12 Themed Restaurants in America That Are Pure Fun

Somewhere along the way, we all decided that dinner had to be serious. White tablecloths, hushed voices, a check that lands like a subpoena. I say forget all of that.

The most memorable meals come with a side of pure spectacle, a cliff diver, a jousting knight, a bar carved entirely from ice. Themed restaurants get treated like a punchline, and honestly, they deserve better than that.

Below are twelve spots across the country where the show is half the reason to book a table. Some are decades-old icons, some are gloriously weird newcomers. Bring an appetite and a sense of humor.

1. Casa Bonita, Colorado

Denver’s pink palace has been a rite of passage since 1974. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone loved it so much they bought it, then poured a small fortune into the 2023 revival that had fans lining up for reservations.

You come for the show as much as the enchiladas. Cliff divers launch off a 30-foot indoor waterfall every 20 minutes, magicians work the tables, and Black Bart’s Cave winds past enough hidden jokes to reward a slow walk.

When you want more sopapillas, those pillowy fried pastries drizzled with honey, you raise a little flag at your table and a server appears. Pure genius, honestly.

The place sprawls like a Mexican village, with fountains, a mine tunnel and strolling entertainers, so kids treat the whole visit like a small indoor theme park with a dinner reservation attached.

Where: 6715 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80214 (casabonitadenver.com; reservations only, no walk-ins)

2. Medieval Times, New Jersey

Trade your fork for your fingers and your century for the 11th. Medieval Times serves a four-course feast you eat with your hands while six knights joust on horseback in a torch-lit arena, and the Lyndhurst castle sits a short drive from Manhattan.

You get sorted into a color and cheer for your knight like the outcome of the realm depends on it. Andalusian stallions perform dressage, falcons cut across the rafters, and a herald keeps the whole tournament roaring.

Billed as the nation’s longest-running dinner attraction, it is loud, theatrical, and sends grown adults home hoarse from screaming for a man in armor. That is the point.

Where: 149 Polito Ave, Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 (medievaltimes.com)

3. SafeHouse, Wisconsin

The door in downtown Milwaukee just reads “International Exports, Ltd.” There is no obvious restaurant. That is the first test, because to get inside this spy hideaway you need the password, and if you do not know it, you earn your entry another way.

Open since 1966, SafeHouse is stuffed floor to ceiling with Cold War kitsch: secret passages, decoder gadgets, a pneumatic tube that shakes martinis, and staff who stay in character as your handlers for the night.

Order a burger, watch for trick doors, and keep an eye out for the hidden exit that lets real agents slip away unseen. The whole place runs on playing along.

Where: 779 N Front St, Milwaukee, WI 53202 (safe-house.com)

4. The Big Texan Steak Ranch, Texas

Route 66 has thrown off plenty of legends, and this Amarillo institution is one of the biggest. Since 1960, The Big Texan has dared travelers to finish a 72-ounce steak dinner in one hour, and if you clear the plate, the whole meal is free.

The catch is that the steak comes with shrimp, a salad, a roll and a baked potato, and you eat it on a stage while the room watches. Fewer than a third of challengers win.

Even without attempting the gauntlet, there is a longhorn Cadillac parked out front, a free limo ride to your hotel, beer brewed on site, and Western hospitality laid on good and thick.

The dining room glows with mounted trophies and cowboy kitsch, and a strolling band will happily serenade your table while you work through a steak the size of a phone book.

Where: 7701 E I-40, Amarillo, TX 79118 (bigtexan.com)

5. Rainforest Cafe, Minnesota

The original opened inside the Mall of America in 1994, and it still swallows you whole the moment you step in. Waterfalls tumble, mist drifts through the canopy, and every so often a thunderstorm rolls across the ceiling.

Animatronic elephants trumpet, gorillas thump their chests, and a giant aquarium glows blue over the bar. Kids press their faces to the glass while the storms crash overhead, and nobody wants to leave before dessert.

The food leans big and crowd-pleasing, from towering volcano brownies to jungle-sized pasta bowls, but you are really paying for a rainforest that never rains on your actual head. It is a blast for families.

Where: 306 South Ave, Bloomington, MN 55425 (rainforestcafe.com)

6. Beetle House, New York

Tucked into the East Village, Beetle House is a love letter to Tim Burton’s beautifully creepy imagination. Zach Neil turned a 2016 pop-up into a permanent haunt, and the whole room looks like it wandered out of a stop-motion nightmare.

The menu reads like a fan’s inside joke: Edward Burger Hands, Sweeney Beef, a cocktail called It’s Showtime. Characters drift between tables all evening, so dinner doubles as a small, ghoulish piece of theater.

Cobwebs, candelabra and gothic portraits set the mood, and the cocktail list tips its hat to everything from Alice in Wonderland to The Nightmare Before Christmas.

It is dim, it is macabre, and it is a genuinely great date night for anyone who owns a Nightmare Before Christmas mug.

