A theme restaurant is a type of restaurant that uses theming to attract diners by creating a memorable experience. Theme restaurants have a unifying or dominant subject or concept, and utilize architecture , decor, special effects, and other techniques, often to create exotic environments that are not normally associated with dining because they are inaccessible, no longer exist, are fictional or supernatural, or taboo. The theme may be further extended through the naming and choices of food, though food is usually secondary to entertaining guests.
46-714: ESPN Zone was a theme restaurant and entertainment center chain in the United States that included arcades , TV studios , and radio studios , operated by the Disney Regional Entertainment subsidiary of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts using the Disney -owned ESPN brand. While the ESPN Zone name is no longer used, similar, the ESPN Grill at ESPN Wide World of Sports is located within
92-439: A stadium -like design which could hold 550 customers. People could dine at the bar or restaurant area. 200 TV screens were hung from the walls and ceilings. There were two special rooms, a screening room and a 10,000 square foot arena for actual and virtual game play. ESPN Zone incorporated sports news into daily operations. Each shift, all staff were to receive daily sports news briefings. Placemats would be generated daily as
138-407: A "prison hospital" or "medical prison" (mental institution) theme, where guests were handcuffed and led to "cells" to eat. Various "shows" were put on by costumed staff to scare guests. It closed on May 31, 2018. Perhaps the most infamous modern theme restaurant is Cross Cafe , originally named Hitler's Cross, outside Mumbai , India . Opened in 2006, it included a swastika on its sign, which it
184-637: A location outside Walt Disney World in Florida in 1983. Now their "castles" are found across the United States and Canada. The original Hard Rock Cafe was founded in 1971 in London. In 1979, following the donation of guitars by Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend , the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia. Today, this pioneering theme restaurant chain has some 185 locations in 74 countries. Following Hard Rock Cafe's successful theme of exhibiting music memorabilia, Planet Hollywood extended
230-473: A manner similar to the federal WARN Act, other states' statutes, or the laws found in Canadian or European jurisdictions. Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania have statutes that require filing certain disclosure statements when businesses are the takeover targets of other corporations or when businesses are being dissolved. The statements generally require disclosure of plans to close facilities in
276-472: A mini-sports page of a newspaper. The chain was to change its exclusive program, games, and memorabilia regularly. All of the ESPN Zone restaurants were equipped to be remote ESPN broadcast locations, though only two were used to house regular series. The Anaheim ESPN Zone was the home of Unscripted with Chris Connelly , from 2001 to 2002. The ESPN Zone in New York City's Times Square was used as
322-458: A particular country but are now found around the world are considered theme restaurants by some, as they use theming to re-create an "authentic" experience. Modern restaurants date back to eighteenth century France. By the early nineteenth century, they had been introduced in America. In the late 1800s, restaurants began using theming to differentiate themselves from increasing competition. In
368-560: A specific ambiance for the comfort of their clientele. Some have a unique location or are housed in a unique building. But not all restaurants are considered theme restaurants. Diners choose restaurants first and foremost based on type of food. Conversely, theme restaurants attract customers primarily by promising unique experiences. Popular chain restaurants in the United States such as Applebee's and Bennigan's , despite having distinct and consistent styles, are not usually considered theme restaurants, since they attract patrons primarily with
414-438: Is a U.S. labor law that protects employees, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of planned closings and mass layoffs of employees. In 2001, there were about 2,000 mass layoffs and plant closures that were subject to WARN advance notice requirements and that affected about 660,000 employees. Employees entitled to notice under
460-580: Is liable to each employee for an amount equal to back pay and benefits for the period of the violation, up to 60 days. The liability may be reduced by the period of any notice that was given and any voluntary payments that the employer made to the employee, sometimes referred to as "pay in lieu of notice." U.S. district courts enforce WARN requirements. Workers, representatives of employees, and units of local government may bring individual or class action suits. Courts may allow reasonable attorney's fees as part of any final judgment. The U.S. Department of Labor
506-616: Is responsible to educate and inform employers and employees about WARN, and to provide assistance in understanding the regulations, but is not responsible for enforcing WARN. In addition to the WARN Act, which is a federal law, several states have enacted similar acts that require advance notice or severance payments to employees facing job loss from a mass layoff or plant closing. For example, California requires advance notice for plant closings, layoffs, and relocations of 50 or more employees regardless of percentage of workforce, that is, without
