OT: Restaurant Idea

[SunDancer]

I just wanted to bounce a restaurant idea I have floating around my head.

I have a vision of a restaurant that you go into, and the walls have nice size saltwater tanks all around in the walls. The wall paper/decoration covering the rest of the wall where tanks don't appear is either a teal or aqua design, making you feel underwater. The tables would be a clear blue, and the other pattens would follow. If I wanted to make it really upscale, I would go with blue candles on the table and other hints. What do you guys feel?

[GrantDawg]

You would have to go pretty upscale to afford that, but it would be interesting.

[Jets80]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[oykib]

Is there a collosal squid in any of the saltwater tanks?

Seriously, are there any fish in the tanks. There's restaurant in a mall out here, probably everywhere else too, where the tables are all over a fountain. They stand on a glass platform.

[TLK]

How about a restaurant where you get to make your own pizza's?


TLK

[Shkspr]

The vision I'm getting, sad to say, is that of a trendy sleazoid L.A. bar. I think I've got a good idea of what you want to accomplish and the problem as I see it is that as described, the motif is so far into the monochromatic "blue" end of things that you run the risk of making the restaurant seem bland and lifeless, ironically enough.

My suggestions: don't try to make your patrons feel as though THEY are in the water; that way leads to Disney theming and madness. To really make the look work you'd need to do some funky things with the lighting, I suspect, and I don;t believe it would create an atmosphere that people would want to return to. Repeat business and regulars are going to be what makes your restaurant succesful.

You can carry the conceit out, I think. Rather than trying to make the interior space look like a fishtank, use tanks by each table around the walls as picture windows. Use careful sculpting and coral in the tanks, and make them well-lit. You'll need to have a way to access the tanks for maintenance; whatever framing you consider around the tanks will need to take that into account since you won't want to leave the tanks open to the public.

For the rest of the walls, I'd suggest colors and textures that subtly suggest the bottom of the ocean without being all Joe's Crab Shack about it. A nice sand or beige colored carpet, bone or ivory walls, perhaps with a slight pattern or stucco in sea green. For a cool table motif, use dark granite or even concrete with trilobite patterns. As accent pieces, you could put columns or freestanding fishtanks in the center of the room, with designs influenced by (not copied from) underwater ruins. A recurring theme might be climbing greenery, suggesting kelp.

In general, though, I think you'll find that asking yorself the questions you need to ask will be the best guide.

Who's your target audience?
How much money will they spend?
How often will they come in?
How many of these customers do I need to show a profit?
How long will they spend in my restaurant?

And the most crucial question:
What type of decor do I need to convince this many people to spend this much time and this much money on this regular a basis in my restaurant?

If you're planning on taking advantage of a more transient population who will view your restaurant as a coveted destination for a one-shot visit, then your original plan is actually a pretty good one, though I doubt it will be a long-term (>10 year) draw. That plan might work well for someplace like Vegas, Orlando, Branson, etc. The drawback is that your competitors probably had the idea first and have more money than you.

If you are looking to provide a good solid elegant dining experience for a discriminating clientele, then my suggestions might not go far enough to present an upscale dining experience.

If you want to provide a middlebrow family atmosphere, then the comfort of your guests will be paramount. Generally, people don't want to repeatedly dine in a world where they are underwater, I suspect. At the same time, the suggestions I made might be a little austere. Maybe you CAN stick a big coral reef in the lobby for kids to touch. Maybe you DO want to make the columns look just like Atlantis.

Where do you want to take the concept?

[atatange1]

TLK, you stole my joke!

[mrskippy]

Steven Spielberg already had this vision with his theme restaurant called The Dive. However I believe they've all went out of business.

[mrskippy]

Dive!

http://www.seeing-stars.com/Dine/Dive.shtml

[SunDancer]

Any suggestions for a upscale restaurant idea, or even a casual dining restaurant?

[revrew]

Awesome place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (of all places) that had fish tanks for walls. Went with a ship and fishing net theme (rather than that underwater clear blue thing), though. But serves great food and the tanks are un-freakin' believable. 30 feet long, sharks, pirahna the size of your head, etc. Dunno about a colossal squid. Think it was called Butch's ? Bruno's? Something stupid like that. But man, was it a nice place.