# Is there a name for this kind of restaurant decor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069 "2014-02-24T05:43:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/41 "2014-02-25T19:26:57Z")
Ground Round is 45 now, and started out showing silent movies on whatever walls weren’t covered with kitschy crap. The remaining restaurants are more family/sports bar now. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/42 "2014-02-26T01:01:36Z")
back in the early /mid 80’s I opened new units for TGI Fridays…the theme then was called “Elegant Clutter” They had a Team and warehouse in KY that collected and cleaned the crap and a team of designers that “arraigned” it…they used all kinds of stuff in those days including real stuffed animals. back then each store typically also had hanging a real used racing shell (think rowing). I still go into one I opened in St Louis in 1985…the racing Shell is still there but the dead animals are gone. tsfr ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/43 "2014-02-26T01:05:44Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > …They had a Team and warehouse in KY that collected and cleaned the crap and a team of designers that “ **arraigned** ” it… I can see not liking it, but actually charging it with a crime seems like an overreaction to me. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/44 "2014-02-26T20:01:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > And by **not** being a franchise-chain? Is there such thing as a white-tablecloth franchise-chain? There aren’t many, and even the chains at that level often don’t have many locations (certainly not anywhere near the ubiquity of a Fridays or Applebees). Ruth’s Chris Steak House is one which comes to mind, as well as the Capital Grille that Dewey Finn mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/45 "2014-02-26T20:07:03Z")
Remember when they were opening up a Carlos Murphy’s every ten feet? Every one had a stuffed bear in a swing. I never figured out why. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/46 "2014-02-26T21:28:10Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > There aren’t many, and even the chains at that level often don’t have many locations (certainly not anywhere near the ubiquity of a Fridays or Applebees). Ruth’s Chris Steak House is one which comes to mind, as well as the Capital Grille that Dewey Finn mentioned. Morton’s is the first one I thought of. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/47 "2014-02-26T21:46:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Dewey Finn** : > > Also, it’s meant to give the impression that the restaurant is American and authentic (although it seems to me that seeing the same crap in every location of a restaurant chain is the opposite of authentic). But what’s more American than inauthenticity? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/48 "2014-02-26T22:00:45Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I worked at a new Chili’s when I was in my 20s. A team from corporate came out with a truckload of that stuff to put it up on the walls before we opened. I call it faux Americana. Guess [this](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wh8dZIMzr_k/TjszzMc7otI/AAAAAAAAABM/gzjZcAo2Pt8/Chevys%2BFresh%2BMex) would be faux Mexicana. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/49 "2014-02-26T22:46:36Z")
Whenever I see that in a place, I always think about how much dust must build up on that stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/50 "2014-02-27T02:49:09Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > It wasn’t just you; “fern bar” was a common term a few decades ago. There used to be a comic strip called “Brass and Fern” that was set in one of these restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![tapu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@tapu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tapu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069/51 "2014-02-27T03:10:30Z")
That reminds me. I had a friend who upon moving across the country left behind a couple transom air conditioners, some large hanging ferns, etc. Another friend who visited me shortly after looked around and said, “Did a restaurant close?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-kind-of-restaurant-decor/682069.md?page=2)