Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013, during Spain’s economic crisis, and the restaurant concepts and venues it describes, such as Grotta Mare in Granada and LTO, reflect 2013. They may have changed since.
Since some readers have asked us what kind of restaurant could still work in times of crisis, we’re going to share some restaurant ideas from various places around the world. A while ago we published what we considered the 9 most original restaurants, where the food is the least important thing. And it bears repeating: nowadays, in practically any business, what will set us apart is originality, innovation and, above all, entertaining our customers, or at least catching their attention in a positive way.
1. Busboys and Poets: art, culture, politics and food
This restaurant stands out for its variety of themes. To begin with, it’s a restaurant where art, culture and politics mix with food. In the beginning, the restaurant held live poetry readings, although these didn’t draw as much interest as stand-up routines about politics. Imagine going to a restaurant where, while you’re having dinner, someone is doing a comedy monologue about politicians’ spending cuts, or stand-up in general. It also stands out for its vegetarian and gluten-free food. The only problem with this restaurant is that it’s hard to find a free table for dinner… What a problem to have!
2. Grotta Mare: Italian food with humor
After a good social media strategy on Facebook, this restaurant in Granada (Spain) finally caught my attention. Once again, stand-up comedy is a good draw for this Italian restaurant that specializes in pizza. A good location, excellent decor, good service and humor: what more could you ask for?
3. Nitehawk Cinema
It’s strange that this business idea hasn’t occurred to the big shopping malls. This Brooklyn restaurant is simply a movie theater, or rather a movie theater that is a restaurant. The point is that you can watch a film just as you would at the cinema while having dinner, and the movie comes free, since you pay for it through the menu. This way the restaurant spares customers from having to rush their dinner to make it to the movies, or from eating after the film. Problem solved.
4. LTO: for a limited time only
This restaurant called LTO (Limited Time Only), as its name suggests, is a restaurant whose menus and chefs are only there for a limited time. In other words, they rotate. This has turned the restaurant into a benchmark and a showcase where chefs can make their work known and customers get the chance to try their cooking. You could say that, besides being a restaurant, it’s a showcase for landing a job if cooking is your thing.
5. Kramerbooks & Afterwords: restaurant, bookstore and café
In New York, this restaurant, which is also a bookstore and café, has become, for whatever reason or thanks to some marketing strategy, a go-to spot for dates between couples who met online. It’s also open 24 hours.
There are plenty of ideas to be drawn from the restaurant business. For example, we’ve already written about a restaurant that tapped into the thousands of followers of the Dukan diet, and about a business based on fast food with a twist.
Featured image: Michael Shields, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
