Lemondrop

Whether Valentine's is a day you love to love or hate, these kooky restaurants make going out anything but ordinary. Better yet, they're destinations unto themselves. In fact, at each of these joints, the food and the sights -- like an in-room thunderstorm that suddenly blows in overhead -- are so spectacular, you won't even need a date.



If you love the Weather Channel
The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco
One of San Fran's most famous bar/restaurants is the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel. Come for the large and evil Lava Bowl cocktails and stay for a stormy Tonga Platter for two. You see, the Hurricane Bar often has inclement weather, as in fake thunderstorms erupting in the kooky lake in the middle of the room. You might wake up in a rum haze the next morning, but rest assured ... it DID actually thunder and lightning in the bar last night. Dude, where's my canoe?

If you secretly have a soft spot for Barbie
Madonna Inn's Gold Rush Steak House, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
There is nothing pinker than the Gold Rush Steak House at the Madonna Inn. The fuchsia-licious interior looks like what might happen if Paris Hilton fell down the rabbit hole on Easter Sunday! Barbie herself walked in the other day on her rubber feet and said, "Now THIS is pink." You sure won't need your rose-colored glasses. Did I mention it's pink? And if your road trip allows, stay the night at the Madonna Inn, whose 110 theme rooms are all unique. Some have waterfalls, others replica moonshine stills and wagon wheel beds. And the steaks are pretty good, too! We like ours, well, pink.

If you like psychics, the supernatural or ghost stories
Séance Lounge at Muriel's, New Orleans, La.
Maybe you've heard restaurant critics talk about atmosphere. Well honey, you haven't begun to experience atmosphere until you've been to this spooky joint, right in the heart of the French Quarter. Once a bordello (of course), the sumptuous crimson brocade either blushes or boasts, depending on your taste, about its 200-year past. While creeping, clawing and cavorting around you are the resident ghosts ... plural! There is so much to explore here -- the main dining room serves classic New Orleans fare, while other nooks include a bar, a balcony, and a candlelit staircase with a table set for the dearly departed that leads to the Séance Lounge. Enter at your own risk, child. And try the alligator hash!

If you have a circus fetish
Teatro Zinzanni, San Francisco
The tagline, "Love, Chaos & Dinner," makes promises that this little show under the big top definitely delivers. February sees the debut of Hearts on Fire, featuring legendary disco diva Thelma Houston! Did you ever watch the movie "Moulin Rouge" and wish you could voulez-vous couchez in that heavy style? At this rowdy, waterfront teatro, you can. If that weren't enough to entice you to this dinner-and-cabaret hybrid that's good for the uber-sexy environment, then the prospect of getting singled out by some circus folk should. Yes, it's interactive. So tame your inner lion, grab your stilts, and get ready to join the show!

If you're into feather boas and drag queens
AsiaSF, San Francisco
Oh, stereotypes, where are you more fun than at AsiaSF? You say tomato, I say terrifically gay San Francisco. And while all the boys in town aren't wild about quiche or your outfit, you will find some femme fatales doing mid-course drag shows at this delicious Asian-fusion restaurant. And girl, you know the food isn't the only fusion up in here! Let the ladies of AsiaSF entertain you as they strut their stuffed stuff on the bar. Do you like it raw? Then order the sashimi. Oh, we could do this all night. That's what s/he said!

If you're into ninjas (or your date is)
Ninja, New York
Step back in time to feudal Japan when danger lurked around every fake bamboo corner and dinner could be deadly --- after all, your server endured several weeks of training to creep just like a real ninja. If you dare enter this thoroughly committed themed restaurant and tap into your own inner assassin, rewards shall be heaped upon you. Like one signature dish that, when the deadly katana-ish sword is removed from the bowl, dry ice therein is activated and begins to smoke. You will be absolutely slayed by your 3-D ninja-tar experience. If the ninjas don't kill you, the bill just might!

If you like "The Sound of Music"
Al Johnson's, Sister Bay, Wis.
Nothing says Valentine's Day like women in traditional Swedish dress serving you lingonberry pancakes ... and goats on the roof. You'll fall in love with Al's the minute you spot the goats atop the grass roof. Just let your eye drift up from the Scandinavian gnome statuary near the door. You'll suddenly realize how not gruff your own Billy is when you watch the wee horned ones chewing their cud. This is where all the cool Milwaukee and Chicago kids come to play, and humans, too.

If you're a Madonna fan
Park Avenue, New York
New York City enjoys four magnificent seasons, so why shouldn't Park Avenue patrons as well? This hot new venue resolves to engage in spring cleaning every year ... and fall, winter and summer, too, as it sheds its seasonal décor for the freshest looks of the equinox. So spring forward and fall back in style as this restaurant reinvents itself four times a year! It's like the Madonna of restaurants, see? Go cozy up at Park Avenue Winter in February before the first thaw brings us Park Avenue Spring. Rinse. Repeat?

If Halloween is your favorite holiday
Magic Time Machine, San Antonio and Dallas, Texas
This was our most fave restaurant when we were deep in the heart. Imagine food being served to you by Tinkerbell! (Hard times in Neverland?) Or a pirate! It's Halloween every day at the Magic Time Machine where pop icons come to life ... and serve you chow. What's better than that? It is SO true that everything's bigger in Texas, and the management really roped themselves a fine calf on this one. Now the house specialty is the Roman Orgy, but this is of the gastronomic variety. So don't get all hot and bothered if you see servers in togas converging on your table. All them cowpokes are gonna do is sing. Y'all friends and countrymen come back now, ya hear?

If you like to disco disco.
supperclub, San Francisco
The only U.S. supperclub at the moment is in San Francisco, so if you want to get your Eurotrash on, you've got to pack your Vuitton trunks and head west. Of course, dahling, you've enjoyed the Turkish delights of supperclub Istanbul. And didn't we see you with Fergie in the Singapore location? Kiss, kiss. This bastion of throbbing V-Day aphrodisiac-centered dining with a dashing dance-club vibe is where all the young jet-setters party. Lie back on fabulous white beds and hold court while racy performances titillate your senses. Mingle with the other, not-quite-as-gorgeous-as-you international kittens. And do be sweet and give the foreign press an interview.

If you're a science geek (with deep pockets)
Alinea, Chicago
Alinea is simply the very best, multi-course, gourmet-tasting menu that you will ever have in your life. Chef/owner Grant Achatz is a molecular gastronomist, meaning he is a mad scientist as well as a masterful chef. You won't just eat the food -- you will pry it off unusual contraptions or watch it thaw from its liquid nitrogen state. Sometimes the courses will smoke, other times they might be served on aroma-emitting pillows, but at no point will you be able to guess what comes next.