The restaurant industry has changed dramatically over the last year. These four restaurants never thought their premises would look like this.

Did anyone think that 2020 would be this way?!

Just imagine going back to 2019 in a time machine and telling people that the world would be wearing face masks and that we’d all be keeping six feet apart from one another.

Social distancing is going to be a part of life for the foreseeable future.

For the restaurants of the world, that means changing the layouts of their premises. Some places have achieved this in creative, curious and confusing ways. Look at these four examples:

4. The teddy bear cafe

Yes, a cafe in Paris has sought to make its location look more friendly by filling most of its tables with human-sized teddy bears.

It’s a cute idea, and it really is fun. Of course, being in Paris, it’s kind of hard for anyone in America to visit it right now. Will this idea become popular in US restaurants? If it does, the bears will undoubtedly be bigger and somehow louder and ruder.

3. The mannequin nightmare

This creepy idea comes from Virginia’s Inn at Little Washington. In theory, this makes perfect sense. After all, you want your restaurant to look like business as usual, even when it’s anything but. But being sat around a bunch of mannequins could definitely freak people out.

And if the mannequins weren’t creepy enough, then waiters at the restaurant have to interact with them by pouring them wine and asking them how their evening is and so on.

Any kid (and many adults) that come to this restaurant is going to be having nightmares! Someone get this place some cute teddy bears, pronto!

2. The human lampshades

Why stuff your restaurant with seat filling props when you can just stick a seethrough lampshade over your guests? That’s what some places have resorted to. The lampshades are mostly cut out at the back, meaning that it’s easy for customers to take a seat and scoot into the protective barrier.

These human lampshades are officially called the Plex’Eat and come from the designer Christophe Gernigon. He’s sold them to a range of restaurants that are looking for social distancing safety measures that fit in with a fine dining aesthetic (yes, more so than giant teddy bears or creepy mannequins.)

According to him, there are some rival products on the market, but those make restaurants look like prison booths.

Anyone who has ever wondered what it’s like to be a pet goldfish will love this idea.

1. Using your noodle

This restaurant not only serves noodles, but it also makes its customers wear them. That’s right, everyone who dines has to put on a hat with three pool noodles sticking out of them on the front/back and to the sides.

The cafe is located in Schwerin, Germany. According to the owner, the customers love the idea of wearing the pool noodle hats.

The restaurant has had to reduce the number of tables from 36 inside and 20 outside to just 12 inside and eight outside. Luckily, this funky idea means that its business is still booming.

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Source: My Modern Met, Eater, CNN, Grub Street, Washingtonian