Many lovers enjoy exploring new cultures through food. So whether tourists wander the busy streets of Taiwan's night market or sink their teeth into NYC's most iconic sandwich, exploring a new country through its food can be an exciting experience!
However, while budget travelers are keen on living off of cheap eats and street vendors for most of their trip, other travelers love to embark on unique foodie experiences. They thus are on the hunt for restaurants that offer 'off-the-beaten' culinary excursions!
Many travelers are familiar with unique restaurant concepts, like Namibia's restaurant that lets customers dine with giraffes and zebras. However, the world offers tourists a wide array of restaurants that are downright unconventional, unique, and slightly odd. Take a look at these restaurants that are perhaps some of the weirdest experiences tourists may encounter during their travels!
8 The Wieners Circle (Chicago, IL)
- Address: 2622 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614, United States
The Wieners Circle has some of the best Chicago street food in the city, but travelers need a thick skin to order food here. The staff at this famous hot dog stand will playfully hurl insults at customers (all in the name of good fun, of course). The Wieners Circle is so popular, it was even on the Conan O'Brien Show. Don't feel like visiting in person but still want to get yelled at by the staff? Visitors can order their food and get a hurl of insults by ordering online!
7 House Of Wax (Brooklyn, NY)
- Address: 445 Albee Square W #4410, Brooklyn, NY 11201, United States
Travelers who love oddities will enjoy grabbing a drink at the House of Wax in Brooklyn. This bar is a perfect spot for an after-party, featuring a menu of craft beers, wines, cocktails, and shareable appetizers. Customers can also enjoy a drink while staring at a cabinet full of realistic wax human heads and organs. Curious patrons can also check out the wax museum attached to the bar. Travelers who aren't creeped out by the glazed expressions of the wax heads will appreciate how life-like the figures are!
6 Artes Culinarias del Pacaya (Guatemala)
- Address: Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala (contact restaurant for details)
Luxury dining enjoying cocktails inside a grotto cave are unusual dining concepts that have gained attention over the years. On the other hand, cooking pizza using an active volcano is not as well known. Guatemala's Pizza Pacaya lets guests taste freshly cooked pizza baked on lava rocks (which can reach up to 1800 °F or 1000°C)! Pizza Pacaya is not a traditional restaurant with four walls; instead, owner Mario David García Mansilla will take customers to the Pacaya Volcano to enjoy the landscape and the freshly cooked pizza. Reservations are required, which can be done by contacting Mr. Mansilla online, on Whatsapp, or the restaurant's Facebook page.
5 Edivo Vina Winery (Pelješac, Croatia)
- Address: Drače 18 A Drače, Pelješac, 20246, Croatia
The 21st century has made it possible for humans to enjoy their dinner in underwater dining restaurants. However, the Edivo Vina Winery in Croatia uses the ocean for a different purpose: to create fine wine. Located in the Croatian village of Pelješac, the Edivo Vina Winery is the world's first underwater winery (that tourists can actually visit)! The wines aged in the Adriatic Sea at 25 to 30 meters below sea level and stored there for over 700 days. Truthfully, the winery doesn't have an established restaurant, but visitors can enjoy a wine tasting (served with light snacks like shrimps and oysters) at the Edivo Wine Bar.
4 Solar Chicken Thailand (Phetchaburi, Thailand)
- Address: 4X55+X4H, Chong Sakae, Mueang Phetchaburi District, Phetchaburi 76000, Thailand
Meat eaters prepare chicken in many ways, through broiling, baking, frying, grilling, and much more. But in Tambon Chong Sakae, guests can sink their teeth into chicken cooked differently: by the sun's rays! At Solar Chicken Thailand, approximately 1,000 mirrors can cook a single chicken, generating heat up to 312 °C. The savory smell of cooked chicken has attracted hungry customers to this roadside restaurant for over a decade!
3 Equator Line Restaurant (Kayabwe, Uganda)
- Address: Plot 24 Kalagala-Kikutuzi, Kayabwe, Uganda
Uganda's Equator Line Restaurant lets customers dine at two different locations simultaneously! Located in the town of Kayabwe, this restaurant lies in the middle of the equator, which separates the Southern Hemisphere from the Northern Hemisphere. Come for the attraction, stay for the food; the Equator Line Restaurant serves traditional Ugandan food and fast food delights like french fries and pizza.
2 Pfunds Molkerei (Dresden, Germany)
- Address: Bautzner Str. 79, 01099 Dresden, Germany
Dairy lovers will fall in love with Pfunds Molkerei, which was named the 'Most beautiful dairy shop in the world!' Immediately upon entering, guests will awe the 18th-century decor; intricately designed tiles cover every inch of the restaurant. The milk shop sells a wide array of cheeses, wines, pastries, and other dairy products.
1 Labasin Waterfalls Restaurant (San Pablo City, Philippines)
- Address: Villa Escudero Plantations and Resort San Pablo City, 4000, Philippines
Tourists have probably enjoyed dinner overlooking majestic waterfalls like Ontario's iconic Niagara Falls, but diners visiting the Labasin Waterfalls Restaurant in San Pablo City can get a great view of the waterfalls only yards away! This restaurant serves Filipino cuisine buffet-style (known as kamayan).