THEMED RESTAURANTS

     The interior and exterior of a restaurant are important aspects every owner should consider. Since customers spend more time inside, there should be a more serious discussion on the interiors of the restaurant. The look and feel of the place affects the mood of the customers which will also affect their selection of cuisine from the menu. Of course, as a restaurant owner, you’d want to give your customers a soothing and comfortable dining experience. Ambiance and atmosphere are two of the determinants whether or not customers would want to come back. 

     Themed restaurants build worlds with their architecture, music, and food. Pretty much, the entire “feel” of the restaurant revolves around a single concept. Nowadays, restaurant owners are becoming more and more creative with the themes. They know their target market and they know that these people come in big numbers. Here are a couple of movie/character/show-themed restaurants and cafes:

1. CENTRAL PERK (FRIENDS), Beijing, China

     Being a huge fan of the legendary TV series, Friends, Du Xin established a Friends-themed restaurant on the 6th floor of an apartment block which is carefully furnished and decorated with objects found on the show. It's like you're actually on set! The menu only consists of food items mentioned on the show with quotes taken from the script. Du Xin lives in an apartment next door which is an exact replica of Joey's apartment in the series, complete with the Foosball table and a Baywatch DVD collection. 

2. ALICE'S TEA CUP (Alice in Wonderland), Upper East Side, New York

     Now, you can have a feel of tea time with the Mad Hatter and March Hare in this cute cafe. Luckily, you don't need to fall down some rabbit hole to arrive at this place. They're known for their scones and their interesting menu likeThe Nibble, which is tea for one, The Mad Hatter which is tea for two, and The Jabberwocky, which is tea for many. I wouldn't mind having my unbirthday party here, if only I could fly to NYC just for this.

3. HELLO KITTY CAFE (Hello Kitty), Seoul, South Korea

     The big pink bow found in the exterior of the cafe is a huge giveaway that what you're about to enter is a whole new world full of Hello Kitty. From the HK shaped waffles, cakes, latte art, and doors, I don't think anyone's dense enough to not know what the place is about. The Hello Kitty-shaped toast is their most popular dish.

4. BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP CO. (Forrest Gump) Greenbelt 3, Makati City, Philippines

     Inspired by the 1994 movie, Forrest Gump, Paramount Pictures then created the concept of Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Although the fictional restaurant started in Alabama, the real franchise has no actual location in that state. The dishes are named after characters in the movie, such as Jenny's Catch and Forrest's Seafood Feast.

5. JURASSIC RESTAURANT (Jurassic Park), Los Angeles, California

    A Jurassic Park-themed Taiwanese restaurant with huge model dinosaurs has been operational for about 8 years or so, and surprisingly enough, they haven't been sued for copyright infringement since they're pretty much considered bootleg.

     The owners of these restaurants are pretty creative and have exerted so much effort to give their customers a dining experience in a fictional world. I wonder which fandom will have their experience next? 

- Daniela Regis
(click photos for sources)