Where: 308 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003 (beetlehousenyc.com)

7. Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar, California

Down in the Fairmont San Francisco sits a tiki temple that has been mixing mai tais since 1945. Its centerpiece is a lagoon, once the hotel’s indoor swimming pool, ringed by thatch, bamboo and warm island light.

Every half hour or so, thunder rumbles, lightning flickers, and a tropical rainstorm sweeps across the water while a band plays from a boat floating in the middle of it all. You stay perfectly dry the entire time.

The old set designer who built it worked for MGM, and it shows in the theatrical, movie-backlot glamour of the whole room.

It is old-school, a little kitschy, and completely charming. Grab a rum drink, watch the storm blow through, and settle in.

Where: 950 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94108 (fairmont-san-francisco.com)

8. ICEBAR Orlando, Florida

Florida heat makes a room built from ice feel almost impossible, which is exactly why ICEBAR Orlando works. More than 70 tons of hand-carved ice form the walls, the seats, the sculptures, and even the glass in your hand.

The main room stays a steady 27 degrees, so they hand you a fur-lined thermal cape and gloves at the door before you step into the freeze. It bills itself as the world’s largest permanent ice bar.

You sip a chilled cocktail on a bench of solid ice, surrounded by carvings that get remade as they slowly melt. Then you thaw out in the warm lounge next door.

Sculptors rework the frozen decor through the year around themes and holidays, so the room looks a little different depending on when you drop in.

Where: 8967 International Dr, Orlando, FL 32819 (icebarorlando.com)

9. The Pirates’ House, Georgia

Savannah’s most swashbuckling table has been pouring drinks since the 1750s, when it opened as an inn for sailors right off the river. Legend ties it to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, and old rum tunnels are said to run beneath the floor.

Today it sprawls across fifteen dining rooms in a weathered clapboard building, all creaking wood, ship lanterns and pirate lore. Servers happily point out the trapdoor tales and the spot where sailors were supposedly shanghaied.

The oldest section, the Herb House, dates to 1734 and lays claim to being one of the oldest buildings in Georgia, which gives the whole place a genuinely salty history.

The kitchen turns out Southern classics, so you can pair your ghost stories with fried chicken and pecan pie. History and hokum, served side by side.

Where: 20 E Broad St, Savannah, GA 31401 (thepirateshouse.com)

10. Space Aliens Grill and Bar, North Dakota

Bismarck’s friendliest little green men have been running the show since 1997. Space Aliens Grill and Bar leans all the way into a goofy outer-space theme, with glowing UFOs, wide-eyed alien mascots and a soundtrack that feels beamed in from another planet.

There is an arcade humming in the back, ribs and pizza coming out of the kitchen, and a birthday-party energy that makes it a favorite for families across the Dakotas and Minnesota.

The dining room glows purple and green under twinkling starfields and flying saucers, so even a quick weeknight burger feels a little like dinner on a friendly spaceship.

It is not fussy, and that is its whole charm. You come for burgers, arcade tokens and a wall of cheerful extraterrestrials.

Where: 1304 E Century Ave, Bismarck, ND 58503 (spacealiens.com)

11. Ed Debevic’s, Illinois

At this Chicago diner, the sass is on the menu. Ed Debevic’s built its reputation on servers who insult you with a wink, snap gum, toss straws on the table and occasionally climb up to dance on the counter mid-shift.

The look is pure 1950s: glittery booths, neon, milkshakes and jukebox energy. After closing in 2015, the diner made a triumphant return in a shiny Streeterville space in 2021, the servers’ attitude fully intact.

Expect a running comedy routine with your cheeseburger, from a fake employee-of-the-month wall to servers who introduce themselves with all the warmth of a parking ticket.

Order a burger, expect to be roasted, and roast them right back. The whole show falls apart if you take it personally, so do not.

Where: 159 E Ohio St, Chicago, IL 60611 (eddebevics.com)

12. Prison Brews, Missouri

Right near the old Missouri State Penitentiary, this Jefferson City brewpub turns a jailbird gimmick into a genuinely fun night. Prison Brews seats you in booths shaped like cell blocks, some built with materials salvaged straight from the historic prison down the road.

The 1895 brick building once held a blacksmith and a creamery, and now it pours handcrafted ales named with a wink and fires brick-oven pizzas in the back.

Striped decor, iron bars and cheeky beer names keep the theme going without ever getting grim, and the house brews have picked up a loyal local following.

It pairs perfectly with a tour of the nearby pen, though the lighthearted theme and cold house beer stand on their own. Do the time, gladly.

Where: 305 Ash St, Jefferson City, MO 65101 (prisonbrews.com)

Pick Your Adventure and Go

The beauty of a themed restaurant is that dinner stops being a chore and starts being a story you tell later. You are not just eating, you are cheering, hiding, freezing or laughing your way through the meal.

So round up the people who will play along, pick the theme that makes you grin, and book the table. The food is good, but the memory is the thing you actually keep. Go have some fun with it.

Featured image: @ Medieval Times