You’ll find quirky and unusual restaurants anywhere in the world. From fine dining to fast food, they all try to create a unique experience that will keep their patrons coming back. Most are in traditional shop fronts or purpose-built buildings. With many antiquated buildings being redeveloped, it certainly isn’t unusual to find a restaurant or cafe in an old heritage building or even a disused bank or church.

However, you’ll be amazed at the truly innovative places in which some eateries can be found. Their locations are so unique that they have actually caught on and become growing trends for unusual dining. Some are ingenious, others are a little creepy, and then there are some which are downright hilarious.

10 Church Crypts

The dark depths of church crypts were traditionally used as burial places. However, in modern times, the coffins in many of these crypts have been relocated, leaving dark, cavernous empty spaces. Parishioners have found inventive ways to use these areas. Many of them have been repurposed as storage, homeless shelters, even army barracks during wars.

However, you’ll be amazed to know that many of these former burial grounds have been transformed into restaurants and cafes. In fact, cafes in crypts seem to be becoming something of a worldwide trend.

Sydney, Paris, and London are among the cities which have successful eateries operating from former church crypts. St Madeline’s in Paris operates a charitable restaurant, providing cheap meals for the elderly and homeless from the dining area beneath the church. The crypt cafe in Sydney’s St James church has grown in popularity from a small courtyard cafe to fine dining in the crypt.

St Martin-in-the-Fields on the corner of London’s Trafalgar Square even has old tombstones lining the floor of their Cafe in the Crypt (pictured above). Artifacts such as an old whipping post and church sculptures are on display as a bit of a talking point, just in case dining in a church crypt isn’t enough to start a good dinner table conversation.^[1]

9 Old Toilet Blocks

A toilet block is also probably one of the last places you would expect to find a restaurant or cafe. Yet they are another class of disused buildings which are becoming increasingly popular venues for culinary establishments. Buildings that were once seedy, filthy, and covered in graffiti have been given makeovers to become trendy eateries.

A popular burger outlet in Berlin retains the unmistakable tiling from the building’s former days as a public convenience. Maintaining the building’s character, napkins are even dispensed from a toilet roll holder.

In the UK, converting disused water closets into trendy cafes and bars is becoming quite common. A number of smaller towns are turning these old facilities into restaurants in lieu of demolishing the buildings.

In Sydney, the city council has been investigating turning old toilet blocks into cafes. Many of these former restrooms are located in publicly convenient locations, so they make ideal, if not interesting, venues for an eatery.^[2]

8 Old Train Tunnels

Most modern cities have labyrinths of dark tunnels lurking beneath their streets. Some were used as train and tram routes; others served as war bunkers or drainage channels. They all tend to be dark, creepy places that few would really like to visit.

However, the value of these underground caverns is being recognized, sparking a trend for subterranean restaurants and bars. You might expect to find a coffee shop, fast food bar, or vending machine at the station. But now, restaurant owners are delving a little deeper to provide a unique dining experience.

In Sydney, a project to expand the city’s rail system was abandoned during the Depression years. A pair of St James station tunnels have largely sat idle since then. Inspired by tunnel restaurants overseas, plans are now underway to redevelop these dank tunnels into a complex of bars and restaurants.^[3]

In London, you can dine in a decommissioned tube carriage (pictured above), located in an underground tunnel. The original decor of the 1967 carriage has been retained. Diners can enjoy a four-course menu on the carriage, and ticketed events are held on specific dates each year. In Paris, plans are also underway to turn disused Metro tunnels into hip restaurants and bars.

7 Aerial Dinner Table

Fancy dinner on a flying dining table? Yes, that is actually a thing, if you are not afraid of heights.

In 2006, a Belgian communications agency teamed up with an amusement park company, and they came up with a bizarre dining concept, Dinner In The Sky, which has taken off around the world. Up to 22 diners sit on a platform which is then hoisted 50 meters (164 ft) off the ground to enjoy a midair feast.^[4]

The concept of a flying feast has taken off, and diners in over 40 countries have enjoyed a sky-high meal. It sounds like an exhilarating dining experience, but just don’t drop your napkin.

6 Plane Dining

Airline food is renowned for being unappetizing, so a plane is not exactly the place you would look for gourmet cuisine. However, disused airplanes are being repurposed as restaurants. Some offer fine dining experiences, while others provide wacky themed restaurants.