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#1732780546374552-632: The Walt Disney World complex in Bay Lake , Florida with counter service and light theming. ESPN Club at Disney's BoardWalk Resort closed in 2022. In 1992, Art Levitt conceived of an ESPN/Disney project, while he was Disney Parks and Resorts vice president of resorts and special projects, to increase Disney's Pleasure Island 's attractions. Levitt's concept was "to put an ESPN experience in Disney World". Despite discussions with ESPN,
598-606: The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 . U.S. federal district judge Catherine C. Blake , in a January 2013 decision, found that Disney and its local subsidiary violated the Act by failing to notify workers of the closing and underpaying them. Disney and the employees settled the lawsuit in November 2013; Disney paid approximately 70 percent of the employees' back pay. The Los Angeles location, housed in
644-458: The 1890s, at least three different elaborately themed nightclubs were operating in Paris, using themes of death , hell , and heaven . Similar restaurants soon opened in New York City. In the early twentieth century, so-called “programmatic” or “mimetic” style structures became popular for restaurants, including buildings shaped like vehicles, animals, and even the food they served. This theming
690-655: The Bill. The WARN Act became law in August 1988 and took effect in 1989. In light of sequestration set to take effect after January 2, 2013, the Obama Administration issued guidance saying "it is neither necessary nor appropriate for Federal contractors to provide WARN Act notice to employees 60 days in advance of the potential sequestration because of uncertainty about whether sequestration will occur." The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed
736-522: The Denver location opened in 2001. In both cases, Disney Regional Entertainment cited the "economic environment" as the reason for the closures. In June 2010, all but two locations were shuttered, with the remaining restaurants located in Southern California . As part of the decision by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, through their Disney Regional Entertainment division, to no longer operate
782-610: The ESPN West Coast headquarters building, closed in July 2013. In October 2017, Disney announced plans to replace ESPN Zone and other Downtown Disney vendors at the Disneyland Resort with a resort hotel (which has since been canceled), in conjunction with the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge in 2019. The restaurant closed on June 2, 2018. The prototype ESPN Zone was a two-level, 35,000 square foot complex with
828-668: The Ultimate Couch Potato Competition, a competitive sitting competition. In 2009, competitions were held in New York, Chicago and Baltimore. The Baltimore winner, Jessica Mosley, unofficially broke the Guinness World Record by sitting and watching consecutive sports for an unprecedented 70 hours, and 45 seconds. She repeated as Baltimore champion in 2010. The 2009 event received attention nationally, as well as from international outlets like
874-404: The WARN Act applies. Generally, the WARN Act's requirements and penalties apply when an employer continues to run the business in bankruptcy, rather than close the business, and also when an employer plans a closing or mass layoff before filing bankruptcy. The WARN Act does not apply to a trustee in bankruptcy whose sole function is to close the business. An employer who violates WARN provisions
920-569: The WARN Act include managers and supervisors, hourly wage, and salaried workers. The WARN Act requires that notice also be given to employees' representatives (e.g., a labor union ), the local chief elected official (e.g. the mayor ), and the state dislocated worker unit. The advance notice is intended to give workers and their families transition time to adjust to the prospective loss of employment, to seek and to obtain other employment, and if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining programs that would allow these workers to successfully compete in
966-542: The WARN Act include: The WARN Act is not activated when a covered employer: There are three exceptions to the full 60-day notice requirement; however, the notice must be provided as soon as practicable, even when these exceptions apply, and the employer must provide a statement of the reason for shortening the notice requirement in addition to fulfilling other notice information requirements. These three exceptions are: Exceptions are often claimed by employers in bankruptcy cases, and bankruptcy courts must often determine how
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#17327805463741012-545: The concept to movies in the 1990s, while adding celebrity endorsements and appearances at the restaurants. Steven Schussler came up with the idea for Rainforest Cafe , and actually turned his house into a model jungle to attract investors, before opening the first location in the Mall of America in 1994. Dozens of locations around the world quickly followed, and many new theme restaurant chains opened in hopes of copying Rainforest Cafe's success. The first 1950's themed restaurant
1058-647: The desire by the average American to travel the Pacific. Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt opened Don the Beachcomber , generally recognized as the first tiki bar , in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Along with a neighbor, he collected old fishing nets, driftwood, and other ephemera from local beaches, and added bamboo and masks to theme his restaurant and evoke the South Pacific and Polynesian culture . Around
