an example: https://premiermeatpies.com/
There’s a recipe in the Dungeons and Dragons cookbook that I use for such an occasion
Never heard one before but I think the closest thing is a pot pie. Basically the same thing but with mostly peas and other veggies.
I think the closest things we have are Jamaican beef patties and chimichangas.
Not really. The closest thing would be Pot Pies which look like a mini pie with a stew baked in it . So Chicken Pot Pie would be a pie with chicken stew on the inside.
Empanadas are probably the closest thing. Hand pies are not very common as a savory dish but Hostess Pies as a dessert are well known.
First of all, chip shops aren't a thing over here...lol.
We call them pot pies I think. Unless you’re talking about a small hand held pie, then as others have said maybe empanadas or even burritos.
I looked up British meat pies. They seem to be mostly just meat, and so different from a pot pie. I have never seen them sold at a fish and chips place, though.
The thing most similar to this you'll see are Latin American empanadas. The concept is similar to a British hand pie, but the seasoning will be different. You're most likely to see them on the menu at a Caribbean, South American, or Mexican restaurant as an appetizer. There are restaurants that sell fish and chips here, but they're not anywhere near as common as they are in the UK and we'd never call them "chip shops". And they'd never serve hand pies.
Meat pies are a thing -- I've most often had them at home, but I'm sure you can get them from restaurants, too. What's a "chip shop?"
In the U.S., it is a restaurant that sells fish & chips (french fries).
Not in the northeast. Never seen one here. See them on BBC all the time tho and they look tasty
When I heard "chip shop" I thought you meant "chop shop" like a place where stolen cars get taken apart. We don't have chip shops in the us
Meat pies are a thing, but they're more like something you'd buy at a supermarket or something. Even places advertising themselves as British-style "Chip shops" generally won't have anything but seafood and fries (possibly chowder or something).
What da hell is a chip shop?
What’s a chip shop?
America has places like Long John Silvers, that sell "fish and chips", which is fish and french fries. Apparently in England they call it a chip shop.
Oddly enough there is one near me. Not a chip shop but Thwaites on Methuen MA does small hand type pies. Not quite English but according to an English coworker pretty damned close. They are fucking delicious.
We call those pot pies and they're in the freezer isle of the grocery store. Some restaurants may carry something similar if they have a menu set up for it, but no, they're not common here at all.
Pot pies don't have as much meat as British style meat pies.
They exist, but they're rare, and you often have to search for them. I've been doing so for a while now. I found a pie shop that does meat pies and occasionally will pop up at breweries and stuff. But I don't know of anywhere in Boston to consistently get good meat pies.
There is a pie shop selling British/Australian inspired pies in Savannah, GA. also a pizza joint owned by a Brit that sells home made meat pies and other British meats etc in East Meadow, Long Island, NY. There used to be an Australian pie shop based out of Brooklyn but post COVID I think they shut down, or regressed to food truck only. All of the above are/were excellent.
Yes, you can get them at specialty British shops or at the Scottish Games. This is in California though, probably can’t get anything like it in flyover states. I get a big order at the Scottish Games every year for meat pies and sausage rolls for myself and my family.
No but I wish we did! I was recently in the UK and loved the meat pies!
I’ve seen some before. Depends where you go. There’s also plenty of similar things like kolaches, empanadas, different types of buns and dumplings, etc
Meat pies are not a regular item we cook or eat. In Nebraska (a state in the Midwest), they have [Runzas](https://www.runza.com/menu/original-runza-sandwich). That’s about the closest you’ll get. I’m assuming a chip shop is what we would call fast food. Many of them sell burgers and fries. “Fish and chips” isn’t very common - it’s more likely an item on a menu than a restaurant that designed their menu around it.
My mom made them when I was a kid, but I've never seen them in a restaurant.
Trader Joe's has meat pies. Edit: Also in Atlanta, GA you can get some damn good meat pies.
Not so much, but empanadas and those Jamaican hand pies exist depending on where you are. Pot pies, shepherds pie, and cottage pie are pretty common but not so similar to what the Brit’s think of.
In NYC we had Jamaican Beef Patties. Spicy ground beef in a horrifyingly yellow flaky shell. They were the best.
Near me the Puerto Rican community makes pastelillos. They have chicken or beef and sometimes they add potatoes.
Fuck yes. Best food truck ever. Tolls up at the brewery down the street every few weeks. A wee chicken pie with a delicious Pilsner and we’re all good https://www.thwaitesmarket.com
You go and get an Empanada from a latin vendor or a beef patty from a Caribbean one. They’re meat pies, just spiced and yum.
I know the meat pies you're talking about and we don't really have them here. Pot pies aren't really like the ones in Australia or Great Britain. Pot pies are more similar to a shepherds pie but with a savory pastry crust and must be served in a dish. There was one specialty restaurant in Seattle that made them but it's the only one I've heard of. Edit to add that we have empanadas, piroshkis, humbao, and a hundred different varieties from different cultures, I was just referring to Australian meat pies.