In Malaysia, diners can enjoy a three-course meal in a converted Boeing 737 (pictured above). True to the airline theme, menus range from Economy to Business and First Class.^[5] Similarly, in Colorado, you can enjoy a meal on a former US air force jet, while in Costa Rica, you can dine beneath the wings of an abandoned military plane.

5 Restaurants In Caves

You probably think of stalactites and stalagmites when visiting a cave, or even perhaps diving to discover underwater treasures. Caves have always been popular venues for picnics and parties, and established cave restaurants are a growing trend.

The Grotta Palazzese cave restaurant in Italy is believed to date back to the 1700s, as evidenced by its depiction in a watercolor from 1783. Today, it offers a fine dining experience with a view of the Adriatic Sea.

Along China’s Yangtze River, diners step along an acrophobia-inducing 30-meter-long (100 ft) walkway secured high up a cliff to access a mountain cave where they can enjoy an unusual dining experience.^[6] Many Asian holiday destinations are also following the trend for subterranean dining, with luxury cave restaurants popping up near many popular resorts.

4 Laundrobars

Sunday afternoon at the laundromat is an onerous chore for many of us. However, at least one cafe fad is helping to ease the boredom of wash day.

Restaurants, cafes, and bars in laundromats are now a thing. A number of ingenious laundromat owners around the world are making good use of the time their patrons waste while their weekly laundry goes through its cycle. Gone are the days of vending machine coffee and snacks while you wait for your wash to finish.

The concept first became popular in Germany, where laundromat owners initially began offering barista coffee and snacks to their patrons. The idea soon took off across Western Europe, spreading to the US and Australia. Many these laundromats resemble swish nightclubs and restaurants. Some offer fast food and coffee, others have established bars, and even live entertainment and dance parties are not uncommon among the whirling washtubs.^[7]

3 Former Mental Asylums

Gone is the dark heyday of institutionalized mental health care, and many large insane asylums now sit abandoned. The very history of these buildings creates a creepy, dark atmosphere. However, their size, architecture, and locations often make them ideal for redevelopment as luxury hotels and restaurants, which is why across the world, many of these grand old buildings have made the transition from hospitalization to hospitality.

New Mexico and New York both feature historic asylums redesigned into luxury hotels and restaurants. An 18th-century asylum in Edinburgh is among many similar buildings in Europe now providing ideal romantic weekend getaways. In Tasmania, a restaurant has been established in the dormitory of one of the region’s oldest asylums.

The thought of dining in a former psychiatric institution may be off-putting to some, but the project is a great example of repurposing old buildings.^[8]

2 Graveyard Restaurant

Cemetery restaurants are not unremarkable. Many larger cemeteries have cafes where visitors and mourners can stop for refreshments. Restaurants often surround big graveyards to cater to visitors. However, one restaurant in India is perhaps a little too close to the dearly departed for most people’s liking.

The New Lucky Restaurant in Ahmadabad, India, is located on the site of an old Muslim graveyard. Rather than disturbing the dead, the tables are set up surrounding the graves.^[9] Metal fences surround the raised coffins, beside which diners enjoy their graveside coffee and curry.

1 Dinner In A Tree?

Ever thought of climbing a tree for dinner? Quite a few diners do just this for a particularly unique restaurant experience.

In Costa Rica, you will find a restaurant and cafe built around the branches of a massive ficus tree (pictured above), which you can access by simply climbing the stairs. In Thailand, however, you can be hoisted up into the treetops in your own private dining pod. Food is served to you via a series of cables from the ground below. Meanwhile, in Queensland, Australia, you can enjoy dinner in the treetop canopies at a local spa resort.^[10]

Hopefully, the local wildlife in the trees know a little dinner table etiquette.

Lesley Connor is a retired Australian newspaper editor who provides travel articles for online publications and through the travel blog.

10. SafeHouse Spy Restaurant

If the perseverance of the James Bond franchise has taught us nothing else, it’s that people really do love the spy genre. But what exactly does that have to do with restaurants? Ask the owners of the SafeHouse Spy restaurant, which has wrapped their dining experience entirely in the spy mystique.

The restaurant has no public front; the entrance is hidden in an alley. If you can find the entrance, you’re still not getting in just by opening the door. You have to give the password.

