# I am officially sick of cute restaurants. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384 "2012-09-01T18:10:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/41 "2012-09-02T02:27:14Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Once upon a time, a kindly stranger took me to a place I knew I would love right away when, because instead of being [attacked with pretense before I even went inside](http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e266/WryOnRye/prasino.jpg), I was greeted with [this](http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e266/WryOnRye/longman.jpg). Oh, thank you so much, gods, this is all I ever wanted. When I walked [inside](http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e266/WryOnRye/LEinside.jpg), there was nothing but polished hardwood, an amazing bar with an amazing whiskey selection, and stupidly good food. No more pork belly on the menu?! ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/42 "2012-09-02T02:40:44Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Once upon a time, a kindly stranger took me to a place I knew I would love right away when, because instead of being [attacked with pretense before I even went inside](http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e266/WryOnRye/prasino.jpg), I was greeted with [this](http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e266/WryOnRye/longman.jpg). Puh-leeze. Don’t get me wrong, I love Longman & Eagle too but it is so overrun with hipsters you’d think you’ve walked into a masquerade ball where all the women are trying to look like Betty Page and all the guys are cultivating James A. Garfield-style facial hair. And they think it’s edgy and outsiderish even though they’re all just following a different herd. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/43 "2012-09-02T02:52:22Z")
I love this thread because I agree so much with the OP. The absolutely first thing I thought of was the scene in Date Night with Steve Carrell and Tina Fey when They go into the restaurant, and [Steve Carrell is dressed funny so he can get into the restaurant.](http://www.hollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/date-night-steve-carrell-tina-fey600x250.jpg) To, that scene totally sums up my feeling of “cutesy restaurants.” BTW, I just got back from a business trip to Seattle/Belevue Washington. I totally got my fill of them while there; not that we don’t have our fair share of them in ATL; but at least I’m familiar with the town here. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/44 "2012-09-02T03:09:21Z")
You should come to Athens, GA, you’d love it! 😃 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pricciar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@pricciar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pricciar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/45 "2012-09-02T03:11:11Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > \*\*pricciar \*\* what’s with the curtain thing? Is there someone in the next bed getting their bedpan? Hehe. I don’t even remember seeing that when I was there. I must have blocked it out. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Whew! See! I knew my approval was always important. > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Whew! > See, I don’t mind the first one, but this STELLA! business is exactly the kind of pointless cutery that grates on my nerves. That ICU-Chic look is such a forceful combination of vintage and adorable that I can’t take it. I think the curtains drove me over the egde (though I would eat the shit out of that pizza). The pizza was good. But, not great. Especially not good for the price, and by the standards of other pizza places in the city. Frou frou pizza concoctions get on my last nerve. No thanks, I don’t need an egg on top of my pizza. My prejudice towards that sort of pizza is my own cross to bear. The decor? Everyone has to suffer with that. The retro picture you posted reminds me very much of a restaurant in the city that I have no desire to go to. Not just because of cuteness, but that is a factor. So, I’m looking at the pictures of the interior of the place and this place is probably worse than I expected. (I do admit to a fondness for the olive lights. Again, 5 year old.) [Continental Old City](http://restaurants.uptake.com/blog/can-philadelphia-continental-martini-bar-pull-off-brunch.html) And, I guess that place was so popular they decided to open another one up. Wonderful. And, this picture is exactly what MeanOldLady loves about trendy restaurants. [Continental Midtown](http://www.flickr.com/photos/missbuenosaires/236517324/in/photostream/) I have to be frank. Now, that I am aware of these hanging chairs. I think one drunken night when I am downtown I have to make it my mission to see how much torque they can handle. And, by that I mean how many Monkees drummers can I fit on one. The problem with this cutesy stuff is that it makes the place feel so ephemeral. It feels like the next time the wind blows a new trend in things will change, and we’ll be stuck sitting inside of bubbles. I prefer popular places that have been the way they are for decades and there is no reason for them to change. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/46 "2012-09-02T04:24:27Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > I have to be frank. Now, that I am aware of these hanging chairs. I think one drunken night when I am downtown I have to make it my mission to see how much torque they can handle. And, by that I mean how many Monkees drummers can I fit on one. [nitpick]Tork played keyboards and bass. Dolenz played the drums.[/nitpick] Y’all go to some fancy places. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/47 "2012-09-02T04:29:46Z")
