Restaurants with themes

• The Airplane Restaurant | Colorado Springs, CO

Located within a stone’s throw of Colorado Springs’ small city-owned airport, the Airplane Restaurant is housed within a converted KC-97 U.S. Air Force tanker. Diners can sit at small tables within the plane itself or in 'the terminal an attached dining room. While the food isn’t anything special—don’t expect much more than burgers, fries and a few straightforward salads—the fun involved in chowing down on non-airplane food while inside an airplane is, well, totally worth it.

• Aquarium Restaurant | Nashville, Denver and Houston

This unique restaurant with multiple locations, combines an aquarium visit with a seafood restaurant. (Yes, we also think it's a bit strange to chow down on the very creatures you’re observing but, hey, whatever works.) Diners are seated around a 200,000-gallon aquarium, where they can take in tropical fish, sharks, stingrays and more. Fish is at the center of the menu, too, with offerings such as clam chowder, a lobster tower with avocado and black beans, and crab-stuffed shrimp. Several times a month, guests are treated to a 'Mystic Mermaid' show, where 'mermaids' dive into the tank and put on a choreographed-to-music performance.

• Big Nose Kate's Saloon | Tombstone, AZ

Tombstone should be considered a compulsory stopover for any true Wild West enthusiast and along with all the history to be absorbed is Big Nose Kate's Saloon, offering a variety of menu items that can also be soaked up. The establishment is reportedly haunted and features an underground level where a worker spent years tunneling a secret entrance into a nearby silver mine. Visitors are welcome to dress up in period-style attire and you can freely snap selfies on the bar or draped across the piano should you be so inclined. The Wyatt Earp-esque experience is accompanied by nightly live music and the equally-themed menu includes burger, brisket, and homemade chili. And the movie Tombstone plays on an endless loop on screens behind the bar.

• Bottoms Up Club

The Bottoms Up Club was a girlie bar in Hong Kong. The bar became notorious for its appearance in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun

• Butlers Café

The cafe serves a menu consisting of mainly Italian food, desserts and a range of teas and alcoholic beverages. It was designed for women who "need a bit of fun and excitement in their lives", said the cafe's owner.

• Clifton’s Republic | Los Angeles, CA

Founded in 1931 as a pay-what-you-can cafeteria, Clifton’s now serves as a multi-level drinking den with a jaw-dropping forest theme. At the center of the space stands a 40ft-tall fake redwood tree; Its base is located near the Monarch Bar on the second level and it reaches up to the ceiling with reinforced branches designed to hold aerialists. On the third level you'll find the Gothic Bar, a repurposed 19th-century altar, and on the fourth floor offices were transformed into two more bars spaces, Treetops and the tiki-themed Pacific Seas.

• Cosplay restaurants

The popularity of cosplay restaurants and maid cafes has spread to other regions in Japan, such as Osaka's Den Den Town as well as to places outside Japan, such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Mexico, Canada, and the Philippines.

• Dinner Theater

Dinner Theater (sometimes called dinner and a show) is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. "Dinner and a show" can also refer to a restaurant meal in combination with live concert music, where patrons listen to a performance during a break in the meal. In the case of a theatrical performance, sometimes the play is incidental entertainment, secondary to the meal. In the style of a nightclub, the play may be the main feature of the evening, with dinner less important or optional. Dinner theater requires the management of three distinct entities: a live theater, a restaurant, and, usually, a bar.

• Empress Hotel | Victoria, BC

Take your time in the elegant Lobby Lounge, an airy space that channels turn-of-the-century elegance with modern refinement. Linger over flaky scones with housemade strawberry jam, fluffy pastries, honey from the hotel hives and finger sandwiches presented with flourish on our tiered tea service. We offer an exclusive selection of premium loose-leaf teas in royal china, a gift from her Majesty in 1939, at this celebrated Empress ritual.

If you enjoy "Lord Earl Grey" blends of tea, you should try to find (or order online) Golden Jubilee!

