I am looking to visit yet unknown rest. that incorporate a unique gimmick in the experience, such as Dick's Last Resort (rude service)and The Hungry Farmer (pouring coffee into back pocket). If you have info. regarding this type of restaurant, can you give me ALL info. possible that I may visit as my nationwide travel continues.

Jim,

There is a restaurant just south of Fairbanks, AK. known as Skinny Dicks Halfway Inn. I'm not sure if this helps or not. I've never eaten there fearing that there might be something other than mayonaise on my bun.

illiterat

Jim. Try Lucky Chang in NYC.All transvestite servers in chinese rest. Travelman

Jim -- is this for an article or book of some sort? If so, I'm sure people will gladly help you. But when I see things from this forum published as if the writer had done all the research himself, it bothers me particularly if the people quoted thought they were just helping out a fellow traveler, not contributing to the upkeep of a travel writer.

Ed Debevic's in Los Angeles. Their motto is "Eat and get out!"

Check out www.throwedrolls.com for the Lambert's Cafe in Ozark MO for their unique way of delivering bread to your table. Good food too!

illi

Can you tell me the type of attraction that Skinny Dicks Half Way House has that is bizzare?

Stella's Blue Sky Diner in Des Moines will make a great milk shake for you, then pour into your glass from about four feet above it.

There's a diner in Kansas City, Kansas (sorry, can't remember the name) that will deliver your food to your table on a mini-railroad.

For more weird and wacky sights in the USA, check out

www.roadsideamerica.com

Sorry I can't recall the name (but they do advertise in the Village Voice) - there's a restaurant in NYC that has S&M / bondage as the theme. Have fun...

Jack's Outback on the Cape (W.Yarmouth) is not an Aussie gathering place. It's a diner hidden behind a group of buildings (thus the "out back"). He's the rudest, but funniest, breakfast cook I've met.

There once was a french bistro in DC where the wait staff served on roller skates ... just cannot recall the name. Anyone remember?

How about "Bed" in Miami's South Beach, where everyone eats in bed? It's very hot right now, no pun intended.

About 4 years ago my son went on a camping trip with friends in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They ate at a place called the Road Kill Cafe. The waitress was squirting them all with a water pistol, and she made them all carry their dishes into the kitchen at the end of the meal and wash them themselves. He still talks about it. I'm not sure where it is, but I think somewhere in the vicinity of North Conway.

There is a RoadKill Cafe just outside of Salem, MA as well - great fun! The names of the dishes all resemble things you may see on the road along hte way.........

Str8Fwd and All responding: thanks for your help and questions. I do not have another agenda. This is a topic seldom found on this forum and please leave it alone. Small town restaurants and the big city restaurants (that are generally known) all qualify in this forum. These restaurants (for me) beat the heck out of chains, the usual, good and great usual finds and they are ones that are discussed for decades. Have mercy!

The Elbow Room is a tiny restaurant in Vancouver, best for breakfast. Snarly service by gay waiters who tell you to "get your own f------ coffee!". It is all done tongue in cheek and is a lot of fun.

Paul, thanks for the Roadsideamerica.com site. I am still digesting it. I do recomend it for a look at attractions off the regular path. Does anyone else have a site or book that would be helpful in my search for a restaurant with a service gimmick or different premise?

I've been to Twins in NYC were all the staff are twins. Very interesting experience.

Not in the USA, but this one is pretty strange. Go to chicagotribune.com travel section and read the article entitled "the blind leading the blind" about a restaurant in Zurich called the Blind Cow. I think it would be an enlightening <pun intended> experience to dine there.

Thanks very much for that article! I would also try this restaurant, but with some fear and trepidation. Any interested in this topic should see this publication. It's about a restaurant that serves all in complete darkness. It has a serious overtone, but has some funny stories also.