Agreed with the OP. Sometimes it’s a fine line, but a pungent one. Any more affected than one of my favorite bars in Detroit, the [Woodbridge Pub,](http://www.woodbridgepub.com/photography) will induce vomit at the threshold, rather at the [men’s bathroom door,](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7604613@N04/7910871840/) as it should — but only after several rounds of shots. Granted, that door might scream, _“look how clever/cute we are!”_ But it’s really a real-life death trap out of the game Myst, where you can seriously loose a fucking finger (and the woman’s doesn’t have one… Go fig?). Also, a great way to check your sober-level before driving off. I was stuck in there for 5 mins the first time I had to pee out their decent selection of beer. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/48 "2012-09-02T04:44:59Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > One word names. Tru. Melt. Butter. Flux. Reef. Or numbers: 128 at the River. 1410. 232 at Park. > > How pretentious can you get? Don’t forget Flux’s sister restaurant, ReFlux. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/49 "2012-09-02T07:25:41Z")
A local place that I’m thinking about above has pretty ok food, but takes forever (as in, have they forgotten to put my order in), and only has 1 cheap beer like PBR or several $7-9 ones. It moved in about a year ago after the umlaut place moved. And their website seriously says “We love the rustic, reclaimed aesthetic that avoids the usual neo-farmhouse clichés, as well as the smart use of space.” :rolleyes::eek: If by smart use of space, they mean having to walk sideways between tables in the barely 200 sqft space while avoiding putting your ass in one person’s face, or dry humping another. They do have pretty cool if hipster lightbulb covers made out of old booze bottles everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/50 "2012-09-02T07:35:19Z")
You’ve just described every western-style restaurant here in Daegu, Korea except for one, the one I mistakenly thought this thread was about, the one that makes me feel like Dracula in sunlight–the Hello Kitty Cafe. ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/51 "2012-09-02T08:05:18Z")
> [@pricciar](#): > > I have less problem with cute when it has utility. For instance this restaurant in Santa Barbara is one of my favorite places of all time: > [Blue Agave](http://bp3.blogger.com/_2Qi_Bc98ptw/R74OpBwzixI/AAAAAAAABE0/VPSdnUgyWiM/s1600-h/BlueAgave.jpg) > I suppose some people would call that cute and that’s fine. But, those booths are so damn comfy that I don’t care how it looks. It just works. I’m ok with cute when the food/booze high hits me and I can sit back with glazed eyes and not have a care in the world. I \<3 Blue Agave. They make a mean Blood Orange Margarita. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384/52 "2012-09-02T17:39:30Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Puh-leeze. Don’t get me wrong, I love Longman & Eagle too but it is so overrun with hipsters you’d think you’ve walked into a masquerade ball where all the women are trying to look like Betty Page and all the guys are cultivating James A. Garfield-style facial hair. > > And they think it’s edgy and outsiderish even though they’re all just following a different herd. Child, hush! I acknowledge that L&E is a way too popular place with trendy (read: hipster) clientele, and when I walk in there I might think, “Haysus, did half the crowd ride here on their fixed gear bikes?” but I do not think, “Well isn’t this place… cute.” I can gripe about hipster fuckery for days, especially living on the Blue Line, but that’s a different rant. I’m just tired of sickeningly adorable decor, as if I’m supposed to recommend your restaurant to my friends because you have some bright, neon napkin rings with a little card next to them noting they were made from sustainably farmed forestwood. Whatever, I don’t want to have to deal with that kind of crap ever again. I will get over crowds of dudes with waxed moustaches, ironic tattoos abound. I just ask when I sit down for a good dinner, can’t it be a nice, but plain room? > [@pricciar](#): > > And, this picture is exactly what MeanOldLady loves about trendy restaurants. > [Continental Midtown](http://www.flickr.com/photos/missbuenosaires/236517324/in/photostream/) Barf. > [@cmyk](#): > > Agreed with the OP. Sometimes it’s a fine line, but a pungent one. Any more affected than one of my favorite bars in Detroit, the [Woodbridge Pub,](http://www.woodbridgepub.com/photography) will induce vomit at the threshold, rather at the [men’s bathroom door,](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7604613@N04/7910871840/) as it should — but only after several rounds of shots. > > Granted, that door might scream, _“look how clever/cute we are!”_ But it’s really a real-life death trap out of the game Myst, where you can seriously loose a fucking finger (and the woman’s doesn’t have one… Go fig?). Also, a great way to check your sober-level before driving off. I was stuck in there for 5 mins the first time I had to pee out their decent selection of beer. The hell? I don’t want to have to solve a Rubix cube to pee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-officially-sick-of-cute-restaurants/633384.md?page=2)