The most surprising things about grocery stores and restaurants in America, according to a Silicon Valley engineer who moved from India 7 years ago

• American culture as it relates to food can be different from what you find in other countries.
• A LinkedIn software designer named Aniruddh Chaturvedi moved to the US from India in 2011, and listed what he found to be the most surprising things about the food industry in the US.
• He was struck by the huge portion sizes at restaurants, Americans' obsession with coffee on the go, and the phenomenon of free soda refills.

America's relationship with food can be a surprise for people who have never been before.

Aniruddh Chaturvedi, a senior software designer at LinkedIn, came to the US from India in 2011 and noticed several things about American food culture that were different from his native country.

Chaturvedi detailed his most surprising observations in a Quora post, drawn from his experience as a student at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University and his time working in the San Francisco area. He emailed additional thoughts to Business Insider.

Here are the things he found most bizarre, from the size of restaurant portions to the phenomenon of free soda refills.