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A theme restaurant is a type of restaurant that uses theming to attract diners by creating a memorable experience. Theme restaurants have a unifying or dominant subject or concept, and utilize architecture, decor, special effects, and other techniques, often to create exotic environments that are not normally associated with dining because they are inaccessible, no longer exist, are fictional or supernatural, or taboo. The theme may be further extended through the naming and choices of food, though food is usually secondary to entertaining guests. Why Cheesy Theme Restaurants Are Actually the Most Fun. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
Popular chain restaurants in the United States such as Applebee's and Bennigan's, despite having distinct and consistent styles, are not usually considered theme restaurants, since they attract patrons primarily with the food they serve.
While food is usually less important than experience, some theme restaurants use food to reinforce their themes. For example, restaurants themed to 1950s America frequently have from that era, but some also limit their menus to hamburgers and french fries, as would have been common at the time. What Is the Target Market of Theme Restaurants?. Retrieved 2018-08-08. The food at theme restaurants is often common in order to have broad appeal, but may be given colorful names to further the theme. For example, the Planet Hollywood in London offers specialty cocktails named after movies. Planet Hollywood bar in London. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
In some cases, customers may visit a theme restaurant only to shop or be entertained, without intending to eat. Theme restaurants have the potential for high profits in a relatively short period of time, in part by selling merchandise. About Theme Restaurants. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
Irish pubs and other similar ethnic restaurants that originated in a particular country but are now found around the world are considered theme restaurants by some, as they use theming to re-create an "authentic" experience.Wood, Natalie T. and Caroline Munoz. (2007) "No Rules, Just Right or is it? The Role of Themed Restaurants as Cultural Ambassadors." Tourism and Hospitality Research 7(3/4), 242-255.Munoz, Caroline K, Natalie T. Wood and Michael R. Solomon (2006) "Real or Blarney?: A Cross-Cultural Study of Perceived Authenticity in Irish Pubs" Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 5 (3), 222-234.Lego, Caroline K, Natalie T. Wood, Michael R Solomon and Stephanie McFee (2002), "A Thirst for the Real Thing in Themed Retail Environments: Consumer Authenticity in Irish Pubs," The Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 5 (2), 61-74.
In the early twentieth century, so-called “programmatic” or “mimetic” style structures became popular for restaurants, including buildings shaped like vehicles, animals, and even the food they served. Early Los Angeles Programmatic-Style Buildings. Retrieved 2018-18-18. This theming was largely a response to the growing usage of the automobile, as the buildings themselves became advertisements aimed at passing motorists.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The weird roadside architecture of Los Angeles. Retrieved 2018-18-18. Beginning in the 1920s, a number of novelty architecture buildings were constructed in and around Hollywood, including the famous Brown Derby restaurants and Bulldog Cafe. Bulldog Café, 1153 West Washington Blvd, opened 1928. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
Restaurants such as Clifton's Cafeteria also started playing with grand decorations based on non-traditional "kitschy" themes, and movies helped fuel the desire by the average American to travel the Pacific. Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt opened Don the Beachcomber, generally recognized as the first tiki bar, in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Along with a neighbor, he collected old fishing nets, driftwood, and other ephemera from local beaches, and added bamboo and masks to theme his restaurant and evoke the South Pacific and Polynesian culture. Who Invented the Tiki Bar? A Brief (and Controversial) History. Retrieved 2018-08-08. Around the same time, another archetypal bar, Trader Vic's, was created by Victor Bergeron in Oakland, California. Tiki culture became very popular in 1950s America, and Polynesian themed restaurants had spread to London by the early 1960s, and further into Europe and Asia by the 1970s. The World’s 15 Most Important Tiki Bars. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
Though not the first theme park, the opening of Disneyland in 1955 popularized the idea of an amusement park combining multiple named areas (“lands”) with different themes. The term "theme park" came into use circa 1960, likely to describe the many parks built across the United States and around the world following Disneyland's success. As theming became more popular, the word was applied to other types of attractions, including "theme restaurant" and "themed hotels."
