You can expect good food, good fun and a dining experience like you've never had before. Let us know if it's your birthday, if your name is Karen and for the love of Karen don't ask to speak to the manager.... the website says. Photos: Carola Frentzen/dpa
From the moment you enter Karen's Diner, it feels a little different.
"Do you have a reservation?" a waitress asks crossly.
The group of guests reply that yes, they do.
"Well in that case you can wait for a bit."Eventually she comes back, indicates with a jerk of her head that the guests should follow, then flings over a couple of menus that slide off the table and onto the floor. The guests pick them up and dust them off.
Welcome to Karen's Diner, located in the World Square shopping centre in the heart of Sydney's Central Business District (CBD).
The spirit is emblazoned on the restaurant's pink-green façade: "Great food, terrible service", while the establishment's rules are made unmistakably clear on another sign: "Sit down and shut up."From the moment you enter Karen's Diner, it feels a little different.
The regulations are enforced by the staff, who are famously snotty. Also on the menu: trivia games guests can only lose.
But who is Karen anyway? The name came to represent a certain kind of woman in the United States who is irritating and entitled, demanding to speak to the boss of any establishment no matter how absurd the situation.
The stereotype Karen is a white woman with a short blonde bob.
Now, anyone who has ever wanted to live out that meme is welcome to do so at this Sydney diner, where the waiters and waitresses are rude, and expect you to come back at them with your very best version of Karen.
Little accessories are placed on the tables so visitors can make themselves look like a typical Karen.
"At Karen's you will be greeted and waited upon by rude waiters who in return are expecting you to give it full Karen. A place where you can complain until the cows come home because we literally don't care," the restaurant's website warns.
The original Karen's Diner opened in Sydney last year and now there are plans to take the chain nationwide, if not worldwide, following the resounding success of the idea.
There are already branches in Melbourne, Brisbane and Gold Coast, and recently a second diner opened in Sydney, while Britain boasts restaurants in Sheffield and Manchester.
Further locations are planned in the US, Canada and New Zealand, the website says.
Mockery comes with the territory, with service staff publicly commenting on the age, eating habits, hair and clothing of patrons.
When an Asian woman orders the vegan burger rather than beef or chicken, a waiter grabs a microphone, points and says, "We have a vegan in the house! Boo!"
A chorus of boos meets the announcement followed by a surge of laughter.
The waiting staff are as quick and witty as actors and comedians at this interactive 1950s-style burger joint whose aim is above all fun.
The chain itself calls it an "absurdly funny experience" and is popular for birthdays and bachelor parties.
There is no shortage of rudeness, abuse and slander, including colourful language. Not for nothing are minors warned to stay away or come in the company of an adult. Anyone thin-skinned may be in for a hard night.
The prospects are more promising for those who are really called Karen, who can get a free drink if they bring an ID.
The situation is tougher for anyone else who dares to ask for anything. Even ketchup or salt.
"Now you're telling me? Couldn't you have thought about that before?" a waitress says, rolling her eyes.
"It was an interesting evening," said a patron from Sydney as he was leaving.
"It lived up to its advertising: the staff were obnoxious, they put on a fun show and the burger was tasty."
Others are less enthused and the issue was discussed at length after the diner opened.
"Why would you want to eat at a restaurant with a negative atmosphere, this is just not for me," one user wrote on social media.
"What a complete waste of money. There must be something seriously wrong with people if they pay good money to be intentionally insulted," another said.
The evening ends as rudely as it began. Later on, a waiter grabs the mike.
"Pay up your bill!" he says. "And then get out of here!" – dpa
