(KSWB/KUSI) — The restaurant and business review platform Yelp just released its list of the most outrageous restaurants in the U.S. for 2026, and some of them are truly over-the-top.
1. Aquarium Restaurant in Houston, Texas
In Texas, you can dine among Australian zebra sharks, bluespine unicornfish, and hundreds of fish, all while being basked under the glow of a 150,000-gallon fish tank.
The walls and ceilings of the restaurant are also designed to mimic an underwater grotto, according to Yelp, truly immersing you in an underwater world.
The restaurant has 3.9 out of five stars on Yelp, with 106 reviews. Some Yelp users reported that the restaurant is “perfect for anyone who loves marine life” and “soothing to see the fish while enjoying the food.”
2. The Conche in Leesburg, Va.
This restaurant is perfect for all of the chocolate lovers out there.
The idea for the chocolate-themed restaurant came about when the owner encountered a conche machine, which turns cocoa beans into chocolate, while visiting a chocolate factory in Switzerland.
The restaurant has its own conche machine, where visitors can watch it churn chocolate. It offers sweet options on its menu as well as savory ones.
3. Trailer Park After Dark in San Diego, Calif.
This bar and restaurant in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter is making kitsch nostalgia cool.
The below-ground trailer-park bar really sticks to its theme, serving beer in paper bags and food like tater tots and hot dogs on TV-dinner trays. The trailers are also themed inside, with some paying tribute to the different eras of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.
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One Yelper said about the bar, “the ambiance (that word almost seems too high-brow for this place) is perfect: trailer park chic with an epic soundtrack.”
4. Grand Canyon Caverns Crystal Restaurant in Peach Springs, Ariz.
You can dine 210 feet underground while overlooking a 345-million-year-old cave in a restaurant about an hour from Grand Canyon National Park.
Diners take an elevator down 21 stories for an exclusive dining experience atop a wooden platform that holds four tables.
5. SafeHouse Milwaukee in Milwaukee, Wis.
If you’re a fan of escape rooms and spy movies, then this might be the perfect dining option for you.
Safehouse Milwaukee is a spy-themed restaurant that opened in 1966. Since then, diners can’t get enough of its speakeasy alleyway entrance, secret passwords and hidden doors.
Some reviews on Yelp say the restaurant is the “best experience I’ve ever had at a bar in my entire life” and “a really awesome experience.”
6. BLACKOUT Dining in the Dark in Las Vegas, Nev.
Located right off the Las Vegas Strip, you can use your taste, smell and touch to enjoy a meal.
Diners at BLACKOUT Dining in the Dark, you guessed it, dine while completely in the dark, relying on their other senses.
The restaurant offers a seasonally changing menu, which costs $99.95, plus drinks and gratuity.
Servers are equipped with night-goggles, so no worries about spills. Diners say part of the fun is guessing exactly what you’re eating.
7. Gayle’s Broadway Rose in New York, N.Y.
Fans of dinner and a show are in for a treat at Gayle’s Broadway Rose in New York.
The Manhattan restaurant located in the city’s theater district is reportedly a hotspot for aspiring Broadway stars moonlighting as servers.
Watch as they belt out hit songs and you dine on menu items like roasted salmon and steak frites.
8. The Magic Castle in Hollywood, Calif.
The headquarters of a private club for magicians and magic fans has remained tucked away in a Victorian mansion in the Hollywood Hills since 1963.
While the club is mostly exclusive to members and their guests, you can get a key in by staying at the adjacent Magic Castle Hotel, according to Yelp. You can also try becoming friends with a member or applying for a membership (which requires a member sponsor).
The restaurant features a steakhouse menu with magical entertainment.
9. Double D’s Coffee & Desserts in Asheville, N.C.
Double D’s Coffee & Desserts has taken the concept of food trucks to a whole other level. The establishment serves coffee and treats out of a decommissioned 1963 British red double-decker bus.
The cafe is hard to miss and has become a landmark in the town of Asheville, according to the business’s Yelp page.
10. Casa Bonita in Denver, Colo.
This Denver restaurant is owned by the creators of the hit adult cartoon “South Park.”
The outside of the restaurant is a pink Mission-style building, but inside hides a 52,000-square-foot restaurant filled with an indoor waterfall, pool, puppet shows, tarot card readers and face painters.
The restaurant, which was revamped in 2021, can seat 1,100 diners.
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