15 Defunct Restaurant Chains With The Strangest Gimmicks In History

Remember when eating out wasn’t just about the food, but about the experience?

Back in the day, restaurant chains competed with increasingly bizarre gimmicks to lure customers through their doors.

From outer space adventures to medieval jousting matches, these establishments turned dining into theatrical performances.

Let’s explore 15 now-defunct restaurant chains that took weird dining concepts to absolutely ridiculous levels.

1. Mars 2112: Dining With Aliens

Mars 2112: Dining With Aliens
© Bon Appetit

The first time I ate at Mars 2112 in New York City, I genuinely believed I’d been transported to another planet. This cosmic dining experience began with guests boarding a “spaceship” simulator that “flew” you to Mars before depositing you in a cave-like restaurant with alien servers and otherworldly decor.

The restaurant’s 30,000 square feet featured bubbling fountains, misty rock formations, and staff in elaborate alien costumes who would periodically interact with diners. Kids went crazy for it, while adults tolerated mediocre burgers named things like “Martian Melt” and “Cosmic Chicken.”

After opening in 1998, Mars 2112 enjoyed a decent run until 2012 when skyrocketing Manhattan rent forced this interplanetary adventure to crash-land permanently. The food was forgettable, but the experience? Truly out of this world.

2. Casa Bonita: Cliff Divers And Sopapillas

Casa Bonita: Cliff Divers And Sopapillas
© Axios

Last summer, I reminisced about childhood trips to the original Casa Bonita in Denver, where Mexican food took a backseat to indoor cliff divers plunging 30 feet into artificial pools. This pink palace of kitsch packed more entertainment per square foot than any restaurant I’ve visited since.

Beyond the famous cliff divers, Casa Bonita featured wandering mariachi bands, staged gunfights, puppet shows, a haunted cave, and a “gold mine” exploration area. Guests received little red flags to raise when they wanted more of their famous honey-drizzled sopapillas – perhaps the only genuinely praised food item on the menu.

The original concept closed in 2020 during the pandemic, ending a 47-year run of theatrical dining excess. Though South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone purchased it in 2021, the original bizarre formula remains a nostalgic memory.

3. Jekyll & Hyde Club: Horror Show With Fries

Jekyll & Hyde Club: Horror Show With Fries
© Equilibrium – WordPress.com

Walking into Jekyll & Hyde Club felt like stumbling onto a haunted movie set – which was exactly what my teenage self loved about it. This horror-themed restaurant chain transformed dining into a macabre theatrical experience complete with animatronic monsters, talking portraits, and staff who stayed frighteningly in character.

Every 10 minutes, some spooky spectacle would erupt – books flying off shelves, mummies coming to life, or the entire restaurant plunging into darkness. The food was standard American fare with horror-themed names like “Dr. Jekyll’s Burger” and “Transylvanian Tortellini,” though nobody came for the cuisine.

After expanding to multiple locations in the 1990s, the chain gradually disappeared as maintenance costs for the elaborate props skyrocketed. The original New York City location closed in 2019, ending its reign of restaurant terror with more of a whimper than a scream.

4. Beefsteak Charlie’s: Unlimited Shrimp And Sass

Beefsteak Charlie's: Unlimited Shrimp And Sass
© Mashed

“I’ll feed you like no other place in America” – that bold claim from fictional mascot Beefsteak Charlie hooked me during my first visit in the 1980s. This New York-born chain built its reputation on an audacious all-you-can-eat offer: unlimited salad bar, garlic bread, and – most incredibly – unlimited shrimp!

Servers wearing red vests and bow ties would deliver basket after basket of fried shrimp to your table without judgment. The restaurant’s sassy attitude extended to their famous slogan: “You’re gonna get spoiled, so what the hell!” Their casual approach to dining made every meal feel like a celebration.

At its peak, Beefsteak Charlie’s boasted 60 locations before declining in the late 1980s. The chain finally disappeared in 2010, taking with it the dreams of endless shrimp that had sustained budget-conscious families for decades.

5. Ed Debevic’s: Insults On The Menu

Ed Debevic's: Insults On The Menu
© Eater Chicago

My first visit to Ed Debevic’s left me shocked when our server deliberately spilled water on our table, rolled her eyes, and snapped, “Oops, clean it yourself!” This 1950s-style diner chain built its reputation on intentionally rude service – a gimmick that somehow worked brilliantly.

Servers wore vintage uniforms with name tags like “The Mouth” and routinely insulted customers, tossed menus, and delivered sarcastic commentary. Periodically, all staff would climb onto countertops for choreographed dance routines to oldies hits, temporarily pausing their campaign of customer abuse.

The original Chicago location closed in 2015 after a 31-year run of successful rudeness. While some newer incarnations exist, the original concept – where paying customers eagerly lined up to be mistreated – remains one of the oddest successful restaurant formulas ever devised.

6. Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse: Talking Moose And Mountain Magic

Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse: Talking Moose And Mountain Magic
© Bluesky

Nothing prepared seven-year-old me for the moment a massive moose head on the wall suddenly started talking to our table at Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse. This Canadian wilderness-themed chain transformed dining into an Alpine adventure, complete with animatronic wildlife that would periodically spring to life to tell jokes and stories.

The restaurants featured log cabin décor, rushing waterfalls, and themed dining areas like “Bear Cave” or “Beaver Dam.” Beyond the talking animals, servers would periodically lead the entire restaurant in wilderness-themed activities and cheers, creating a summer camp atmosphere that delighted families.

Founded in 1993, Bugaboo Creek expanded to 30 locations across the Northeast before financial troubles led to its extinction. By 2016, the last location closed, silencing the chatty moose heads forever and leaving a generation of kids with bizarre memories of conversing with taxidermy over steak dinners.

7. Medieval Times: Jousting Knights Serve Chicken

Medieval Times: Jousting Knights Serve Chicken
© Ducky’s Always Hungry – WordPress.com

My first Medieval Times experience involved eating an entire chicken with my bare hands while knights on horseback battled for honor just feet away from my table. This dinner theater chain transformed eating into a full-blown 11th-century tournament experience, complete with period-accurate combat and deliberately anachronistic finger foods.

Guests were assigned to cheer for different knights identified by colored sections, creating instant tribal loyalties among strangers. Servers dressed as wenches and serfs delivered four-course meals without utensils – historically accurate but practically messy – while live horses galloped around an indoor arena.

While some locations remain operational, many Medieval Times castles have closed over the years as operational costs soared. The combination of live animals, elaborate staging, and specialized performer training made this one of the most ambitious restaurant concepts ever attempted – essentially running a full theatrical production that also served hundreds of roast chickens nightly.

8. Rainforest Cafe: Dining Under Mechanical Monkeys

Rainforest Cafe: Dining Under Mechanical Monkeys
© Disney Food Blog

The first time a thunderstorm erupted inside Rainforest Cafe, I nearly jumped out of my skin as mechanical gorillas began hooting from the artificial trees above my table. This jungle-themed restaurant chain transformed dining into an Amazon adventure, complete with animatronic wildlife, simulated rainstorms every 30 minutes, and tropical fish tanks that rivaled small aquariums.

Entering required passing through a massive retail shop and waiting beneath a giant animatronic tree frog named “Cha! Cha!” who periodically announced waiting parties. The menu featured items like “Rasta Pasta” and “Congo Mogambo” served by “safari guides” who maintained the illusion you were eating in an actual rainforest.

While some locations survive, many Rainforest Cafes have closed as maintenance costs for the elaborate animatronics became prohibitive. The chain’s famous slogan – “A Wild Place to Shop and Eat” – emphasized that dining was only half the experience.

9. Planet Hollywood: Celebrity Worship With Burgers

Planet Hollywood: Celebrity Worship With Burgers
© Ranker

My teenage self couldn’t believe real props from Terminator 2 hung just above our table at Planet Hollywood! This movie-themed restaurant chain, backed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Sylvester Stallone, transformed dining into a Hollywood memorabilia tour with mediocre burgers on the side.

Every inch of wall space displayed costumes, props, and signed photographs from famous films. Servers delivered movie-themed dishes like “Terminator Tenderloin” while screens played constant loops of celebrity interviews and film clips. The chain’s initial public offering valued it at nearly a billion dollars, showing how celebrity worship could temporarily outshine actual food quality.

After rapid expansion to 87 locations globally, the chain collapsed almost as quickly, declaring bankruptcy twice. While a handful of locations survive, Planet Hollywood’s fall demonstrates the risks of prioritizing atmosphere over cuisine – even A-list celebrities couldn’t save C-list food.

10. Magic Time Machine: Costumed Chaos And Salad Cars

Magic Time Machine: Costumed Chaos And Salad Cars
© The San Antonio Things

My cousin’s birthday dinner at Magic Time Machine featured a server dressed as Batman who delivered our salads from a converted Volkswagen Beetle parked inside the restaurant. This Texas-born oddity took themed dining to hallucinatory levels, with servers in elaborate costumes ranging from superheroes to literary characters to celebrity impersonators.

Each dining section featured wildly different themes – you might eat in a treehouse, a jail cell, or inside a giant TV set. The menu included items like “Baluga Whale Balls” (actually meatballs) and “The Wizard of Oz,” a flaming dish dramatically set ablaze tableside while servers performed in character.

The chain never expanded beyond a handful of locations, with most closing by the 2010s. The combination of elaborate costumes, theatrical service, and constantly changing themes proved financially unsustainable, but those who experienced this fever dream of a restaurant rarely forgot their visit.

