In the world of fiction, fast-food restaurants are just as common as they are in the real world. Even though many anime fans don’t talk much about these places of business, some of them have stood out so much that they are now seen as important parts of the stories they are in.
Even though most of these fictional restaurants aren’t very interesting, a good number of them have unique features and serve more than one purpose, which makes them interesting places. They can be a place where our favorite characters often go, a place where something important happens in the story, or even a business that the characters themselves run.
Western Restaurant Nekoya – Restaurant To Another World
In the past few years, there have been too many titles in the isekai genre, and many of them have boring or very generic plots. But the anime Restaurant to Another World, which was focused on food, was a nice change from the usual stuff.
This show is about a restaurant called Western Restaurant Nekoya. During the week, it serves regular Japanese people, but on Saturdays, it welcomes people from other planets. It is known for having all kinds of interesting creatures, from dwarves to dragons, and the gates to the other world are guarded by very powerful magic that keeps people with bad intentions from entering the famous restaurant.
Dream Coffee Shop – The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Even though it came out in 2006, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is one of Kyoto Animation’s most famous movies. It has very clear animation and great attention to detail. It’s about a strange high school student named Haruhi Suzumiya and her group of lazy followers, whom she calls the SOS Brigade.
The SOS Brigade members usually meet at Dream Coffee Shop before doing anything special. When brigade members come by, it mostly serves different kinds of drinks, but it is also known for its meal packages with McDonald’s-style designs.
Café Stile – Blend S
Blend S is about a group of people who work at a coffee shop called Café Stile. Maika Sakuranomiya, the main character of this anime, has trouble getting a job at first because when she smiles, she gets a scary look on her face. But her hard work finally pays off when she finds a place that can make good use of her unique condition.
This cafe’s services focus more on the people who work there than on the food. For example, each waitress has to serve customers while keeping her own personality. Maika, for example, is given a sadistic role because her smile gives off a threatening vibe, which is something that people with masochistic tendencies like.
Wagnaria – Working!!
Working!! is a very popular slice-of-life anime with very strange characters. The main character, Souta Takanashi, is a new employee at the family restaurant Wagnaria. One of the waitresses, Popura Taneshima, found her and brought her on board.
This restaurant has regular services, but what makes it stand out are the interesting things that happen there every day. From Aoi Yamada, a manic-depressive klutz, to Hiroomi Souma, an overbearing sadist, the strange relationship between the Wagnaria employees is a constant source of excitement.
Maid Latte – Maid Sama!
Maid Sama! is a popular shoujo romance book that came out in the 2000s. The anime shows the lives of Misaki Ayuzawa, the president of the student council, and Takumi Usui, a blonde foreigner who is her main love interest and is thought to be very attractive. At first, they don’t like each other, but as the story goes on, they start to like each other more.
Misaki works at a cafe called The Maid Latte to support her family. Usui sees her at the restaurant even though she is trying to keep her job a secret. The fact that she works in a maid cafe is very different from the image she has built up so far. Usui decides to keep her secret, but she goes to the cafe often to annoy her on purpose.
Anteiku – Tokyo Ghoul
Ghouls are dangerous creatures in the world of Tokyo Ghoul that eat people. They are strong beings with abilities that are beyond what humans can do. They have an insatiable hunger for human flesh. But because they are afraid of being caught by the police, they hunt in secret and eat their victims without anyone seeing them.
Even though most ghouls tend to go after living people, there was an organization called Anteiku whose job was to find food for ghouls in a less violent way. The group pretended to be a normal cafe, but in reality, they helped ghouls in need by giving them the bodies of people who had killed themselves. They were the main people who helped the main character, Ken Kaneki, in his early days as a ghoul and were his main source of support.
MgRonald’s – The Devil is a Part-Timer!
The Devil is a Part-Timer! is a reverse isekai that shows how a former demon lord and the hero who has to defeat him have a complicated relationship. It’s a story about what would happen if powerful beings from other worlds were taken away from their superhuman abilities and made to live with normal people.
Sadao Maou, former demon lord and now the main character, works at a branch of the MgRonalds fast food chain, which is similar to the real-world McDonald’s Corporation. Because he works so hard at his job, the restaurant gets a lot of screen time, and is where a lot of important things happen in the anime.
Restaurant Yukihira – Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
Restaurant Yukihira is a diner that was first owned by the cooking expert Jichir Yukihira. It is the second anime on this list that has something to do with cooking that isn’t the norm. It is known as a “special-of-the-day” restaurant, which means that the dishes change depending on what day of the week it is.
Before he went to the Ttsuki Culinary Academy, the main character of the show, Sma Yukihira, also worked at the restaurant. It was the first place where Sma showed off his amazing skills. By the end of the series, Sma had taken full ownership of the restaurant. This solidified the restaurant’s reputation as a well-known spot since it had been run by two famous chefs.
Baratie – One Piece
The Baratie is a floating restaurant in the shape of a big ship. It was Vinsmoke Sanji’s home and place of work when he joined the Straw Hat crew early on in One Piece. During the Baratie Arc, a lot was said about this ship, whose crew was mostly made up of people who didn’t fit in at home.
It is owned by Zeff, a strong old man who is willing to help all kinds of customers, no matter how good or bad they are. The ship was where most of Luffy’s fight with the pirate Don Krieg took place, but it’s best known for its connection to Sanji. The Black Leg joined the Straw Hats from the ship, which is why it’s so well-known.
Ichiraku Ramen – Naruto
Naruto is an anime about Shinobi. It has exciting fights between characters who are very strong. Naruto Uzumaki, the main character whose name is in the title, is a very well-known figure, and not just among fans of the show. He is one of the most well-known characters in the medium as a whole.
Ichiraku Ramen is a restaurant that shows up more than once in the series. Naruto has been going there since he was a child, and he is still one of their most loyal customers as an adult. His friendship with them has brought a lot of other people to the famous ramen restaurant, and this trend became clearer after he became Hokage. He has even been in ads for the restaurant, which shows how much the main character with the yellow hair loves his favorite ramen place.
