Dining out can get kind of boring. After all, how many times can you have the same old burger at the same old coffee shop? Fortunately, in the last 20 years, themed restaurants have emerged, offering diners not just a meal…but an experience. Although, not all of them succeed, they all make a great story.
The Modern Toilet
Location: Taipei, Taiwan
Details: Yes, it’s a toilet-themed restaurant. Diners sit on toilets and eat out of toilet-shaped bowls and plates. The interior of the restaurant is laid out with brightly colored bathroom tile, and the lights are shaped like urinals. The favorite menu item, says owner Eric Wang, is chocolate ice cream—probably because “it looks like the real thing.”
MIM
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Details: Don’t speak Spanish? Don’t worry, the waiters don’t speak it, either. In fact, they don’t speak any language at all. That’s because MIM is a mime-themed restaurant, housed in an old theater. Staff communicates through body language, and every few minutes, they put on short mime performances, culminating in a flying trapeze act. (Warning: If you suffer from coulrophobia— the fear of mimes—avoid this restaurant.)
ADAM & EVE’S
Location: Indiana
Details: No shirt? No shoes? No problem. Adam & Eve’s is the world’s only naked restaurant. The waiters are nude, the cooks are nude, and the customers are nude. (Better not order anything hot.)
ALCATRAZ BC
Location: Tokyo
Details: If you’ve ever wondered what life on the brutal, desolate San Francisco island prison was like, go to this Japanese bistro. Uniformed “wardens” (not waiters) cuff patrons at the big steel front door and lead them to “private cells” (not tables). Menu items include chipped beef on toast, pudding cups, and other foods served in a prison cafeteria. Alcatraz BC is only one of the many themed restaurants in Tokyo.
THE NEWS ROOM
Location: Minneapolis
Details: Think reading old newspapers is an exciting way to spend an evening? The News Room celebrates old newspapers and the often-depressing headlines of the 1920s and 1930s. The restaurant is divided into several newspaper “sections,” including “The Sports Page” (old sports footage plays on monitors) and “The Financial Page” (a Depression-era stock ticker hangs from the rafters and continually shoots out ticker tape and imaginary stock quotes). In every room, rolled-up giant newspapers hang from the ceiling.
RED SQUARE
Location: Las Vegas
Details: When most Americans think of the Soviet Union they think of a cruel, totalitarian government, breadlines, and impending nuclear war. But Red Square—a family-friendly restaurant located in one of Vegas’s grandest hotels, Mandalay Bay—plays up Soviet life as nostalgic and kitschy. The red decor features a headless statue of Lenin, a hammer-and-sickle logo, and propaganda posters that glorify the worker. Naturally, it also has one of Las Vegas’s largest assortments of vodka.