New tastes

Having just finished the autobiography of an individual living here from the early 1900s, one thing that amazes me is that the food that people here eat and love has not changed in over 100 years! Also, there doesn't seem to be much difference between how a dish is prepared at one restaurant versus another. It might be done better (fresher ingredients or something?) at one place, but there doesn't appear to be variation in what is served. Wow. This is so foreign to me when I try not to eat at the same restaurant at home twice until I've tried all the different options in town.....or at least not order the same thing twice. And...I just checked Red Robin's website and there are indeed 13 different types of burgers available...with chefs always seeking to introduce something new. So what is our obsession in America with new tastes? and new experiences for that matter? Even as I write this I know that there are lots of people who prefer to eat at the same place month after month...my parents for example :). So maybe it's just my personal obsession with trying to not miss out on anything this good earth and it's diverse chefs have to offer. And yet I still have limitations....sushi, dates (they look like cockroaches to me), and unidentifiable parts of animals I might give names to.