• Fetish restaurants

A fetish restaurant is a restaurant where Rubberists and other Fetishists can go and have dinner dressed in latex clothing or other fetish clothing as if they were in a traditional restaurant except that there everybody is following a dress code and accepting other people's fetish way of life.

• Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant | Kansas City, MO

This railroad-themed restaurant (with a second location in Kansas City, Kansas) has been delighting diners since it opened in KC in the mid-60s. At cherry-red vinyl booths among RR memorabilia like wooden train sets and crossroads sign, visitors order tried-and-true burgers, crinkle-cut fries and thick milkshakes, then wait for a ceiling-mounted 'train' that runs on tracks to deliver the order right to the table. It’s an old-fashioned good time that kids, in particular, are sure to love.

• High Tea

High tea (also known as meat tea) is an early evening meal, typically eaten between 5pm and 6pm. It is now largely followed by a later lighter evening meal. High tea would usually consist of cold meats, eggs or fish, cakes and sandwiches.

• Hooters

The wait staff at Hooters restaurants are primarily young women, usually referred to simply as "Hooters Girls", whose revealing outfits and sex appeal are played up and are a primary component of the company's image.

• La Nouvelle Justine

La Nouvelle Justine was a delightful S&M restaurant located in New York City's East Village. I have been there, quite recently in fact, and a fine time I had, albeit as a journalistic observer and not as a participant. After all, I can't see that having my fanny paddled by a lean and mean dominatrix would be conducive to sitting down and writing an article the following day.

• La Maison de Sade

There are any number of restaurants that offer a "truly unique dining experience" but precious few that live up to the claim. La Maison de Sade, which bills itself as an S&M supper club, is a clear exception. Care for the main course of corporal punishment with a side of verbal abuse – all served up by a stunning waitress in a latex corset? Then you've come to the right place. La Maison has got all this and more.

• Lehr's Greenhouse

Lehr's Greenhouse Restaurant, a glass-enclosed dining spa and florist shop in San Francisco, is open and featuring an gourmet dinner menu, highlighted by the bountiful "Picnic Table," an unbelievable array of choice seafood, meats, curries, fruits, and vegetables from around the world. The restaurant is designed like a greenhouse completely enclosed in glass and rare tropical plants. Owner Murray Lehr uses 13 huge torchiers from the MGM movie spectacular "Ben Hur" to illuminate the dozens of plants and ferns hanging from the roof. Lehr's "Greenhouse Restaurant and Potting Shed" will be open evenings from 5pm.

• Magic Time Machine | San Antonio, TX

Anything goes at this San Antonio classic open since 1973. The theme is broad, embracing everything from Marvel comics to Pirates of the Caribbean and the dining room is a hodgepodge of seating areas, including the attic, a tiki hut and even an old refrigerator. Servers are dressed as all kinds of characters: Spider Man, Robin Hood, Jack Sparrow and more. The fun is clearly aimed at kids, though grownups will enjoy the post-10pm saloon featuring a full bar and live music.

• Maid café

"Meido kafes" are a subcategory of cosplay restaurants found predominantly in Japan. In these cafés, waitresses dressed in maid costumes act as servants and treat customers as masters (and mistresses) in a private home, rather than as café patrons.

• Munches

A munch (short for burger munch) is a low-pressure social gathering for people involved in or interested in BDSM, usually at a restaurant. When available, munches often use a private room. In the UK, the venue is usually a pub, and people are free to arrive and leave within the specified hours. The primary purpose is socializing, though some munches also have announcements from local organizations. Munches often help those who are curious about the lifestyle meet others who may be able to help them become more comfortable and better informed. Munches can also be a place to get advice about or pass on anecdotes about BDSM experiences.

• Napa Valley Wine Train | Napa Valley, CA | Dinner trains by State

It might seem cliché to say that the Napa Valley Wine Train is more than the sum of its parts, but it is. Part distinctive Napa Valley fine dining restaurant. Part museum, it’s made up of exquisitely and faithfully restored vintage early 20th century Pullman cars. Part journey, to some of California’s most celebrated wineries.

