Karen's Diner is an Australian chain of

theme restaurants A theme restaurant is a type of restaurant that uses theming to attract diners by creating a memorable experience. Theme restaurants have a unifying or dominant subject or concept, and utilize architecture, decor, special effects, and other techn ...

. The restaurant advertises a deliberately unpleasant dining experience, and staff are instructed to insult customers throughout their meal. The restaurant's name comes from the internet slang term ''

Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...

'', used to describe an older white woman who is stereotypically rude.

History

The chain was established in Sydney, Australia in 2021 by Aden Levin and James Farrell. It is a theme restaurant based around the concept of an unpleasant dining experience where customers pay for employees to insult them. The restaurant was originally planned to be a six-month

pop-up restaurant A pop-up restaurant is a temporary restaurant. These restaurants often operate from a private home, former factory, existing restaurants or similar space, and during festivals. Various other names have been used to describe the concept of settin ...

World Square World Square is a large shopping centre and urban development in the Sydney Central Business District. /sup> It fills an entire Sydney city block, bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets, on what was a small hill called Brick ...

. The restaurant's concept initially drew a mixed response, raising concerns about whether the environment of mutual insults could expose employees to abuse by customers. The name ''Karen's'' is a reference to the use of the name ''

'' in internet memes to describe a stereotypically rude or entitled middle-aged white woman. Staff are instructed to put on an abrasive persona and comically ridicule customers during their meal. Customers are expected to return this behavior by acting rudely towards the staff. However, customers and staff are prohibited from using insults based on racism, sexism or homophobia. Many of these exchanges include profanity, and people under the age of 16 must be accompanied by adults. Patrons who have ID showing that their name is Karen can receive a free drink. The restaurant is based around American diners in the 1950s, and the menu features

hamburgers A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or c ...

and chicken wings. It became a popular source of content for social media, particularly on platform

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

, as customers posted videos of their interactions with staff. The chain has opened locations in the United Kingdom, the United States, Indonesia, and New Zealand. In August 2022, the restaurant drew controversy after a video allegedly showing a staff member at a

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

location behaving inappropriately went viral on TikTok. In the video, the server makes inappropriate remarks about an underage patron and accuses her father, who was dining with her, of being a pedophile. A spokesperson for the chain said that they were "disappointed" by the behavior and that the incident went against their guidelines.

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.bemorekaren.com/ 2021 establishments in Australia Restaurants established in 2021 Restaurant chains in Australia Theme restaurants Fast-food hamburger restaurants Food and drink companies based in Sydney Diners 2022 controversies

History

See also

References

External links