# Inexplicably Stupid Restaurant Concepts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245 "2017-04-11T16:50:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/81 "2017-04-13T14:00:22Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > Do customers put the ingredients on the pizza themselves or do they just select the ingredients and the staff put it on? You know, I’ve never been in one, so I don’t know, but I don’t think the customers dress it themselves. I think the schtick is more that they have a lot of toppings and sauces to choose from (moreso than the usual pizza place), and that you get to put whatever toppings you want on it based on the size of the pizza (that is, not a per-topping surcharge). Oh, and they all look to be wood-fired pizzas that are cooked up in 2-3 minutes. They do also have “prebuilt” pizzas, looking at the menus of Mod and Blaze. ETA: Yeah, looking at the videos, it does seem to be the workers putting on the ingredients, not the customer. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/82 "2017-04-13T14:36:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You know, I’ve never been in one, so I don’t know, but I don’t think the customers dress it themselves. I think the schtick is more that they have a lot of toppings and sauces to choose from (moreso than the usual pizza place), and that you get to put whatever toppings you want on it based on the size of the pizza (that is, not a per-topping surcharge). Oh, and they all look to be wood-fired pizzas that are cooked up in 2-3 minutes. They do also have “prebuilt” pizzas, looking at the menus of Mod and Blaze. > > ETA: Yeah, looking at the videos, it does seem to be the workers putting on the ingredients, not the customer. Yes, Blaze is basically Chipotle/Subway-style pizza, in that you go down the line and have them add toppings. It’s actually pretty good. Never been to MOD. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/83 "2017-04-13T15:36:04Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > Tallywacker’s in Dallas. > > Concept: A male version of Hooters. > > The owner (who from what I’ve heard had little restaurant experience and was a shady character) thought the gimmick was genius and a moneymaker. > > The location: Just two blocks north of the “gayborhood.” > > The staff: A bunch of dancers from local gay clubs, most of whom had little, if any, experience as servers or busboys. There are countless stories of people who waited 30+ minutes to get a drink, and more often than you’d think, the drink would be wrong. One bartender had to ask what was in a Jack and Coke. One waiter, when a customer (my co-worker) complained that their vodka and soda was actually a vodka and Sprite, took a drink of the person’s drink from the straw, said “Oh, maybe it’s not mixed right” and used his finger to stir it, before setting it back on the table. > > And did I mention all the staff was shirtless? > > The food, allegedly, was overpriced and sub-par. > > And, addressing the fact that “that corner” doesn’t exist as a restaurant graveyard, I can tell you that the location where Tallywacker’s was has been home to 5 different restaurants in as many years. A parking lot of 12 spots, and they choose to make it valet. If the parking lot is full or you don’t want to pay to park, you have to park at least a block away and cross a busy main street. > > I think the owner thought that he’d get a bunch of gay clientele, not realizing that they could eat a decent meal somewhere else, and go to the local bars to see those same waiters once they were done with their “day job.” It became a spot for bachelorette parties, and had very few repeat customers. > > It unceremoniously closed one morning, when the staff came to find a note on the door saying the owner decided to shut down. Nobody had any advance notice. > > Seriously, read the reviews on Yelp. They’re funny, if not disgusting. Given the theme, at least he used his finger to stir it :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/84 "2017-04-13T16:21:58Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I don’t know if they still exist, but in LA there was a chain called “Mongolian BBQ” where you selected the oriental-style ingredients yourself, put them in a bowl, then gave the bowl to the chef, who stir-fried them on a large, circular grill. He circled the grill, turning the batch continuously and when he arrived back at the starting point, put the now-cooked ingredients back in the bowl and gave it to you. That, plus rice and a beverage, was the entire gimmick. I ate at one of those once. The food was pretty good. But I like the concept where you get a table, sit down and let the staff do all the work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/85 "2017-04-13T16:29:50Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I ate at one of those once. > > The food was pretty good. But I like the concept where you get a table, sit down and let the staff do all the work. 🙂 That’ll \*never \*work. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/86 "2017-04-13T16:38:45Z")
Reminds me of That 70’s Show, where Red’s favorite restaurant had been replaced by a Bennigan’s-esque restautrant featuring something called a “salad bar.” “My wife didn’t get all dressed up for a special night out so that she could make her own salad. See, she could do that at home. For free.” ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/87 "2017-04-13T16:58:23Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I don’t know if they still exist, but in LA there was a chain called “Mongolian BBQ” where you selected the oriental-style ingredients yourself, put them in a bowl, then gave the bowl to the chef, who stir-fried them on a large, circular grill. We had one in my town (central Ontario) many years ago but it was called “Mongolian Grill”. It didn’t last very long. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/88 "2017-04-13T17:01:19Z")