With its Honduran mahogany paneling, brass accents, etched glass partitions, and plush armchairs, the Wine Train also evokes the elegant glory days of luxury train travel of the early 1900s. You get to sit back, relax, and savor every delicious bite, every bit of extraordinary scenery, every taste and tour. There are lots of ways to explore Napa Valley. This one is an experience you will never forget.

• Pelican Inn | Muir Beach, CA | website

The romantic escape over the hills to the beach. . . an inn capturing the spirit of 16th century England’s west country awaits you. Barely 20 minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge, the hospitable Pelican Inn rests at Muir Beach in the sea-blown fog, among the pines and alders, the honeysuckle and jasmine … a lodging refuge between the ocean, Muir Woods and the Northern California National Recreational Area parks. The Pelican opens its doors to you for the fellowship of its Tudor bar, country cooking, overnight lodging or for a getaway of carefree feasting and relaxation.

• The Proud Bird | Los Angeles, CA |

This LAX-adjacent spot began life in 1967 as an aviation-themed restaurant but was reborn as a modern food hall in 2017 featuring six food stalls serving Asian, Italian, American fare and more. The aviation theme has been preserved: Giant model planes hang from the ceiling and the lingo echoes travel language ('Arrival' is where you place your order, 'Departure' where you pick it up). Don’t forget to visit the Mile High Club bar to pick up a cocktail or a glass of wine and admire the view.

• Red Cape Inn

When BackDrop was in Hayward, we often met for dinner, cocktails, and events at the Red Cape Inn on Mission Street in Hayward, California. It was not uncommon for people to meet at the lounge and check into a hotel room for the night.

• Ricky's Sports Bar | San Leandro, CA | (510) 352-0200

We had one of those times when were working a late night. We had gone to Ricky's Sports Bar for dinner. There was only one other couple in the restaurant, and when they left, I thought it would be fun to play a trick on our host, Ricky. I had 'the girls' massaging my shoulders, hands and feet when the couple came back looking for a pair of glasses. Oh the look on his face was truly priceless. He asked Ricky why "that service" wasn't on the menu. We talked for a while and they joined BackDrop.

• Safehouse | Milwaukee, WI | https://www.safe-house.com/ | 414.271.2007

In an alleyway near the Milwaukee river, an unassuming doorway has been the entrance to safety for spies and special agents since 1966. Yes, the password is required to enter. No, we won’t reveal it. For agents who don't know the password, a fun and imaginative clearance test will be given to prove they aren’t double agents. Behind the hidden entrance is a world of global espionage and entertainment. ​On orders from Control, Station Chief Agent 0h0h7 (aka David J. Baldwin) founded SafeHouse in 1966. His vision for this hideaway was unique and full of historical references.

SafeHouse became a local landmark and cultural icon for hungry spies. Agent 0h0h7 and his Chief of Disinformation, Agent Eliza, have remained undercover for over 50 years. Today, Agent BB (a.k.a Greg Marcus) and his team of friendly Marcus Restaurant agents continue Agent 0h0h7's vision.

• Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar | San Francisco, CA

Few other tiki bars, if any, in the nation show as much obsessive dedication to the form as Nob Hill’s classic watering hole Tonga Room. Located inside the iconic Fairmont hotel, the Polynesian-inspired bar-slash-restaurant has been pouring mai tais since 1945, but in 2010 benefited from a $1 million renovation and facelift. While we love the balanced drinks and indulgent finger foods, it’s the ambience at Tonga Room that’s unparalleled. Built around a 'lagoon' that was formerly the hotel’s swimming pool, it features a floating stage that’s occupied nightly by a live orchestra.

Jump to: Main Page • Micropedia • Macropedia • Icons • Time Line • History • Life Lessons • Links • Help
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root