1104-464: The early 1990s with its selected first location at Baltimore's Power Plant . A lack of financing ended this project that was done in conjunction with Capital Cities/ABC , Inc. With Disney's purchase of Capital Cities/ABC in 1996, ESPN was a key part of the purchase, which Disney chair/CEO Michael Eisner then moved into additional brand extensions from biweekly sports magazine, ESPN-themed restaurants, video games to retail stores . With Levitt having
1150-436: The employer when leaving their employment. Ohio requires that state unemployment agency officials be notified several days in advance of mass layoffs. The New York State Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires businesses to give early warning of closing and layoffs. The law is stricter on employers when compared to the federal WARN Act. It applies to companies with 50 or more employees (unlike 100 for
1196-414: The event of mass layoffs; however these states do not require compliance with the state's statute. Montana and Nevada statutes require advance notice to certain public employees facing layoff. Oregon and Tennessee have laws that simply implement the federal WARN Act. South Carolina requires that employers provide the same notice to laid off workers that workers are contractually required to provide to
1242-514: The federal "one-third" rule for mass layoffs of fewer than 500 employees. Also, the California law applies to employers with 75 or more employees, counting both full-time and part-time employees. The following states and localities have passed state or local WARN Acts. A number of states have laws that create ancillary duties at the time of job layoffs; but which generally do not seek to mandate advance notice or severance payments to workers in
1288-479: The federal law) where either 25 (50 for the federal law) or more workers are affected, if that number makes up at least 33% of the workers on that site. NY WARN Act requires a 90-day notice from the employer, unlike the federal Act that requires a 60-day notice. The WARN Act was passed by a Democratic controlled Congress with sufficient Republican support and abstention to achieve the 66% super-majority required to overcome President Ronald Reagan 's refusal to sign
1334-608: The first Chuck E. Cheese's , opened in San Jose, California in 1977. The restaurant featured animatronic animals that Bushnell claims were inspired by the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland. The North American theme restaurant chain Medieval Times was actually started on the small island of Mallorca, Spain in the 1970s. Jose Montaner put on his dinner show for years before attracting enough investors to open
1380-451: The food they serve. While food is usually less important than experience, some theme restaurants use food to reinforce their themes. For example, restaurants themed to 1950s America frequently have jukeboxes from that era, but some also limit their menus to hamburgers and french fries, as would have been common at the time. The food at theme restaurants is often common in order to have broad appeal, but may be given colorful names to further
1426-469: The job market. Generally, the WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more employees, not counting those who have worked fewer than six months in the last twelve-month work period, or those who work an average of less than 20 hours a week. Employees entitled to advance notice under the WARN Act include managers, supervisors, hourly wage, and salaried workers. Often, WARN Act problems arise when employers are acquired by other companies. Employees unprotected by
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1472-639: The location of the Monday Night Football halftime show for several years. The weekly series The Sports Reporters was broadcast from the Times Square location every Sunday morning from its opening until its closing, at which point the show moved to ESPN's home base in Bristol, Connecticut . Several of the locations also had radio studios, used by the local ESPN Radio affiliate and leased to other stations on occasion. ESPN Zone hosted
1518-697: The many parks built across the United States and around the world following Disneyland's success. As theming became more popular, the word was applied to other types of attractions, including "theme restaurant" and "themed hotels." David Tallichet took inspiration from Disneyland when he opened his first theme restaurant The Reef in Long Beach, California. His company went on to open dozens of restaurants, with themes ranging from New England fishing villages and French farmhouses to aviation and World War II . Another fan of Disneyland, Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell , integrated food, entertainment, and an arcade into
1564-483: The original idea in 1992, Eisner turned to him to head up Disney Regional Entertainment , the subsidiary that would start up and run the chain. The concept was originally called ESPN Grill when announced in October 1997, with a slate of major city locations scheduled to start with Baltimore , Maryland, in mid-1998 and Chicago in spring 1999. ESPN Grill was renamed on December 29, 1997, to ESPN Zone to connote that there
1610-485: The popular Australian television show Sunrise . Jeff Miller, the 2010 winner in Chicago, broke an ESPN Zone record and also unofficially broke the Guinness World Record by watching 72 hours of non-stop sports and his third win in the competition. Theme restaurant Most restaurants have an inherent “theme” based on the origin or type of cuisine served. Many restaurants have a distinct style of decor, and create
