Students and colleagues and friends often ask me where to find good American food in Guangzhou, and this post is my response to all of them. I love Chinese food, but sometimes it’s nice to just have a good burrito or a nice hamburger (contrary to popular opinion around me—McDonald’s hamburgers are NOT the best, hahaha).
I enjoy a couple of Western restaurants in Guangzhou—Commune is nice sometimes because this chain has locations all over. Timetable Kitchen is another good fusion-type restaurant that I enjoy. But if I want truly authentic American food, these two options are the best.
1. GAIL‘S(华利路店)
Address: 华利路27号首层102铺（星巴克对面）
The closest metro station is Zhujiang New Town (珠江新城, zhujiang xin cheng), and Gail’s is near exit B1, catty-corner to the American consulate and across the street from Starbucks. Putting the name into a map app will give good directions to this location.
I love the food at Gail’s. They have excellent Tex-Mex which is one of my go-to comfort foods. I used to always get their burritos which are delicious, but since they’ve raised the prices on those a bit (still less than 100 kuai, but just barely). Last time I tried the soft tacos which were also excellent. Their burgers are also quite good if I’m in the mood for a burger. Actually, all of the food looks good—they have keto-diet foods and other pasta options, but since I love Tex-Mex so much, I usually can’t break away from my favorites.
The environment is also nice. Usually, there aren’t too many people, so I enjoy going there for long chats with my friends. The staff are also friendly, and they speak English and Chinese.
On Sundays, they have a board game time which I have never joined, but I’m interested in trying it out. Since I also sometimes meet my friends outside to play board games, we’ve thought about meeting there for it. The tables are a good size for board games, and they have spacious tables upstairs also.
I heartily recommend this restaurant, and I love visiting for a taste of home. The price is reasonable for Western food. Most meals are around 70-100 kuai ($10-$15).
I scoured my phone looking for pictures, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any pictures of the food! I think I’m usually too excited to eat it so I don’t stop to take a picture. According to the Chinese saying, I didn’t “let my phone eat first.” But hopefully these pictures can give you an idea of the environment! And one year around Christmas time, they gave my friend and I free cookies! That was great!
2. 13FACTORIES十三行(保利香槟花园店)
Address: 猎德街道珠江新城华穗路121号保利香槟南门
13 Factories is just down the street, about a minute from Gail’s, also across from the American consulate.
The food here at 13 Factories is also fantastic. However, as a Midwesterner, most of the dishes here were unfamiliar to me before I came to China (ironic, I know). The food is mostly from Southern USA. Some of their specialties are Chicken and Waffles, Jambalaya, Mac & Cheese, and so many others.
The portions here are more like American portions and quite large. Usually, I’m completely stuffed after finishing my meal, but it’s a very happy stuffing! I really like their Chicken and Waffles which also have bacon in the middle of them. However, this doesn’t appeal to everyone. I took my Russian friend here once, and she could not accept the mix of sweet and salty. She spent about 10 minutes dissecting her waffle to separate the bacon and waffle. Even when I brought up the restaurant years later, she talked about how unacceptable it was to have sweet and salty together.
All of their dishes are excellent. I’ve also had some of their sandwiches which are quite nice. I like everything, but since they don’t have as much Tex-Mex, I tend to order a variety of things. I also really like to order and share with friends at this restaurant. They have so many unique dishes, and trying different ones is really fun.
13 Factories also has a few games that we can borrow while we wait for our food, or if we arrive to early to eat dinner, my friends and I will sometimes play a game while we wait for dinner time. They have a nice environment for games and are very welcoming to people who want to play games.
Unfortunately, after going through lots of pictures and old chats, I realized that I don’t have any pictures from this restaurant. I’ll have to take some next time I go and add them later! Until then, you should definitely try it for yourself!