Here’s where things get especially weird. You either know the password because someone told you, or you don’t know the password. If you don’t know you can still get in, but you’re going to have to prove your worth. Those who don’t know the password have to perform a task which might be dancing, making animal noises, or some other harmless yet slightly humiliating act. Whatever they have you do, they’re going to make you do it on camera so the entire rest of the restaurant gets to watch.

As you can guess, this is all in good fun and the restaurant has plenty of activities once you get inside to keep kids busy. The decor is Cold War-era espionage and even features trick walls and rotating booths if you want to amp up the 007 experience.

If you’re still a little cool on the spy theme, word is the food is exceptional as well, so you should still enjoy your trip even if you don’t care for the gimmicks.

9. Instagram Restaurant

These days there’s a bit of a backlash against the idea of Instagram influencers. These are the people who have tried to make their way in the world by exchanging goods and services for exposure. You’ve probably read stories about entitled Instagram influencers who have been kicked out of hotels after trying to get free rooms or extended stays in exchange for promoting the business on their social media.

The idea that your Instagram is actually worth money to someone else didn’t grow in a vacuum, however. Back in 2014, there was actually a pop-up restaurant that let you pay solely in Instagram pics. The company Birdseye, known for making frozen food normally, created their pop-up restaurant in London. The menu didn’t have prices that you had to pay in cash, you just had to share pictures on Instagram with the hashtag #birdseyeinspirations.

 In fairness, the food this restaurant was selling was also from their frozen food Inspirations line and both dishes, fish and chicken, looked kind of like knockoff Hot Pockets. Still, free food in exchange for photographs can’t be that bad of a deal.

8. Nazi Restaurant

If you were going to compile a list of all the really bad ideas you can think of for a restaurant gimmick, it’s almost guaranteed that in your top 10 you would have Nazi Germany. Why would anyone in their right mind ever conceive of the idea of creating a Nazi-themed restaurant?

You can ask why until the cows come home, but you’ll have to accept the fact that someone literally did have this idea and brought it to life in Indonesia. Known as the Soldaten Kaffee, the restaurant was actually in business for some years before it was finally closed in 2017. There was also a brief shutdown in 2013 when the owner was routinely getting death threats.

The decor in the restaurant featured Nazi imagery, including swastika flags and pictures of Adolf Hitler. The owners claim that the cafe wasn’t pro-Nazi, it was more historically Nazi, sharing information rather than promoting it. Even the plates that you ate your dinner on featured the stamp of the Third Reich eagle.

7. The Labor Inducer

The Suburban is a restaurant in Excelsior, Minnesota. The restaurant describes itself as a craft sports bar and features the kind of fair that you would expect at any sports bar including sliders, nachos, chicken wings and a variety of sandwiches, salads, and pizzas. So none of that qualifies as a particularly unusual gimmick. However, they did gain some notoriety for one burger in particular.

One of the burgers on the menu is known as the Labor Inducer. As the name suggests, it supposedly can induce labor in pregnant women. So how does that work? The owner was coming up with new burger ideas for a competition and offered one of his test burgers to the pregnant co-owner of the restaurant. She was nine days away from giving birth, but after eating the burger she went into labor seven hours later. That was good enough for them, and they called the burger the Labor Inducer and added it to the menu.

Since it made headlines, the owner said that several pregnant women a week were coming into the restaurant to eat the burger in an effort to give nature a helping hand. And amazingly, it seems to have worked out as a second baby was born a few hours after a mother ate one.

There’s nothing particularly unusual on the burger: it’s an Angus beef patty with honey cured bacon, peach caramelized onions, spicy mustard and a Cajun remoulade on a pretzel bun. And, as far as anyone knows, those are the only two babies it prompted into the world. 

6. Heart Attack Grill’s Cremated Remains of Dead Customers

The Heart Attack Grill made headlines in the late 2000s for its hospital-themed restaurants and the fact that they actively seem to want to kill their customers. Food was loaded down with fat, cholesterol and sugar, the kind of stuff that is considered fodder for causing a heart attack. And if you weigh over 350 pounds, you can eat at the restaurant for free.

The place lived up to its name and reputation when one of the restaurant’s spokesmen,  575-pound Blair River, actually died. A year later, a customer had a heart attack while eating one of the restaurant’s Triple Bypass Burgers. Other diners in the restaurant thought it was a joke and took pictures of the man as he fell on the floor.

