Exciting Eateries

The Airplane Restaurant

Location: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Theme: Aviation

Established in May 2002 by owner Steve Kanatzar, The Airplane Restaurant transforms a 1953 Air Force plane into a place to dine. So strap yourself into a seat on this Boeing KC-97 tanker, where waiters dressed as flight attendants will serve you such dishes as "Flying Chicken Florentine" and "Air Tower Nachos."

The actual airplane itself seats 42, and an attached restaurant holds 275 other people. If you're not lucky enough to dine inside the aircraft, don't worry. Its engine and one of its wings are in the restaurant, decorated with over 100 photos and memorabilia from the long history of American aviation. The restaurant is 15 miles southeast of the Air Force Academy.

Conflict Kitchen

Location: Pittsburgh

Theme: Politics

If you love foreign food and geopolitical aggression, then Pittsburgh's Conflict Kitchen is the place for you. Diners express their views on matters of world politics, while feasting upon the cuisine of those countries with which the U.S. is currently embroiled in tension.

The kitchen changes its menu and exterior every few months, in order to keep up with present political events. It accompanies each new menu with such events as discussions, performances and speeches so diners can learn about the culture in these areas of discord.

Co-owner Dawn Weleski told CNBC that the restaurant is currently serving Venezuelan cuisine and has also served food from such hot spots as Afghanistan, Iran, Cuba and North Korea.

The Duce

Location: Phoenix

Theme: Prohibition Era

Inspired by the underground nightlife of Prohibition-era Arizona, The Duce recreates a historic 1928 warehouse. Its name derives from the police of the era, who referred to the warehouse that would transform into a party spot at night as "the deuce."

The restaurant is equipped with a full gym and boxing ring and offers personal training and fitness classes for those who want to get in a workout before dinner. It also has a full bar, kitchen, recreation center, shopping center and a 1915 Chicago-inspired soda fountain.

Owner Steve Rosenstein describes the food to CNBC as consisting of "forgotten recipes," such as the Mac N' Cheese muffins, cooked from scratch in the restaurant's 1965 trailer.

Tommy Guns Garage

Location: Chicago

Theme: Roaring '20s

Chicago's Tommy Guns Garage transports guests to the Roaring '20s through a three-hour-long dining experience that allows them to embrace their inner Al Capones. The restaurant is loaded with 1920s memorabilia, music and a 1928 Model "A" Ford. The check may even be brought out to you written on a napkin or the back of a betting slip.

According to director Chris Adams, diners give a password to the host "gangster" upon arrival. The restaurant then puts on an interactive dinner show that includes performances from flappers and gangsters, followed by a police raid in which audience members are subjected to sobriety tests. Adams told CNBC.com the re-enactment of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre is the most popular performance theme.

The Stinking Rose

Location: Beverly Hills and San Francisco

Theme: Garlic

San Francisco's Stinking Rose incorporates garlic into almost every item on the menu, which explains the slogan, "We season our garlic with food." The world's largest garlic braid along with 2,635 other garlic bulbs decorate the ceiling, helping it live up to its name.

The restaurant takes garlic to new places by including it in dessert items, such as Gilroy's Famous Garlic Ice Cream. According to co-owner Jerry Dal Bozzo, the Bagna Calda ("garlic soaking in a hot tub") is one of the most popular items on the menu. He also told CNBC.com that the staff takes the garlic out of dishes upon request, transforming it into what he refers to as "Dracula's food."

The Viking Yurt

Location: Park City, Utah

Theme: Nomadic Tribe

If you're up for some adventure and a six-course Norwegian-inspired meal, head to the Viking Yurt in Park City, Utah. This dining excursion starts with a 23-minute sleigh ride up 1,840 feet of snowy mountain to the eating destination, a portable tent-like shelter known to ancient Mongolian nomadic tribes as a yurt.

Located at the Park City Mountain Resort in Utah, the Viking Yurt is only open from December to March, when the mountain is most covered in snow.

Lamberts Cafe

Location: Several Locations

Theme: "Throwed Rolls"

All the bread you can eat, if you can catch it. Lamberts Cafe is famous for throwing rolls of fresh bread at its diners. It's also known for its Southern cooking. According to its website, the restaurant cooked 253,980 pounds of chicken last year and 2,246,400 individual rolls.