we had a Mongolian bbq place in the mall food court here but the all you can eat places had them first so in everyones mind if its not all you can eat why bother ? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/89 "2017-04-13T17:03:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > OK, so jokes aside, how _does_ a restaurant themed around Sophie’s Choice actually work? You have to choose the steak or the chicken and if you choose the chicken they shoot the cow in front of you? ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/90 "2017-04-13T17:35:48Z")
There’s a nearby restaurant that used to be a good mid-range place, and they did fairly steady business. It also had kind of a monopoly, because the only other restaurants in town are fast food, pizza, and a couple of sandwich places. They also did a lot of business with graduation parties, rehearsal dinners etc. So of course, last year, the owner decided the only sensible thing to do was scrap the whole works and turn it into an overpriced chopped salad place instead. This was after the chopped salad fad had been over for years and hadn’t really caught on around here anyway; folks around here picture “restaurant salad” as a few scraps of iceberg lettuce, a dome of calorie-licious fixings, and several ladlefulls of dressing. Somehow it’s still open but I never see any cars in the lot anymore. ---
**Author:** ![BeeGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@BeeGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeeGee)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/91 "2017-04-13T18:28:04Z")
There was a restaurant in Austin near UT called Big Bites. They made it a few years. They sold sandwiches, burgers, pizza, and wings. The gimmick was that the sandwiches were HUGE. The Phat Buffalo had chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, bacon, french fries, buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. the Phat Bastard had chicken tenders, gyro meat, mozzarella sticks, french fries, and tzasiki. Phat Sheriff cheesesteak, chicken tenders, mozzarella sticks, canadian bacon, onion rings, french fries, mayo & ketchup. They were open til 4am and delivered. They were aimed at the drunk/stoned/after the club crowd. The food wasn’t that great, but it was super-sized, fried, and cheap. But it turned the freshman 15 into the freshman 45 and eating with a bunch of loud drunks wears pretty thin. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/92 "2017-04-13T18:37:04Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > More of a strange experience: I worked in a small town near where I lived and found a new/nouveau Thai/Asian place I liked. It had a spacey, purpose-built building - almost but not quite googie, if you know the style - and was stylish as all hell. Modest pricing, very good food. > > Nearly all of the staff were fit younger men in black slacks and white shirts, with small headsets. For no reason I could ever tell; my waitress was usually one of the young women who are like waitresses everywhere. > > Anyway, this was the place where I told them to keep making the chicken dish hotter, until my instruction to the (tiny woman) cook was “try to kill me.” She had almost succeeded when the place shut down and became some chain thing. > > I never have figured out the weird vibe or the guys in secret service dress. A guy I used to work with had the same problem. He never could get the local Chinese place to make his food spicy enough, even when he said to make it as hot as they could. It’s like they were afraid they were going to hurt him. So one day when he asked them to make it as hot as possible, he added “Nuclear.” It was like the light bulb finally came on. So they brought his lunch, and as he was eating it his nose was running and sweat was pouring down his forehead. The waitress timidly walked up and asked “Is it OK?” And he grinned and gave her a big thumbs-up. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/93 "2017-04-14T18:12:38Z")
I’m surpised that no one has mentioned “Dick’s Last Resort” yet. It’s a theme chain-restaurant where the actual theme/attraction is the obnoxious and rude waitstaff and lack of amenities - if you want napkins they’ll throw them at you, I don’t remember if you can actually get silverware. I think I remember them calling us a bunch of pussies and throwing some on the table. And the food sucks (they think it’s good though even though they give every dish a stupid crude name). I think the drinks are really strong, though - they have to be > **[Home - Dick's Last Resort -](http://dickslastresort.com/)** > > Menu HOME LOCATIONS DALLAS, TX GATLINBURG, TN INDIANAPOLIS, IN LAS VEGAS EXCALIBUR HOTEL & CASINO FREMONT STREET MYRTLE BEACH, SC NASHVILLE, TN NEW ORLEANS, LA ORANGE BEACH, AL PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL PIGEON FORGE, TN SAN ANTONIO, TX SAGINAW, MI... > **[Dick's Last Resort](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick%27s_Last_Resort)** > > Dick's Last Resort is a bar and restaurant chain in the United States, known for its intentional employment of an obnoxious staff. The chain consists of seventeen restaurants. The restaurant has its origins in Dallas with the original owner, Dick Chase's opening of a "fine-dining" establishment in 1985. The establishment was a complete failure, which resulted in bankruptcy. Rather than continue with the upscale restaurant motif, Dick retooled his efforts and decided to "go sloppy." Chase's lik In... And if it’s your birthday the waitstaff will gather 'round you and yell " we don’t care!". And the big attraction is the hat - every patron gets a condom style paper hat with a personalized insult on it. When I went my friend’s husband got a hat with “my balls are in my wife’s purse” written on it – his 5 year old got a hat that said “Mommy, why do I look like the milkman”. I think mine said “No wonder I’m single”. