Theme restaurant

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Theme restaurants are restaurants in which the concept of the restaurant takes priority over everything else, influencing the architecture, food, music, and overall 'feel' of the restaurant. The food usually takes a backseat to the presentation of the theme, and these restaurants attract customers solely on the premise of the theme itself.

Popular chain restaurants such as Applebee's or Bennigans would not be considered to be theme restaurants by most people - theme restaurants have an instantly recognizable, easily articulable concept that can be summed up in a few words at most, an almost cartoonish exaggeration of an idea. The popular Rainforest Cafe restaurants have the obvious theme of a "Tropical Rainforest". Medieval Times has its theme of "Medieval Europe". The Jekyll & Hyde Club evokes an atmosphere of Jack the Ripper and Victorian horror novels.

Many people consider the Rainforest Cafe to be the prototypical theme restaurant, and the restaurant which kicked off the theme restaurant fad. Theme restaurants may be experiencing a decline in popularlity, given the closings of several Planet Hollywood, Jekyll & Hyde Club, and Wilderness Cafe locations in recent years. Theme restaurants often depend on tourist business, since the theme soon becomes stale to locals, and the focus is not necessarily placed on good food and service. Certain tourist destinations such as the Mall of America or Orlando, Florida have better chances of supporting theme restaurants.