David Tallichet took inspiration from Disneyland when he opened his first theme restaurant The Reef in Long Beach, California. His company went on to open dozens of restaurants, with themes ranging from New England fishing villages and French farmhouses to aviation and World War II. Pioneer of Theme Restaurants Pulled His Ideas Out of the Sky. Retrieved 2018-08-08. Another fan of Disneyland, Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell, integrated food, entertainment, and an arcade into the first Chuck E. Cheese's, opened in San Jose, California in 1977. The restaurant featured animatronic animals that Bushnell claims were inspired by the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. Robots, Pizza, And Sensory Overload: The Chuck E. Cheese Origin Story. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
The North American theme restaurant chain Medieval Times was actually started on the small island of Mallorca, Spain in the 1970s. Jose Montaner put on his dinner show for years before attracting enough investors to open a location outside Walt Disney World in Florida in 1983. Knight Club: A History of Medieval Times Dinner Theater. Retrieved 2018-08-08. Now their "castles" are found across the United States and Canada.
The original Hard Rock Cafe was founded in 1971 in London. In 1979, following the donation of guitars by Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia. Today, this pioneering theme restaurant chain has some 185 locations in 74 countries. Following Hard Rock Cafe's successful theme of exhibiting music memorabilia, Planet Hollywood extended the concept to movies in the 1990s, while adding celebrity endorsements and appearances at the restaurants.
Steven Schussler came up with the idea for Rainforest Cafe, and actually turned his house into a model jungle to attract investors, before opening the first location in the Mall of America in 1994. What was Rainforest Café Owner Steven Schussler’s Secret to Raising Capital? Insanity.. Retrieved 2018-08-08. Dozens of locations around the world quickly followed, and many new theme restaurant chains opened in hopes of copying Rainforest Cafe's success. The first 1950's themed restaurant was Cafe 50's created by Craig Martin. In 1983 he opened Cafe 50's in Venice Beach, then Sherman Oaks, Hermosa Beach and lastly West LA, which is still open. California But by the late 1990s, dozens of theme restaurants closed, including entire chains, as the market became saturated and the novelty wore off. Novelty Gone, Theme Restaurants Are Tumbling. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
Today, though smaller than at its peak, the industry has rebounded, in part as Millennials turn to themed restaurants for dining entertainment. Nostalgic Dining. Retrieved 2018-08-08. The popularity of social media platforms like Instagram has pushed restaurants to theme their physical spaces to inspire photographers. Instagram is Pushing Restaurants to be Kitschy, Colorful, and Irresistible to Photographers. Retrieved 2018-08-08. Temporary pop-up restaurants and bars are capitalizing on the popularity of nostalgia by using theming to immerse guests in their favorite programs and movies. Pop-Up Theme Bars Are Cashing In on the Nostalgia Economy. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
More recently, the Modern Toilet Restaurant chain in Asia, and the similar but short-lived Magic Restroom Café in California offered diners the opportunity not only to sit on toilets while dining, but to also be served dishes in miniature toilet bowls. Magic Restroom Café Goes Down the Toilet. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
The Alcatraz E.R. restaurant in Japan used a "prison hospital" or "medical prison" (mental institution) theme, where guests were handcuffed and led to "cells" to eat. Various "shows" were put on by costumed staff to scare guests. Alcatraz ER: Tokyo’s terrifying prison hospital restaurant. Retrieved 2018-08-08. It closed on May 31, 2018. Alcatraz ER - Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
Perhaps the most infamous modern theme restaurant is Cross Cafe, originally named Hitler's Cross, outside Mumbai, India. Opened in 2006, it included a swastika on its sign, which it was quickly forced to remove. The owner was seemingly unaware of The Holocaust, and claimed only to have wanted a "catchy name." In India, a café named Hitler's Cross. Retrieved 2018-08-08. Still, the original restaurant had very little theming beyond the name and logo, apparently limited to a large portrait of Adolf Hitler, and in its current form it would not be considered a theme restaurant.
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