The secrets hidden in ancient European cities are not found in walls or in the museums, but in taste buds.  Traveling can let one see another culture, but it can also help one savor another culture. 
Food is a topic on almost everyone’s mind.  It gives nutrients, strength, and life.  What not everyone thinks about is food is different in other countries.  Dining in restaurants is especially different in other countries than it is in the United States.
The sizes of many restaurants in Europe are tiny, not like your downtown Apple Bee’s.  Seating is limited in many places to only two to four people.  Claustrophobia is an understatement when it comes to these cozy restaurants.  At every meal, I could feel the heat from the other patrons’ bodies as I enjoyed my meals.  There is scarcely any room to walk around in these restaurants because the owners pack the floor with tables.  These small, quaint restaurants are all in old buildings which have both character and history within their walls.
In Europe many restaurants have almost the same menu as the fifteen other small family-run eateries on the street, but each restaurant is famous for a specialty.  In Lisbon, Portugal, one restaurant was known for its ‘chicken and fries’.  This meal is very peculiar for the seaport town of Lisbon, but it attracts many people because it is different than the grilled seafood that is at every other restaurant. 
In America, ordering an entrée without something on it is normal and you expect to get it that way.  In one experience in Santiago de Compostela, Spain I quickly realized this plain difference.  I had ordered a veal burger without cheese and, behold, when the waiter came out with it there was cheese on the burger.  It is safe to say that I was disappointed, but the quality and flavor of the meat distracted me.
A language barrier is not an issue, many people on the coast of Portugal and Spain spoke or understood English.  If it does become an issue, pointing at the menu always works best and ensures it will be one of the finest meals you will have had tasted.
The food of Europe is also very different than it is in America; everything is fresh and from local farms around the area, and all prepared in the restaurant’s kitchen.  I will say, people in Europe like their meat very rare, so rare that there is a nice pool of blood at the bottom of the plate. 
Baking meat is also very common for restaurants.  In Santiago I ordered sliders and noticed the meat was too red for my liking so I sent it back and noticed they baked the meat instead of grilling it like in America.  After four times of sending my sliders back, the owner came over to me and said he would take care of everything and that he wanted me to be happy with my meal otherwise he would not be. 
Ham and seafood are everywhere in Portugal and Spain, which made it hard for a picky eater like me to find something I liked.  Salad in Europe is not like salad in America.  A European salad is a couple greens with no dressing.  Salad is not considered a meal in Europe, it is more of a very small side dish.
In every restaurant I went to I observed that the servers were very caring towards their customers.  Like my experience in Santiago with the sliders, many owners are happy as long as the patrons are happy.  My mother ordered Galician Stew in Santiago one night, a stew famous to the area.  This stew was like biting into a campfire.  The pork was smoked so well that the whole stew just smelt and tasted like smoke.  The waiter came over and asked my mother if there was something wrong with her soup and she replied that she did not like it.  Instantly the waiters face dropped.  It was like my mother had broken his heart.  He kept saying he was sorry and my mother kept saying that it was not his fault that she did not like it.  Our waiter did not take that as a satisfactory answer so he brought her another entrée. 
In Porto, Portugal, a restaurant owner wanted my family and me to go meet his wife in the kitchen because we enjoyed our meal so much.   She was your typical Portuguese wife, but a fantastic cook.  Everything she created had so much care put into every detail and she took such pride in that we loved her cooking. 
The whole atmosphere of eating in Europe is also different than in America.  In Europe, patrons have nowhere to go and stay in restaurants for hours.  The pace in Europe is much slower than in America, even the food comes out slower. 
While many Americans eat dinner between five and six pm, many Europeans do not eat until eight at night.  Many Europeans stay out till one in the morning and then wake up the next day to go to work.  One culture difference is that many Europeans take naps or siestas during the middle of the day.
Tipping is not customary in Europe and when my family did tip many of the servers we had were surprised and thanked us multiple times.  It was like we had given them our most prized family possession. 
Many people drink wine and coffee because water is from a glass bottle at room temperature and it is not customary to drink water.  Carb-heavy pastries are always available anytime of the day in Europe and can be enjoyed for any meal. 
While the whole dining experience is different than it is in America, the experience of another culture can found by simply putting a fork into one’s mouth.