Karen's Diner is an Australian-American 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 tech ...

. The restaurant is known for advertising a deliberately unpleasant dining experience, and staff are instructed to insult customers throughout their meal. The restaurant's name came 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 white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

'', used to describe an older white woman perceived as entitled or excessively demanding.

History

The chain was established in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, 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 residential, shopping, dining and event precinct located in the Sydney Central Business District. It fills an entire Sydney city block, bounded by George, Liverpool, Pitt and Goulburn Streets, on what was a small hill called ...

. 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 behaviour 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

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

s in the 1950s, and the menu features

hamburgers A hamburger (or simply a burger) consists of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. The patties are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis w ...

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

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

, 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. The chain expanded to New Zealand, opening a restaurant in

Mount Eden Mount Eden is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Z ...

in August 2022. In August 2022, the restaurant drew controversy after a video allegedly showing a staff member at a

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

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 claimed that an investigation had been launched and that stricter training protocols would be introduced in response. In May 2023, Viral Ventures (Australia), a company which owned most of the chain's Australian restaurants, went into liquidation. In July 2023, Viral Ventures NZ also went into liquidation.

References

External links

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

History

See also

References

External links