The year after that, another restaurant spokesman died from a heart attack in front of the restaurant. Despite all the morbid associations with the restaurant, the owners haven’t scaled-back anything. In fact, in the year 2020, the restaurant started displaying the cremated remains of their past guests who had died of heart attacks.

5. AI Server

The wait staff at a restaurant can really make or break your dining experience. A good server can make you want to come back and again. A bad server can make you avoid the restaurant forever. At one restaurant in Seoul, South Korea, the food is brought to customers not so much by a server as a robot named Aglio Kim.

The robot is a mobile trolley with a computer interface. It’s perfect for social distancing during Covid-19 as it minimizes human contact. Customers are able to order their food from a touch screen at the table, and the robot uses artificial intelligence to navigate the restaurant to get food and bring it to the right table. It can even deliver up to four tables at once. 

4. The Drug Lord Restaurant

It’s not often that a restaurant is based around a person, especially a person who doesn’t technically have anything to do with the restaurant. But that didn’t stop a pop-up restaurant in Australia from making their restaurant a Pablo Escobar-themed one. If you don’t recall, Pablo Escobar was an infamous Colombian drug lord and murderer. The restaurant Pablo’s Escoburgers featured an Escobar-themed burger that was served with a line of garlic powder meant to resemble a line of cocaine on top of the bun, along with a fake $100 bill rolled up next to it.

While it certainly got a lot of attention, not all of it was good. Some people suggested the restaurant was glorifying drug use and others thought it was in poor taste. Still, if they were looking to get attention, they managed to get in the news all around the world, so perhaps that was what they were going for.

As for the owner, he made a statement on the restaurant’s Facebook page that they weren’t trying to offend anyone and were just trying to have a laugh, not glorify the man or his crimes.

3. Social Distance Ghosts

Throughout the pandemic, depending on where you live, we’ve gone through cycles of restaurants being open, then closed, and then open again. Sometimes when they open, they have to adhere to unusual social distancing rules and can only seat a few guests at a time. One restaurant in Michigan came up with a novel solution for making social distancing easier to work with.

Trattoria Da Luigi in Royal Oak, Michigan came up with an idea to make sitting alone in a restaurant less lonely. The empty seats in the restaurant are filled with ghosts. Chairs that are not at use feature sheets draped over them with faces drawn on them in old school, Halloween costume style. 

Most restaurants have opted to simply remove tables to promote social distancing, producing large gaps in the dining room. The owners felt that doing so would make the restaurant feel wrong, so they simply fill the holes with “ghosts” instead.

Customers responded favorably to the idea, but presumably the ghosts will have to return to the grave once social distancing is no longer in effect.

2. Bra Size Discounts

When it comes to offering discounts to customers, you need to find a fair and reasonable way to provide them. That’s why things like coupons were invented. If you start offering rewards to people based on something arbitrary like their physical characteristics, you’re opening the door for hurt feelings and allegations of discrimination and abuse.

Despite how it seems like an obviously bad idea, the Trendy Shrimp restaurant in the city of Hangzhou, China came up with the gimmick of offering discounts to female customers based on the size of their bra. According to a chart decked out with cartoon examples of different shaped women, those with an A-cup bra would get a 5% discount and if you got all the way up to a G-cup you got 65% off your meal.

Although the restaurant removed the advertisements after complaints, management still defended the campaign as being good for business. Apparently they saw a 20% rise in customers. And, in case anyone was worried, customers could get their discount from female waitstaff rather than male waitstaff if they wanted.

1. Naked Restaurant

Some restaurants tend to be more formal than others and require that diners adhere to a specific dress code. They’ll even provide male diners with a suit jacket if they come in without one and don’t meet the dress code requirements. On the other end of the spectrum was the Bunyadi restaurant in London.

In 2016, the pop-up restaurant appeared with what you would argue is the opposite of a dress code. Diners could enjoy their meal without any clothes on whatsoever. You didn’t have to be naked; there was a section of the restaurant where people could still wear clothes. But like the smoking versus non-smoking sections of old, this one had a dressed versus non-dressed section.

Management claimed that the idea was to experience true liberation. Somehow, eating naked in a room full of strangers would help you get closer to that. To further enhance this feeling, bamboo partitions and candlelight set the mood, at least as far as ambiance went. No word on how good the food may have been.