12 Theme Restaurants That Defined The '90s

Going out to eat at a restaurant with friends and family has always been a fun thing to look forward to, whether it's on weekdays or weekends. But in the 1990s, themed establishments made heading to your favorite eatery a full-on event. These eateries embodied the incredible pop culture pulse of those times perfectly. For those of us who grew up with these magical, over-the-top locales embedded in our brains, the themed restaurants that rocked the scene in the '90s were larger than life.

It was the decade filled with grunge and garage bands, Backstreet Boys and Britney, and waiting for that dial-up internet to finally connect. Michael Jordan was converting us all to the Chicago Bulls, and Reebok Pump sneakers were flying off the shelves. And movies? Who could forget "Jurassic Park" and its roaring animatronics that just blew our minds? We liked everything big and buzzy back then, and restaurants took that knowledge and ran with it.

From celebrity-backed dining to indoor rainforests, and even dinner with a side of medieval jousting, we ate at completely off-the-hook eateries that were total Instagram gold before social media was even a thing. We've already covered the best theme restaurants in every state, but let's look back on 12 theme restaurants that defined the '90s.

Before the concept became a cliche at which some foodies roll their eyes, celebrity-backed eateries were a big win for restaurateurs. Many of us today might see a press release teasing yet another mega-star-backed dining experience and groan that celebrities really need to stop opening restaurants. But back in the day, before the dining scene was oversaturated with vanity projects from Hollywood's elite, we were fully on board with celebrity-backed eateries. Case in point: Planet Hollywood.

The movie-themed restaurant chain launched in New York City in the early 1990s, and the list of celebrities backing it reads like a who's who of Hollywood royalty. Think Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Whoopi Goldberg. The idea was simple, but super original at that time. A menu filled with casual food favorites (such as burgers and fries) was paired with an atmosphere laden with authentic Hollywood memorabilia, including real movie props.

That alone would've likely been enough to pique interest, but when a host of celebs stacked their support behind the brand, that star power sent Planet Hollywood's popularity into the stratosphere. During the height of its 1990s heyday, this buzzy eatery had more than 60 locales across the U.S. and beyond, but that number has dwindled drastically, with only three Planet Hollywood locations left in Florida, New York, and Qatar.

"It's a jungle out there!" Many of us have likely used this phrase jokingly (like while navigating the mob of sales shoppers on Black Friday, for instance). But for one 1990s theme restaurant, the description really hit the nail on the head. We are talking about the Rainforest Cafe, a theme restaurant endeavor that transformed many a local shopping mall circa 1990-something into what felt like an actual tropical locale.

And when we say themed, we are not exaggerating. Rainforest Cafe went all out to create an atmosphere where diners felt like they were dining in the middle of a rainforest (with periodic rain-free thunderstorms to boot). There were animatronic apes, elaborate fish tanks, and even simulated lightning bolts. Sensory overload? Perhaps. But the 1990s were all about going big, loud, and bold, so this theme slapped.

The restaurant launched its original location at Minnesota's Mall of America in the mid-1990s and was an instant hit with the public. Before that, the whole concept started as a prototype inside the founder's own home. During its heyday, the restaurant had 45 locations across the globe and was the go-to for exciting birthday parties and kid-friendly nights out. Sadly, we have watched one after another Rainforest Cafe location close over the years, with few remaining today.

Hard Rock Cafe first opened its doors in the early 1970s as a single London locale, but it wasn't until the '90s that it hit the top of its success. At its height in the 1990s, diners could find a Hard Rock Cafe in multiple corners of the globe, from Los Angeles to Paris to Shanghai. Each branch of the buzzy themed eatery was chock-full of rock music memorabilia, including actual guitars and clothes worn and donated by rock legends themselves.

Rock icons Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend were the first stars to kick off this now-famed memorabilia tradition. And the rest? History, which literally began lining the walls with artifacts from other members of music royalty. Back in the 1990s, before social media made snapshots and TikToks the currency of "I was here" commemorations, it was physical souvenirs that proved you truly had been to these brilliant places.

Hard Rock Cafe keenly tapped into that trend, making sure printed tees with its logo and more were ready for purchase onsite after you dined on your burgers and fries. It even became a symbol of status (or at least bragging rights). The more cities you visited, the more Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts you could add to your collection. While it may not be quite as culturally significant today, Hard Rock Cafe is still pulling in star power, even bringing Lionel Messi to launch new menu offerings in 2023.

Long before "Vikings" or "Last Kingdom" used swoon-worthy, sword-wielding leads to immerse audiences in the medieval era, there was a 1990s theme restaurant that leaned into the excitement of it all. Medieval Times was (and is) an interactive dining experience that turned a meal into an utterly spectacular, sensory overload of a dinner show. And we ate it right up.