1656-438: The popularity of nostalgia by using theming to immerse guests in their favorite programs and movies. Many theme restaurants create environments that are considered exotic because they are largely inaccessible to much of the public (such as rainforests and remote tropical islands), or no longer exist (because they are set in a past time period). However, some use subjects that are supernatural or taboo, and thus controversial. From
1702-620: The project was not immediately given the green light. Levitt exited Disney for the CEO post at Hard Rock Cafe International. The ESPN Club sports bar, at Walt Disney World with 13,000 square feet of TV screens, was a modest attempt that came from those discussions, and drew enough attendance as a proof of concept. The restaurant opened on July 1, 1996, at the BoardWalk entertainment complex. A similar project, Sports Center USA, led by Lynda O'Dea working with ABC Sports , attempted to get started in
1748-531: The restaurants in 2010, they sold the rights to operate the location in Anaheim to Zone Enterprises of Anaheim, another Disney subsidiary, and the L.A. Live location to Anschutz Entertainment Group , which owns the L.A. Live complex. Employees at the Baltimore ESPN Zone filed a class action lawsuit against Disney and its local subsidiary after the 2010 closing, claiming that Disney had violated
1794-586: The same time, another archetypal bar, Trader Vic's , was created by Victor Bergeron in Oakland, California. Tiki culture became very popular in 1950s America, and Polynesian themed restaurants had spread to London by the early 1960s, and further into Europe and Asia by the 1970s. Though not the first theme park , the opening of Disneyland in 1955 popularized the idea of an amusement park combining multiple named areas (“lands”) with different themes. The term "theme park" came into use circa 1960, likely to describe
1840-414: The state. Connecticut requires employers to maintain health insurance for a certain period of time following the relocation of operations. Kansas requires the notification of state officials when businesses plan to close facilities or significantly cut production in select industries. Maryland, Michigan and Minnesota have statutes that ask employers to voluntarily provide advance notice to workers in
1886-478: The theme. For example, the Planet Hollywood in London offers specialty cocktails named after movies. In some cases, customers may visit a theme restaurant only to shop or be entertained, without intending to eat. Theme restaurants have the potential for high profits in a relatively short period of time, in part by selling merchandise. Irish pubs and other similar ethnic restaurants that originated in
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1932-658: The very beginning, restaurants in Paris, New York and San Francisco attracted bohemian artists and writers with themes including assassination, imprisonment, death, and hell. More recently, the Modern Toilet Restaurant chain in Asia, and the similar but short-lived Magic Restroom Café in California offered diners the opportunity not only to sit on toilets while dining, but to also be served dishes in miniature toilet bowls. The Alcatraz E.R. restaurant in Japan used
1978-713: Was Cafe 50's created by Craig Martin. In 1983 he opened Cafe 50's in Venice Beach, then Sherman Oaks, Hermosa Beach and lastly West LA, which is still open. California But by the late 1990s, dozens of theme restaurants closed, including entire chains, as the market became saturated and the novelty wore off. Today, though smaller than at its peak, the industry has rebounded, in part as Millennials turn to themed restaurants for dining entertainment. The popularity of social media platforms like Instagram has pushed restaurants to theme their physical spaces to inspire photographers. Temporary pop-up restaurants and bars are capitalizing on
2024-473: Was largely a response to the growing usage of the automobile, as the buildings themselves became advertisements aimed at passing motorists. Beginning in the 1920s, a number of novelty architecture buildings were constructed in and around Hollywood, including the famous Brown Derby restaurants and Bulldog Cafe. Restaurants such as Clifton's Cafeteria also started playing with grand decorations based on non-traditional "kitschy" themes, and movies helped fuel
2070-992: Was more to the venue. The first ESPN Zone opened in Baltimore , Maryland, on July 11, 1998, in the Power Plant on the Inner Harbor . The Chicago location opened on July 10, 1999, in the North Bridge development where DisneyQuest , a fellow Disney Regional chain, opened a month earlier. After the Chicago location opening, there was to be a new location every three months. In 2009, Disney Regional Entertainment closed two ESPN Zone locations. A restaurant in Denver closed in June, and another in Atlanta closed in October of that year. The Atlanta location had opened in 2000, while
2116-491: Was quickly forced to remove. The owner was seemingly unaware of The Holocaust , and claimed only to have wanted a "catchy name." Still, the original restaurant had very little theming beyond the name and logo, apparently limited to a large portrait of Adolf Hitler , and in its current form it would not be considered a theme restaurant. Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (the "WARN Act")
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