[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/600full_cafe_americain_photo.jpg]]

''Café Americain'' was a 1993 American sitcom starring Creator/ValerieBertinelli. Bertinelli played Holly Aldrige; a young American living on her own in France. Although she doesn't speak any of the language (which causes trouble for her frequently) she finds a job working as a waitress in a small cafe. At the cafe she meets a strange assortment of characters from around the world. These included Madame Ybarra, a former dictator's wife (a thinly veiled spoof of Imelda Marcos), and Fabiana Borelli, a tempestuous Italian model, and her perpetually jealous Italian lover Carlo. Holly became involved in a WillTheyOrWontThey relationship with Marcel, the cafe's owner.

!!''Café Americain'' includes examples of:

* AmericanTitle: Of the 'country of origin' variety: the café serves American style food.
* CatchPhrase: CrazyJealousGuy Carlo had one directed at anyone he thought (or imagined) was hitting on his girlfriend Fabianni:
-->I kill him! I kill him bad! I kill him '''two times'''!
* ChristmasEpisode: "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly". When Holly is unable to return home for Christmas, Marcel invites her to spend the holiday with his family.
* CrazyJealousGuy: Carlo, as demonstrated by his CatchPhrase.
* DrivingStick: In the B plot of "There's No Business Like Show Business", Marcel teaches Holly to drive a stick shift.
* EiffelTowerEffect: Played with. Holly rents a cheap apartment from which she can see the Eiffel Tower — when she leans way out of the window with a mirror.
* FallenOnHardTimesJob: In "Pilot", Holly follows an employment opportunity in Paris, but when the job falls through she finds herself pursuing a waitress position at the Cafe Americain.
* IllKillYou: This was Carlo's CatchPhrase, demonstrating his jealousy over anyone making eyes at his girlfriend.
-->I kill him! I kill him bad! I kill him '''two times'''!
* MadeFromRealGirlScouts: One of Madame Ybarra's moneymaking schemes involves getting into the ice cream business. She tries a number of disgusting flavor combinations before hitting on one everyone likes: Mint Chocolate Chip. Offhandedly, she mentions that it's made from all natural ingredients: mint, chocolate, and Chip.
-->'''Diner:''' Wait a minute. Who's Chip?
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: In "The Language of Really Good Friends", Holly was finally given an ultimatum to learn the native language. Her initial attempts were a little less than stellar: An attempt to congratulate a newly engaged couple had her unintentionally claiming to be having an affair with the man; and one attempt to converse with her instructor/UST interest resulted in the memorable phrase "Cheese in my pants makes me happy. Don't you agree?".
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Madame Ybarra is a thinly-veiled spoof of Imelda Marcos.
* NotADate: Holly keeps insisting that her night out with Marcel is not a date until her friend says:
-->"Is he paying? Did you shave your legs? Then it's a date."
* ThePlace
* RelativelyFlimsyExcuse: In "Mommy Dearest", when cornered by an immigration officer, Holly panics and tells him that she's Margaret's daughter.
* RetiredMonster: Madame Ybarra, widow to a late former dictator who was recently overthrown—paralleling the RealLife events of the 1986 Philippine People Power "Revolution", which did in fact kick out the Marcos regime.
* ThanksgivingEpisode: In "...And Giblets for All", Holly meets resistance when she decides to throw a Thanksgiving feast at the cafe.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: In "Weekend at Holly's", Fabiana decides to hide out from her boyfriend at Holly's apartment, but her flamboyant nature makes her very conspicuous.
* UnsuspectinglySoused: In one episode, a character sleeps overnight in a winery on a catwalk above the vats and ends up in inhaling wine fumes all night. He wakes up completely tanked. HilarityEnsues as he was at the winery as part of an attempt to impress his finacee's family, who owned the winery.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: Holly and Marcel

----