The dinner theater show was based on historical happenings in the Medieval Age, combining hearty fare with actual live jousting. While the theme restaurant chain first opened in Kissimmee, Florida, in the 1980s, it wasn't until the '90s that Medieval Times really hit its stride. Kids and parents flocked to feast on dishes like rotisserie chicken and soup ladled into ancient-looking bowls, while watching a show that allowed them to cheer and sneer with gusto like true pre-chivalry peanut galleries should!

Booing and clapping while knights on horseback rushed at one another with lances, and gazing up as falcons swooped through the air, was all par for the course here. With a presence still in the U.S. and Canada, the unique themed locale is said to have welcomed over 72 million diners, and counting. Medieval Times is a core memory of the 1990s, and a delicious spectacle indeed.

ESPN Zone was a 1990s sports fan's dream. This sports-themed restaurant, launched by Disney under the ESPN umbrella, was essentially an arcade for stat-loving adults, where you could do everything from play games to catch live sports on a wall of TVs, and even "score" some incredible eats, all in one locale. Basically, a jock-friendly Chuck E. Cheese for adults, but with far better food choices. In fact, to call it just a restaurant isn't really fair. ESPN Zone was more of a full-on entertainment complex, with full-service restaurants serving the likes of chicken tenders, steak, and maple-glazed salmon.

To give you an idea, the Times Square location clocked in at a sprawling 42,000 square feet, spread across three floors. Diners could avail themselves of everything from luxury viewing rooms to interactive athletic games and over 200 TV screens. There were even screens in restrooms, lest you miss a single second of your precious football game. At this NYC locale specifically, which featured live ESPN filming, fans could actually smash a burger and fries while sitting just a few strides away from broadcasting sets for the likes of "SportsCenter."

While NYC caught the buzz for obvious reasons, locations were spread far and wide, including branches in Chicago, Las Vegas, Baltimore, and beyond. Sadly, by 2018, the last ESPN Zone closed, and this 1990s theme restaurant disappeared for good.

Among the most unique and strange of the old-school restaurants in the 1990s was the theme restaurant Mars 2112. If ESPN Zone was for the sports fanatic, then Mars 2112 was for all the sci-fi nerds navigating life in the 1990s. Open from 1998 to 2012 in NYC's iconic Times Square, this themed restaurant was big in size (33,000 square feet, to be exact). It was also a big win with fans.

Its instant success had a lot to do with its sheer spectacle. Marketing promised visiting diners a super galactic escape to the Red Planet itself. Diners accessed the space via an entrance that mimicked a spaceport, then proceeded to board an actually vibrating shuttle simulator. After being shaken up a bit (gotta make it feel real, after all), doors opened to deposit diners into a dining room dubbed the Crystal Crater.

The over-the-top scene was a culmination of all we'd dream a cavernous Mars-scape would be, complete with glowing stalactites, bubbling lava pools, and more. There were even "alien" servers and Martians wandering about, all more than happy to pose for a souvenir pic. The food was the same, pretty overpriced touristy-type stuff you'd expect (think mozzarella sticks just this shy of a million bucks — or so it felt like when the bill came), but the experience itself? That was pretty priceless.

After the huge success of Planet Hollywood, the Official All-Star Cafe took that same celeb-packed premise and flipped the script. Instead of a Hollywood movie-themed motif, this themed restaurant catered to sports-obsessed diners. The ingenious endeavor seemed like a total slam dunk, and sports celebs lined up to get a piece of the pie. Among the athletes who lent their star power (and vast fan followings) to the restaurant were names like Shaquille O'Neal, Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Andre Agassi, Ken Griffey Jr., and Monica Seles.

Like many others on this list, the inaugural location of Official All-Star Cafe sprang up in Times Square. It not only offered diners a meal but also a massive collection of TV screens and a significant amount of sports memorabilia.

If catching the latest game on a big screen while chowing down on tasty burgers and wings sounds like your idea of a good time, you are not alone, which explains why the cafe thrived — at least in its early days. Just like Planet Hollywood, the cafe leaned hard into schlepping its merch, poising itself as a vacation destination and must-visit stop when heading to any number of locales, like Las Vegas, Cancun, Orlando, and more. Sadly, the Official All-Star Cafe lost its game and soon went kaput for good.

In an oversaturated sea of sports and sci-fi themed restaurants storming the scene, Motown Cafe was a welcome outlier that sprinkled in a little music to the mix. This theme restaurant was brought to life by absolute soul music royalty, backed by the Supreme queen Diana Ross herself, with fan support from other stars like The Temptations, The Four Tops, Boyz II Men, and even Queen Latifah.

