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Being entertained while eating is nothing new and has been a part of modern culture since the invention of the TV dinner tray. While most of us settle for simply watching the next big streaming series while munching our favorite takeout food, there are some glorious and inventive restaurants that have taken dining entertainment to another level.
The United States is packed with entertaining restaurants from the east coast to the west and Alaska to Mississippi, but the southern states offer some of the best slices of American entertainment around as well as some seriously strange offerings:
- Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner – Tennessee
- The Varsity Downtown – Georgia
- B.E.D – Florida
The Dollywood Parks are about as entertaining as it gets and they offer multiple dinner shows while fans of Americana and the U.S that was will feel right at home at The Varsity Downtown. For something a little strange, how about dinner in bed at one of Florida’s most unique restaurants.
Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner
35 miles southeast of Knoxville lies an adventurous place for something a little different than Orlando’s Magic Kingdom. The Dollywood Parks offer amazing Tennessee vacation packages and are a family-friendly adventure land brought to life by music icon Dolly Parton that offers a little slice of southern hospitality mixed with the glorious fun of a modern-day theme park.
Apart from the rides themselves, the parks are renowned for their stunning and captivating dinner shows that entertain while you eat. There are a few shows on offer but the most popular is Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner that combines equine entertainment with authentic southern food such as rotisserie chicken, hickory-smoked pork, southern biscuits, corn on the cob, and Dolly’s original soup.
The Varsity Downtown
A throwback to another time and place, The Varsity Downtown offers you the chance to experience a little slice of 1950’s American life as one of only a handful of authentic carhops still operating in the states. Drive-in dining might seem a little strange now, but it was one of the most popular ways to eat out in the 1950s and 60s, and this particular restaurant has been operating since 1928.
The two-acre site can accommodate 600 cars in its sprawling car hop and 800 diners inside its genuinely Americana establishment. One of the best features, apart from the novelty of being a drive-in, is the menu which still retains many of the American original classics such as burgers, hot dogs, and authentic shakes.
B.E.D
While not uniquely American but not out of place in Miami, B.E.D does take the lazy dinner to a whole new level. Rather than breakfast in bed, this strange dining experience lets you eat dinner in bed in a relaxing and intimate setting as you gorge on delicious gourmet food while getting as comfortable as possible.
The concept of Beverage, Entertainment, and Dining all in one place is nothing new but a clever take on the concept has allowed executive chef Vitor Cassassola to create some stunning dishes including Chilean surf and turf, cold camembert tempura, and the restaurant’s signature dessert named Cloud 9; an edible pillow!
