5 WACKY AND THEMED RESTAURANTS

Funny… a good word to describe these restaurants! A number of restaurants around the world are looking for a different picture that extends beyond menu, service, and basic decor. Take a look:

1. DC-7 GRILLE, New Smyrna Beach, Florida

The DC-7 Grille, still awaiting “takeoff,” will be a 40-seat, family-run restaurant in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. While diners wait for their food—one can only assume the menu is not modeled after typical airplane fare—they’ll be able to tour the cockpit and check out the craft’s original engine parts. Tables also will have “flight attendant” call buttons and headsets to keep tabs on cockpit goings-on.

2. BARBIE CAFE, Taipei, Taiwan

The café—currently the only Barbie-branded restaurant in the world—is strategically situated in a popular shopping district and while diners can order Barbie cakes and multicolored macarons, they can also purchase official Barbie paraphernalia. Taiwan was chosen as the location because, like Japan, themed restaurants are extremely popular in the country.

3. MAGIC RESTROOM CAFE, City of Industry, California

Putting an entirely new spin on the “bowl” part of the toilet, a new toilet-themed restaurant opened in City of Industry, California, in mid-October. At the Magic Restroom Cafe, patrons sit on toilet-shaped chairs that resemble what could be fully functioning toilets, and meals are served in toilet-shaped ceramic dishes. The menu touts Taiwanese food and includes “black poop”— a chocolate sundae.

4. CABBAGES & CONDOMS, Bangkok & Oxfordshire, UK

Themed restaurant Cabbages & Condoms comes with an agenda to promote sexual health with dinner. The UK outpost delivers a pamphlet about sexual health at the end of the bill, while the original Bangkok spot hands out condoms. Customers can also purchase condom-related merchandise. What really gets people in the door, though, is the traditional Thai food, which receives high reviews.

5. TWIN STARS, Moscow

Everyone on staff at Twin Stars diner in Moscow, opened in October, is an identical twin. Pairs, dressed and coiffed identically, are scheduled to work together as either servers or bartenders. The owner (not a twin) says inspiration for the restaurant came from the Soviet fairy-tale film Kingdom of Crooked Mirrors, about a girl with a double living another reality.