Opened on New York's 57th Street in the mid-1990s, Motown Cafe married food and storied music history with modern, star-powered style. Case in point? Diana Ross, icon of generations, cut the ribbon at the grand opening, which also doubled as the pre-MTV Video Music Awards.

It worked, for a while. Diners dug the ambience, eating while surrounded by Motown memorabilia, and where, several times an hour, performers would randomly burst into song. The menu, showcasing dishes such as ribs and Southern fried chicken with fun musical titles, also set many tongues wagging. There was even an onsite shop where visitors could snag some merch as a souvenir. While diners have since said "stop!" to Diana's cafe, we will still remember it as a supreme dining experience that fully captured the '90s scene.

Steven Spielberg remains a household name even today, with scores of Hollywood blockbusters under his belt. But in the 1990s, this iconic movie director was really flying high. He had just stormed the movie scene with the dinosaur-sized, massive success of "Jurassic Park," and had also pulled at our heartstrings with the haunting "Schindler's List." And if that wasn't enough, Spielberg still found time to co-found the studio DreamWorks and open his very own submarine-themed restaurant called Dive! with producer Jeffrey Katzenberg.

This bright, neon yellow eyesore launched in 1994 at the mall that is today known as Westfield Century City in Los Angeles. It invited diners to an undersea fantasy rivalling any movie set, including Spielberg's own. Picture dining in an actual submarine-shaped eatery while gazing out at the sky through portholes, or navigating your sub sandwich while sporadic alarms rang out across the restaurant. Just to make the experience as authentic as possible, of course.

That was cool enough, but with stars like Tom Hanks and Henry Winkler occasionally making appearances, it just upped the ante. But just like any novelty, the shine soon wore off. The popularity of Dive! took, well, a dive, and eventually sank for good in the early 2000s.

While NASCAR may not be everyone's cup of tea, it still has quite a fan following. Back in the 1990s, Dale Earnhardt diehards represented a huge piece of the theme restaurant franchise pie. NASCAR Cafe took all the things racing fans adored about their chosen sport and spun it into a dining experience that really drove diners straight to its doors. (Pun intended.)

The initial location of the race-themed restaurant opened in Myrtle Beach in the late 1990s, inviting visitors to dine amid an environment bedecked in racing attire. From walls filled with racing memorabilia to full-size race cars dangling from the ceiling, NASCAR Cafe went full-throttle in embracing its theme.

While more locations popped up thereafter, the cafe just couldn't seem to cross the finish line for long-term success. Somewhere along the line, it ran out of gas. The white flag was officially raised in Myrtle Beach by 2008. It didn't take long for all the other outlets to close shop as well.

While it officially opened in the 1960s, business was really booming at Casa Bonita in the '90s. It is hard to nail down this incredible theme restaurant to just one motif. There were cliff divers literally launching themselves into pools, glam grottoes, puppet shows, magic acts, and costumed performers coming out of the woodwork (or terracotta tiles) seemingly everywhere you looked. This circus of sensory overload all happened while you scarfed down your sopapillas with honey.

For kids, Casa Bonita was truly awesome. For parents, it was equally incredible, giving adults a chance to grab a bite while letting their broods tire themselves out running amok through bridges, tunnels, and caves.

The food itself was not going to win any Michelin stars, but no one seemed to mind much. Everyone was too busy playing or snapping pictures of their pint-sized wards as they ran wild and roved willy-nilly through this proverbial playground. We all knew it was actually a restaurant, serving food, but it was easy to forget that when so much else was going on to distract and delight. Today, it boasts just one location in Colorado, having been purchased by "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone in 2021.

We've talked about how Planet Hollywood spent the '90s catering to movie lovers, and how Hard Rock was strategically built for those wild about rock music in that chosen era. So, what about the style-mavens and catwalk-crazed diners alive and well during that decade? The Fashion Cafe was their answer to a perfectly themed eatery.

Pushed by a glittering gaggle of the most gorgeous supermodels of the day (looking at you, part-owners Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Elle Macpherson), Fashion Cafe was first launched in NYC in 1995. And if you're wondering if they really captured the theme, there was even an actual runway — a snazzy thoroughfare where waiters strutted to and fro. The rooms themselves were also named after the most iconic fashion cities across the globe, menu items crowned with monikers of the most sensational models of the time, and memorabilia nodding to fashion icons filled the space (hello, Madonna's infamous cone bra from Jean Paul Gaultier).

While the restaurant definitely nailed its theme to a tee (there were even trademarked baby tees on sale), times change. Lawsuits that later beleaguered the brand also didn't help. Eventually, Fashion Cafe was no longer à la mode. It closed before the end of the decade.