Many wierd and wonderful gimmicks are employed to attract more customers to restaurants and cafes, but few will have been as terrifying as the newly refurbished "terrorism-themed" restaurant Buns and Guns in Beirut.
The Lebanese capital's cafe scene has been in sharp decline since 2006 due to troubles erupting in the area, however the owner of this novel cafe - situated in a predominantly Hezbollah area of the city - says that his new idea proved to be an instant hit with the locals.
Terrorist sandwiches
Yousef Ibrahim's idea was to make people laugh at the accusations of terrorism within inner city Beirut. Apparently he is laughing all the way to the bank as droves of curious new customers are getting the joke and piling in for terrorism sandwiches.
Ibrahim says: "It attracts customers in an unconventional way. You noticed the moment I opened the restaurant, there was a lot of business."
At Buns and Guns customers are treated to the sound of gunfire, the staff are dressed in camouflage fatigues and although his slogan is « a sandwich can kill you », Ibrahim is only referring to the generous portion sizes (phew!). Replicas of guns and other weaponry are scattered around the sandwich joint and camouflage netting hangs from the ceiling – clearly no expense was spared to make this appear the real deal.
YouTube controversy
B'n'G goers can choose from delights such as the Kalashnikov (a beef burger served on 'terrorist' bread) and the Grenade (grilled chicken and fries). Unsurprisingly, many have taken offence to the controversial theme. YouTube viewers have been debating visciously about the morality of the concept, although one poster pleads: "Will you people keep it down, I'm trying to eat a Kalashnikov."
Novelty restaurants
From the Ukrainian-peasant themed Shinok restaurant in Moscow to the Cultural Revolution cafe in Beijing, the world appears to be fascinated with the novelty restaurant. Indeed, what else would the nouveau-riche of China like more than to splash their cash on pigs intenstines, the likes of which they could have been eating daily back in the 1970s?
Story source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7468729.stm