1Patrons served by drones
Singapore got its first taste of drones working as waiters recently as a restaurant in the city unleashed its robotic staffers. The autonomous drones (pictured) fly back and forth from the kitchen, carrying drinks or dishes to the restaurant’s customers. The drone waiters, made by Singapore-based Infinium Robotics, served customers at Timbre @ The Substation, a live music bar, and restaurant.
They are not meant to replace humans—not yet, anyway. The plate-carrying drones do all the legwork that serving staff usually do, but waiters remain on hand to attend to customers. The drones don’t fly to your table—instead, they zoom from the kitchen to a drop-off area where the flesh-and-bones staff will pick up the order and take it to the right place.
2Tim Burton Inspired Restaurant & Bar
Check out the Beetle House, a quirky East Village restaurant that’s dedicated to all things Tim Burton in NYC. The food menu features such delicacies as “Beetle Bread,” “Edward Burger Hands,” and “Sweeney Beef.” The drink menu offers a variety of “custom made poisons, potions, and elixirs.” Reservations are required and can be made through their website. Beetle House is from the same owners of Stay Classy, a Will Ferrell-themed restaurant and bar.
3London's First Clothing-Optional Restaurant
A pop-up eatery in London is making waves nearly two months before its grand opening, thanks to its controversial “clothing optional” policy. The Bunyadi, which is set to open in June 2016 for three months, will have two separate sections—”clothed” and “unclothed.”
“The idea is to experience true liberation,” said Seb Lyall, founder of Lollipop, the company behind the venture. “People should get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colors, no electricity, no gas, no phone, and even no clothes if they wish. We have worked very hard to design a space where everything patrons interact with is bare and naked.” Of course, staff will be in the nude as well, but with certain body parts strategically covered.
The unique dining concept has proved so popular that over 15,000 people have already signed up to be on the waiting list through the restaurant’s website.
4A 'Star Wars' pop-up restaurant in London
The city of London decided to combine two of its obsessions—Star Wars and food—in a handy pop-up experience. The Fork Awakens, which will hit the area for six nights from June 23, 2016, is billed as a “Star Wars-themed diner” and promises a “welcome cocktail, four-course interactive meal, set design and entertainment” for £55 (around $80).
The experience will be set “in Darth Vader’s kingdom” and “will take Foodtroopers into an immersive journey through time and space, with many familiar encounters and interactive adventures along the way.” Beyond that, details are sketchy, but there will be puns aplenty—Hutt dogs have been mentioned for starters.
5Breaking Bad–Themed German Restaurant
A new restaurant called Heisenberg Haus has opened, and it’s already got 4.6 out of 5 stars. The decor is based on the TV show Breaking Bad, but the menu is German fare, with Pork Knuckle, Schnitzel, Pork Belly, and many kinds of beer. The cocktails are inspired by Walter White and his crew, like the Blue Crystal Surprise, which is a combination of vodka, Blue Curaçao, pineapple, and Pop Rocks.
You probably think that this restaurant is located in Germany or Albuquerque, but I’m sorry to burst your bubble. It’s in Brisbane, Australia. Maybe you can try making the Blue Crystal Surprise at home.
6Poop Flavored Restaurant
If there ever was a restaurant destined to get crappy reviews, it’s Curry Shop Shimizu. The Tokyo-based eatery opened in 2015 with the house specialty being “poo-flavored curry.”
Don’t worry; the dish doesn’t contain any actual poop, just natural ingredients like green tea, bitter gourd, and cocoa powder that, when combined, looks and tastes similar to human feces. To enhance the illusion, the caca curry is served in a porcelain bowl meant to resemble a bedpan—bottoms up!
The curry is the brainchild of executive chef Ken Shimizu, who apparently made it big by eating poop in porn movies.
7Stuffed Animals Restaurant
You might invite your favorite stuffed animal to tea parties, but you haven’t shown your plush puppy, bear, kitty or bunny true love until you’ve sent it to Nuigurumi Cafe. The Tokyo restaurant serves sweets, adventure and luxury experiences exclusively to stuffed animals. Seriously.
Since inanimate objects can’t drive themselves there on their own, their owners are supposed to make a reservation and then overnight their toys to the cafe. Upon arrival, the animals are treated to 14 different experiences, including a limousine ride, a welcome smoothie drink prepared by resident chef Hebi-chan the snake (yes, the employees are stuffed animals, too), and a luxuriously comfortable overnight stay.
The stuffed animals are then sent back to their homes with a souvenir and photo album that captures the experience, so they can always remember their getaway and share their memories with their human friends.
8The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-Themed Barbecue Restaurant
Released in 1974, Tobe Hooper’s low-budget slasher film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, went on to become a watermark for grisly, cinematic affairs. Based partly on the crimes of Ed Gein, the film featured a family of murderers who terrorize a group of youngsters.
Recently, the reopening of the gas station that was called “Last Chance” in the 1974 movie has been announced. For years, the venue was dubbed Bilbo’s Texas Landmark, but it’s been closed for several years now and has become dilapidated during that time. A businessman from Ohio, Roy Rose, cherished the landmark ever since he fell in love with the film on his 10th birthday. In 2015, he bought the property, and his plans for a renovation include creating a horror-themed compound with lodging, a movie screen showing the film, and a store selling merchandise. The actor who played the first Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th, Ari Lehman, is a partner in the venture, adding more to the horror mystique surrounding the project.
The restaurant is set to be opened in mid-July and will be offering a bloody meat menu, naturally.
9Luxury Restaurant in a college dorm room
Need a new date-night spot? Look no further than Hogan Hall, Suite 4B. Jonah Reider, a student at Columbia University in New York, saw opportunity where other people didn’t. He had room for a table for four people in his dorm room. He had access to a shared kitchen. He had excellent cooking skills. He combined these things to form a new business—a restaurant.
Pith, as Reider’s restaurant is called, is open four nights a week and takes reservations online (the restaurant has been booked for the first few months).
The Pith dining experience, Reider said, is meant to be a social one. He encourages students to sign up in groups of groups of three or four, although couples are allowed. Reider also dines with his guests.
10Secret Caribbean Restaurant Hidden in Brooklyn
Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood is home to a mysterious restaurant that serves delicious home-cooked Caribbean fare through a hole in the wall. That’s actually what the owner, a man named Papa who moved to Brooklyn from Jamaica eight years ago, and his patrons call the unique eatery.
The name, “Hole in the Wall,” isn’t just clever wordplay, it’s as literal as it gets—from the outside, the restaurant is just a rectangular hole cut out from a storefront grate located on Kingston Avenue. There’s no sign, no hours, no menu, and not even a door to walk through. Papa simply opens up the hole each morning when the food is ready and closes it when the stock for the day is sold out. His Caribbean dishes are fresh, tasty, and best of all, free from sales tax.
The meal options are the same every day—curry goat, marinated chicken, oxtail, or sauteed fish, served with rice, beans, and chopped vegetables. Each dish is packed in styrofoam containers of two different sizes, priced at $6 and $10. There’s no place to sit and dine, but as someone points out, “the benches of Brower Park are only a five-minute stroll away.”
By all accounts, the food served at Hole in the Wall is delicious, but it’s the eatery’s air of mystery and exclusivity that make it so unique. Not many people know about this place, so you’re never going to see a line of hungry people formed in front of it, and having to pop by not knowing if food is available apparently acts as a draw for New Yorkers sick of traditional restaurants.