11. Clowntown: Nightmare Fuel With Fries

Clowntown: Nightmare Fuel With Fries
© Westcoaster

My first and only childhood visit to Clowntown left me with a lifelong fear of painted faces and red noses. This short-lived 1970s chain capitalized on children’s supposed love of clowns by staffing restaurants entirely with employees in full clown makeup and costumes – a concept that, in retrospect, seems designed to create generational trauma.

The garish interiors featured circus-themed decor with funhouse mirrors, balloon animals made tableside, and playground equipment integrated into dining areas. Menu items bore names like “Giggles Burger” and “Silly Spaghetti,” served by clowns who would periodically spray seltzer water or perform magic tricks whether you wanted them to or not.

Mercifully, the chain folded by the early 1980s as parents realized many children found the concept terrifying rather than entertaining. Clowntown’s brief existence proves that sometimes the strangest restaurant gimmicks are strange precisely because they fundamentally misunderstand human psychology.

12. Automat: The Original Robot Restaurant

Automat: The Original Robot Restaurant
© The Philadelphia Tribune

My grandmother often reminisced about the magic of Horn & Hardart’s Automat, where food appeared as if by sorcery from little glass doors. Long before touchscreen ordering became ubiquitous, these revolutionary restaurants eliminated servers entirely, replacing them with wall-mounted vending machines that dispensed fresh food behind coin-operated glass compartments.

Customers would insert nickels into slots, turn knobs, and open small doors to retrieve everything from mashed potatoes to lemon meringue pie. Behind the wall, unseen human workers constantly refilled the compartments, creating the illusion of automated service decades before actual automation became possible.

The first Automat opened in 1902, and the chain peaked with nearly 200 locations before declining in the 1950s. The last Automat closed in 1991, ending a fascinating chapter in restaurant history where the gimmick wasn’t costumed servers or themed decor, but their complete absence.

13. The All-American Burger: TV Fame Couldn’t Save It

The All-American Burger: TV Fame Couldn't Save It
© Eat This Not That

Growing up in Southern California, I begged my parents to take me to The All-American Burger after seeing it featured prominently in the movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” This small burger chain achieved immortality when it was cast as the workplace of Judge Reinhold’s character, creating a bizarre situation where its pop culture footprint vastly outgrew its actual business success.

The restaurants themselves were relatively ordinary fast-food establishments with red-white-and-blue decor and standard burger fare. Their gimmick became their unexpected film fame, which they leveraged with movie memorabilia displays and references to their Hollywood connection.

Despite the free publicity from the cult classic film, the chain couldn’t compete with larger burger franchises and disappeared by the mid-1990s. The All-American Burger remains a fascinating case study of a restaurant whose cultural significance completely eclipsed its culinary importance.

14. Shakey’s Pizza: Banjo-Playing Pizza Pioneers

Shakey's Pizza: Banjo-Playing Pizza Pioneers
© The Dallas Morning News

My earliest pizza memory involves watching red-vested musicians with handlebar mustaches playing banjos and ragtime piano at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor. This pioneering chain, founded in 1954, was America’s first franchise pizza restaurant, but pizza almost seemed secondary to the wild honky-tonk atmosphere they created.

The restaurants featured raised stages where live Dixieland jazz bands performed daily, with customers encouraged to sing along using provided lyrics sheets. Long communal tables fostered a rowdy, participatory atmosphere more reminiscent of a beer hall than a family restaurant, despite being marketed primarily to families.

Once boasting over 500 locations across America, Shakey’s has largely disappeared from the U.S. landscape while maintaining a strong presence in Asia. The combination of pizza and live ragtime music – a pairing nobody was asking for but somehow worked – represents one of the more charmingly odd restaurant concepts to achieve major success.

15. Dinner In The Sky: Eating While Dangling

Dinner In The Sky: Eating While Dangling
© Boston.com

I’ll never forget watching diners suspended 150 feet in the air, strapped into roller coaster-style seats around a floating table, when Dinner in the Sky briefly appeared in my city. This Belgian concept took the phrase “elevated dining” literally by hoisting entire dinner parties into the air via massive cranes for meals with unparalleled views and unparalleled anxiety.

Each suspended table accommodated 22 guests plus chefs and servers who prepared and delivered multi-course meals while dangling above landmarks, beaches, or city skylines. Diners were securely harnessed but could swivel their chairs 180 degrees, creating the terrifying illusion of freedom while suspended high above solid ground.

While the concept still exists for special events, permanent Dinner in the Sky restaurants proved impractical due to weather constraints and astronomical operational costs. The experience demonstrated that some dining gimmicks, however memorable, are simply too extreme for sustainable business models.