Owner Mike Church appeared on the Travel Channel in 2010, where he explained that the signature roll-throwing was inspired in 1976 by original owner Norm Lambert, who couldn't reach a costumer to hand him a roll. He tossed it, and a tradition was born.

The original Lambert's Cafe is located in Sikeston, Missouri. It now has two other locations—in Ozark, Missouri, and Foley, Alabama.

The Terrific Trough

Location: Overland Park, Kansas

Theme: Working Ranch

Owners Frieda and Frank Weatherly converted the family business from feeding and raising cattle to feeding people in 1995.

The charm of this unique restaurant is the family style all you can eat buffet. We serve soups, stews and savory chili. Customers are given a large serving spoon and are welcome to sit at any of sixteen serving stations and dig in. Souvenir commemorative spoons as well as embroidered napkins are available for sale at the extensive gift shop.

Trailer Park Lounge

Location: New York
Theme: Trailer Park

If you're officially over New York's high-end, fast-paced lifestyle, just make your way to the city's Chelsea neighborhood. This is where you'll find the Trailer Park Lounge, which pays tribute to a lifestyle far removed from that of most hardened New Yorkers.

Part of an actual trailer is mounted on the wall, but that's subtle compared to the rest of the kitschy decor, which includes a mannequin in a beer-filled bathtub, walls covered with Elvis memorabilia and decorations out of the type of bargain store that Dolly Parton sang about.

Tiki Tony's Tin

Location: Analoa, Kauai

Theme: In-a-Can

If it comes in a tin or can Tony will serve it with a smile. An island staple Tiki Tony has been feeding residents and tourists alike for thirty-two years.

People stand on line for up to an hour for the tuna, spam and sardine specials. One Tuesday a month Tony serves a fruit cocktail and marshmallow dish that several patrons say is "to live for."

You can also get your tiki fix here, sit at a bamboo bar near artificial palm trees and drink malana mai tais and margaritas with such names as Marge.

LIPS

Location: New York
Theme: Drag Queens

If your idea of a perfect meal includes getting a lap dance from a drag queen, then LIPS is the place for you. Every Tuesday to Sunday in New York City, diners experience such drag spectacles as "Bitchy Bingo" and "Blackie O Nasty's Retrotastic 80's Drag Revue."

LIPS is a frequent party spot for brides-to-be and will even help you celebrate a divorce, according to owner Edward Lafaye. He told CNBC.com that one of the restaurant's most popular performances is Ginger Snaps Broadway Brunch, which features a drag twist on Broadway show tunes. LIPS is also known for alcohol.

"We always remind our guests to drink up, because the more your drink the better we look," Lafaye said.

The Dessert Desert

Location: Guymon, Oklahoma

Theme: Gooey Goodies

You wouldn't expect to find a world class pasty restaurant in this small town but here in the heart of the old dust bowl Susan Ansperger has a hit.

Susan says, "People come from miles around to buy my goodies. We use nothing but the freshest ingredients starting with organic grain fed chickens for the best eggs and natural cows for milk. Our custard is world class and people just love my fresh apple pie."

The Dessert Desert also serves burritos and cupcakes with pulled pork and gravy for breakfast and fresh deli sandwiches for lunch.

Fashionable Floors

Location: Boston

Theme: No Furniture

Tim and his partner in life and business Conswaylow came up with the idea after they moved into their first apartment.

Tim says, "We were broke, trying to get the business started and had little money to spare. Our place was pretty spartan. Con and I were sitting on the floor having dinner when a light bulb went off over my head. We'll put tarps down and feed people off butcher block paper."

Con adds, "It's a fun and causal place. We specialize in finger type foods. We save a ton on maintenance and at the end of the day have very few dishes to wash."

Hoping to cash in on the recent explosion of Zombie related excitement the soon to open Zombie-O-Rama in Hollywood is expecting to do a brisk, if somewhat shuffling business. 

"We will have our wait-staff dressed like authentic zombies. The make up will be done on site by artists in the business," owner Ted Dieter told the LA Times. "Our executive chef has developed several specialty rib dishes and is currently working on a palatable way to serve brains."

The Grand Opening is scheduled for the Thanksgiving week-end.