Themed restaurants have been championed across the country, with endless possibilities. Here are 10 of the very best themed restaurants across the USA.
The Best Themed Restaurants In The USA
Restaurants have always been a great pastime for many different reasons. First dates, meeting friends for a catch-up, or when cooking feels a little too much effort that particular evening. So what could be better than going to a restaurant? Going to a themed restaurant! There are countless establishments across the USA, with themes varying all the time. Enjoy casino restaurants in the USA, airplane restaurants, and even aquarium-styled venues. Here are the very best the USA has to offer.
The Proud Bird – Los Angeles
Originally an aviation-themed restaurant, this LAX-adjacent restaurant opened in 1967. However, it was reincarnated in 2017 as a modern food hall with six stalls offering Asian, Italian, American, and more foods. In keeping with the theme, enormous model airplanes are hanging from the ceiling, and the terminology is similar to what you would find at the airport: arriving is where you place your order, while departures are where you pick it up. Enjoy a cocktail or glass of wine at the Mile High Club bar while admiring the view.
Heart Attack Grill – Las Vegas
You wouldn’t expect Vegas to host an over-the-top restaurant where nurses wear costumes and serve the healthiest, heart-attack-inducing cuisine you could ever imagine. Hospital gowns keep customers warm as they wait for towering, loaded burgers ranging from the delightful Single Bypass, which has one patty and various strips of bacon, to the extensive Octuple Bypass, which features eight patties and 40 strips of bacon. Those little plastic prescription pill containers on which shots are served contain lard-fried fries. Weight over 350 pounds entitles customers to free food, and if you eat here regularly, it becomes easier to achieve that goal.
Aquarium Restaurant – Nashville, Denver, Houston
Aquariums, seafood, and a restaurant all come together at this unique restaurant. Diners can view tropical fish, sharks, and stingrays in a 200,000-gallon aquarium. However, fish also plays a significant role in the menu, with clam chowder, lobster towers with avocados and black beans, and crab-stuffed shrimp. In addition, a Mystic Mermaid show is presented several times a month, where mermaids dive into the tank and perform choreographed routines to music. Although watching your food swim around you as you eat seems strange, this is still a great place to visit.
Mad Rex – Philidelphia
At this Fishtown restaurant, the end of the world is more flavorful than canned goods and salvaged MREs in a post-apocalyptic world. As part of the theme, cocktails are served in tins, so the decor could be called scorched earth chic. Lava rocks heat 14-ounces of hearty proteins, like a New York strip. The bar offers a range of specialty drinks, such as the Vigilante and Flame Thrower, open-air beers, canned and bottled beers, and a wide selection of bottles and glasses of wine.
Trip map courtesy of Wanderlog, a trip planner app on iOS and Android
Harvey Washbanger’s – Texas
Texas is the only place like that. A state-of-the-art laundromat coupled with a gourmet burger restaurant and a craft beer bar keeps this neighborhood spot packed all summer long. You can wash your whites and colors in the 80-machine laundry room, then soak them in a high-efficiency washer, then enjoy a burger and a drink in the adjacent dining room topped with pepper jack and fried crawfish. A light board will tell you when it’s time to move your laundry to the dryer, so don’t worry about laundry.
Magic Time Machine – San Antonio
This classic San Antonio institution has been open since 1973. Marvel comics and Pirates of the Caribbean are all included in the theme. There are various seating areas in the dining room, including an old refrigerator, the attic, and a tiki hut. All kinds of characters are dressed as servers: Robin Hood, Spider-Man, Jack Sparrow, etc. Kids will enjoy the fun, but grownups will appreciate the live music and full bar in the after-10pm saloon.
SafeHouse – Chicago
Milwaukee’s SafeHouse has lured Midwest residents for 50 years with its spy-themed bar and restaurant that serves cocktails inspired by celebrated secret agents like Sterling Archer and the Man with the Copper Mug, who require a password or clearance test to gain entry. An immersive experience, International Exports Ltd., launched a second location in Chicago, where prospective spies enter through an alleyway, sit next to a WWII spy plane’s flight deck, and dine under decor made of espionage artifacts.
Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar – San Francisco
Tonga Room, Nob Hill’s classic watering hole, is one of the only tiki bars in the country with such a dedication to the genre. As a Polynesian-themed bar and restaurant inside the iconic Fairmont hotel, the establishment has been serving mai tais since 1945. In 2010, the bar was renovated and rejuvenated with a $1 million investment. In addition to tasty drinks and delectable finger foods, Tonga Room is famous for its enchanting ambiance: built around a lagoon formerly a swimming pool. It boasts a floating stage where a live orchestra performs every night.
Cliftons Republic – Los Angeles
Clifton’s, established in 1931 as a pay-what-you-can cafeteria, is now a multi-level drinking establishment with an eye-pleasing forest decor. A 40-foot-tall fake redwood tree stands in the middle of the space; its base can be found around the corner from the Monarch Bar on the second level, and its reinforced branches reach the ceiling. In addition to The Gothic Bar, a 19th-century altar has been transformed into a bar. Two offices have been converted into two more bars on the fourth floor: Treetops and the tiki-inspired Pacific Seas.
The Aeroplane Restaurant – Colorado Springs
A converted KC-97 U.S. Air Force tanker, the Airplane Restaurant is just a few minutes’ walk from Colorado Springs’ small airport. There are small tables inside the plane, and an attached dining room is known as “the terminal” where diners can sit. Expect to get burgers, fries, and a few plain salads. The food isn’t unique, but there aren’t many options to choose from. While it may be a hassle to eat on an airplane, the fun involved in eating non-airline food is well worth it.
