12 Wild and Wacky-Shaped Restaurants From the Past

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For the most part, we expect restaurants to pretty much look the same. Whether it’s upscale or fast food, we know there will be tables, chairs, and a staff ready to take our order. The shape of the building usually doesn’t hold much interest for us. Sure, as kids we probably kept an eye out for playgrounds attached to our favorite eating places, but we all tend to grow out of that. Back in the 1920s and ‘30s, however, there was so much more than just a jungle gym that helped make eateries more interesting on the outside. 

Apparently, restaurant owners back in the day decided the best way to entice customers to pull up to their establishments was to make them look as wacky or fascinating as possible — and several of them really stretched that creativity as far as they could go. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to enjoy a hamburger inside a giant replica bulldog? Or perhaps dig into a hearty bowl of chili while sitting inside an enlarged copy of said bowl? And we can’t forget about the famous chain of Brown Derby restaurants which were, in fact, in the shape of that particular type of hat. 

Sadly, most of these types of establishments seem to have gone away over time. That doesn’t have to stop us from taking a look back at all the nostalgic photos shown below, though. Take a look to see some of the most interestingly shaped restaurants folks enjoyed dining at back in the day!