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/94 "2017-04-14T18:44:52Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I don’t know if they still exist, but in LA there was a chain called “Mongolian BBQ” where you selected the oriental-style ingredients yourself, put them in a bowl, then gave the bowl to the chef, who stir-fried them on a large, circular grill. He circled the grill, turning the batch continuously and when he arrived back at the starting point, put the now-cooked ingredients back in the bowl and gave it to you. That, plus rice and a beverage, was the entire gimmick. > > I liked it. I’ve eaten at Mongolian Barbecue places in several cities. There used to be one in Salt Lake City when I lived there. It still seems to be operating in Sandy, UT There used to be one in New Brunswick NJ near Robert Wood Johnson hospital that went through at least two owners, but it’s apparently gone now. There are others listed in the area. There’s one inside another Chinese restaurant in East Brunswick. typing in “Mongolian barbecue” in search engine brings up lots of hits in various places ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/95 "2017-04-14T22:34:03Z")
I ate at a Genghis Grill at Charlotte-Douglas once. It was the same concept described here for a Mongolian Grill, except you just ordered and they put pre-portioned food on the rotating grill. It was pretty decent…Yelp tells me it’s closed now though. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > There was a very popular and trendy place that was basically a fondue house, except that it had entree courses where you cooked small bites in boiling broth. The Melting Pot? That place was super trendy when I was in college. I never saw the appeal (especially with the icky cheese). > [@filmore](#): > > There used to be a steak restaurant called “U-R Cooks”. Their gimmick was that you cooked your own steaks at open grills in the middle of the restaurant. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was, but my dad and a bunch of his coworkers ate at a restaurant like that on a trip once. (He was probably traveling in Wisconsin or Illinois.) Once word got around that he had worked at and managed a steakhouse, he ended up cooking all the steaks himself. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/96 "2017-04-14T22:40:24Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > The Melting Pot? That place was super trendy when I was in college. I think that was it. This would have been in Sacramento, around… 2005? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/97 "2017-04-14T23:16:01Z")
Noting that this is just my opinion and not an objective judgment, I find the whole molecular gastronomy and “deconstructed” meals trends to be ridiculous. Just give me FOOD, not some kind of flavored foam, or a plate full of ingredients that aren’t actually making up a whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/98 "2017-04-15T00:13:41Z")
Not exactly a concept, but it’s how Dim Sum restaurants typically operate – people walk around the restaurant pushing carts, and you can grab dishes off of them. Frequently, if you aren’t eating with someone who can read or speak Mandarin and can thus communicate with the waiters, or is very familiar with the cuisine, you can play a guessing game as to what exactly is in each dish. At the end of the meal, they simply count the number of plates of each color that you have, and charge you accordingly (kind of like how those Sushi bars work with the conveyor belts). ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/99 "2017-04-15T00:46:40Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I ate at a Genghis Grill at Charlotte-Douglas once. It was the same concept described here for a Mongolian Grill, except you just ordered and they put pre-portioned food on the rotating grill. It was pretty decent…Yelp tells me it’s closed now though. > The Melting Pot? That place was super trendy when I was in college. I never saw the appeal (especially with the icky cheese). Oh, I love The Melting Pot as an occasional thing, I’ve been maybe twice in the past 6 years. I mostly like the cheese fondue. You have to come with a large enough group or at a slow enough time to get a table with 2 burners. You want two different cheese things. But for the “cook at the table” main course (each person orders their own little assortment of uncooked stuff) you should go with the oil. The broths are more health conscious but it doesn’t really work right. And if anyone has ordered anything hot and spicy, you need two pots of oil or else everyone’s food will be hot and spicy. And it’s really expensive. It takes me by surprise every time. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245/100 "2017-04-15T00:51:55Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I’m surpised that no one has mentioned “Dick’s Last Resort” yet. Because it’s not inexplicably stupid, it’s awesome!🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inexplicably-stupid-restaurant-concepts/784245.md?page=6)