A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

Most people do not associate hospitals with great food, fun or festivities. The owners of Hospitalis, an unusual restaurant in the Latvian capital of Riga, are hoping to change that.

At Hospitalis patrons eat amongst skeletons, hospital gurneys and video screens playing medical clips from various popular movies. The two story restaurant is decorated mostly in an E.R. operating room theme. But if the thought of undergoing surgery isn’t unpleasant enough for you request a table in the restaurant’s faux dental office. There you can enjoy your meal while sitting in a dentist’s chair. (Fortunately, the dental dining area does not include round sinks of swirling water for patrons to spit their food into).

lightgrey A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please


white A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please
lightgrey A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please
white A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

The one medical-related place people might dread going to even more than a dentist’s would be a gynecologist’s office. So, of course, Hospitalis has one of these too. Ah, listening to a live band while eating a meal in a gynecologist’s exam room—now there’s a multi-orifice experience few other restaurants can match!

The food at Hospitalis consists mostly of continental European selections and salads. (We’ve heard of health food but this is ridiculous. Bada bing!) An entree with appetizer and drink will set you back around Ls. 15 (which is about €21 or US$27 or about US$24,973 less than it costs to visit a real hospital in America).

Hospitalis also has a small “crazy menu” with entrees like liver-filled quail that are prepared in such a way as to resemble something that might have been surgically extracted from a person. You have to sign an indemnity waiver before ordering anything from the “crazy menu” (no, that’s not a joke) so here’s to hoping that the liver they fill the quail with isn’t being removed from you.

Though you can order a “normal” meal at Hospitalis be prepared to eat it with syringes, scalpels and other surgical utensils. In that same vein (pun), drinks are served in the likes of test tube vials and I.V. bags. If you are the designated driver but can’t resist getting a drink then ordering a Corona beer in a urine sample jar should ensure that you’ll be sober for the trip home.

Amazingly, Hospitalis is not the world’s only medical themed restaurant. We previously reviewed one in Taipei; there’s another in Singapore. All three were started by former doctors and all have some sort of naughty nurse thing happening (at Hospitalis some of the female wait staff wear rather skimpy nurse’s outfits), which makes us wonder where it is these doctors practiced before getting into the restaurant business.

Hospitalis, however, is the world’s only medical-themed restaurant where diners can volunteer to be strapped into a straight jacket while being spoon fed by the restaurant’s staff. This makes sense to us—you’d have to be crazy to eat here.

updated: 9 Oct 2010
white A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

LEARN MORE | READ | JOIN US ON TWITTER / FACEBOOK |

Related posts:
Taipei’s Raunchy, Oddly Named, Medical Restaurant
Toilet Restaurants Aim For A Crappy Experience
Take A Fantastic Voyage Through The Human Body

While in Riga stay at: The Hotel Bergs

hospitalis m A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hospitalis 1 A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

lightgrey A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please


white A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please
lightgrey A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hospitalis A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

drinks A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hospitalis 21 A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hospitalis 5 A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hosp m 4 A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hospitalis 9 A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hospitalis 6 A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

lightgrey A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please


white A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please
lightgrey A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

hospitalis 8 A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please follow me on pinterest button A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

white A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please

LEARN MORE | FLY THERE | READ | JOIN US ON TWITTER / FACEBOOK

white A Salad and a Straight Jacket, Please


Responses

  1. Riga Guide says:


    Twitter:
    Actually ti’s shut down now (hopefully only temporarily, as concept is super great).
    We have a lot of other amazing places opening all the times, so welcome to Riga any time! 🙂 Check some of them on our website, like this one for example – “Alus Ordenis”, a medieval themed restaurant where everything is simply sending you back in the old times, even people are dressed up like ancient knights: http://woww.it/7y

    [Reply to this comment]

    Spot Cool Travel Stuff Reply:

    Thanks, Riga Guide. If you think of it do drop us a comment when the Hospitalis re-opens.

    ~ SCS

    [Reply to this comment]

Leave a Response

CommentLuv badge

SPOTCOOLSTUFF Travel reviews unusual hotels and restaurants, great attractions, cool travel gear, places with amazing views and all manner of travel destinations with a WOW! factor. Because we live on an incredible planet! Get our latest travel posts by email . . .

    Awesome Curacao vacations — up to $530 off!
    Check out the freebies offered too, including airfare credits, breakfast and room upgrades!

Save $530 Time left:
Book Now!
Offer Closed!



PARTNER WITH US     |     BE OUR GUEST TRAVEL WRITER    |      SUGGEST COOL STUFF FOR US TO REVIEW     |     INFO FOR TOURIST BOARDS

Other SCS SectionsHot Travel CategoriesFave Travel Posts
Cool Tech & GadgetsBest hotel room viewsCaribbeanBest Sandals in Jamaica
Cool Architecture & DesignFamily travelEuropeBest Wheeled Carry-On Luggage
Cool WebsitesHoneymoon resortsFloridaWorld's Coolest Airlines
Cool EntertainmentUnusual museumsSoutheast AsiaThe Honeymoon Resorts of Bora Bora