[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

Food for thought, no pun intended.

[evan_au]

Because "restaurant" was originally a French word, borrowed into English?

Perhaps because the French royalty demanded the ultimate in fine dining, and there were a lot of unemployed chefs after the French revolution?
- Or Benjamin Franklin really enjoyed his time as US ambassador to France, but he also found few French restaurants on his return to the USA?
- The Michelin hat rating created a competition for fine dining for the French public, and Michelin tires took the public there?
- Or the wealthy of the UK could enjoy French cuisine, but this was denied to the ordinary people - until cheap flights and fast trains made it much more accessible?
- Or just plain snobbery? If it were common, it would no longer be good?

When I was in France around 1990, Parisiennes were disgusted by the number of McDonalds outlets that were springing up around the city. You may find that there are now fewer French restaurants in Paris than there were in 1990.

[alancalverd]

There are plenty of French restaurants in France, and little else outside of Paris. Not sure the cuisine is the best in the world but the standard is uniformly good  and the entire business and etiquette of growing, cooking and eating real food in company is taken as a serious part of the national curriculum from age 5.

Napoleon's dictum that an army marches on its stomach pretty well ensured that mass catering is regarded in France as a strategic element in the public services, and Soyer's publications on military catering are required reading for anyone intending to progress in European professional cuisine. Escoffier's work in the London Ritz and Carlton (both frequented by American visitors), followed by Montagne's "Larousse Gastonomique",  established "kitchen French" as the lingua franca in the Anglophone world, and their basic recipes for sauces and stocks are the primer for trainee chefs in all western countries.

I still prefer Scandinavian and Polish food, though.

[Bored chemist]

I still prefer Scandinavian and Polish food, though.

I prefer Italian.
So it looks like this assertion "French cuisine considered the best" is on shaky ground.

[Pseudoscience-is-malarkey (OP)]

When I was in France around 1990, Parisiennes were disgusted by the number of McDonald's outlets that were springing up around the city.

People like you portray McDonald's as an oppressive imperial force that just goes where it wants. You have to remember, the reason McDonald's sprang up in France is for the same reason they spring up anywhere: people want them.

[alancalverd]

No objection to commercial success, nor even to McD's burgers (though Burger King are a lot better), but their coffee is excremental  and the fries really are an insult to the French.

[Petrochemicals]

France I have found has many.

[evan_au]

the fries really are an insult to the French.

Belgians proudly proclaim that "French Fries" actually originated in Belgium (although Belgium probably didn't exist as a nation, at the time).

[Tsm3696Monkey]

I think it's hard to open a good french restaurant.