Kumoricon
Convention Events and Programming => Anime, Manga, and Japanese Media and Culture => Topic started by: Luana-neko on April 18, 2005, 12:13:50 pm
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My boyfriend and I were playing with the idea of starting an anime themed restaurant and were looking for some feedback. The current name idea is Anime Cafe, and it would serve foods commonly seen in animes (so both asian and the usual american stuff like hamburgers, fries, etc). There would be a stage for anime-themed improv, open mic karaoke, and cosplay skits, as well as a Tifa's Bar section. Customers would be encouraged to come in cosplay and there'd be a weekly "Best Customer Cosplay" award, as well as weekly karaoke contests, and monthly cosplay skit contests. There's more stuff we were talking about for it too, but we were curious if anyone thought this would be a popular idea... We're basically trying to make it be sorta like a continuous anime con atmosphere (minus the dealer's room, tho a small anime merchandise type add-on would come later if this worked out well) for those who either cant afford to make it to cons, or those who want more than a few cons a year :P
Also, we were looking for input on what we should have for the waiter uniforms... The waitress uniform would be a catgirl maid style, but we're stuck trying to think of a good common "bishy" style costume. I was thinking maybe a schoolboy/catboy mix... The catboy aspect would match the waitress outfit, but I dunno... It might end up being an original design... Any input is greatly appreciated! But remember, keep it family friendly!
Oh, and the restaurant would probably be in Eugene since we probably wouldn't be able to start it for a couple of years, and by then I'll be in Eugene for grad school.
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You know that feeling you get when you get so excited that you can't breath and you kinda make a weird noise?
That just happened to me.
I think it would be the best thing ever and I would totaly go. ;--; -clings- I think it would be the best thing ever. xD I could be a waitress! Ahaha. -daydreams-
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Hee hee, I would be a horrid waitress usually, I get irritated with people too easily, but even I think I'd enjoy waitressing for this ^_^
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Anything over 30-40 minutes and I wouldn't goto on a regular basis, but I'd definitely check it out time to time.
Also as a cafe/restaurant I'm sure you'd draw locals in for business, regardless if they are anime fans (heck. might convert some ppl).
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it sounds great (wants it to be in portland )
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Also as a cafe/restaurant I'm sure you'd draw locals in for business, regardless if they are anime fans (heck. might convert some ppl).
Yeah, that's the the hope! 'Cuz as large of an anime fanbase as there is in Eugene, it's still nice to not exclude non-anime fans so your income isn't as sporadic due to losing customers every time a con came around and drained everyone's pockets too much ^_~
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I would be there all the time!
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Eeek!! That is awesome!!! Catboy/school boy outfit for the male waiters would be perfect and it should match the waitresses! I wanna work there!! I am moving to Corvallis this summer so I won't be so far away from eugene!! I deffinatly woudl try to come as often as possible!! (as long as gas prices don't get to much higher) maybe I can find people at OSU (where I will be studying, and yes I will remove my osu bumper stickers so I am not shoot by evil duck fans while in eugene) and we could carpool to the friday night cosplay show!! Yeah!! I think this is an awesome idea!
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Talking it out more, it's looking like we might have it in Portland instead... There's more people there, plus it's looking like we'd have to wait until after grad school to do it.
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I would sell all my stuff buy a mobile home and live outside the cafe...not
*wants it to be accesible by MAX or the bus*
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Sounds like a cool idea. I only wonder how much of a market there is for something like that. I mean I have no idea if anime fans are still a rather niche group or if there are TONS of us out there just waiting for an anime cafe to open. Obviously there would need to be something that would draw in the non-otaku as well.
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Sounds like a cool idea. I only wonder how much of a market there is for something like that. I mean I have no idea if anime fans are still a rather niche group or if there are TONS of us out there just waiting for an anime cafe to open. Obviously there would need to be something that would draw in the non-otaku as well.
I agree, that is something I'm wondering as well. Plus cosplay isn't always seen in the best light I think either. Plus, I have to wonder what will it attract people from going to say...starbucks(anime will mainly attract otaku's)? either way, its still sounds interesting and I"ll stop by if I'm ever nearby. curious in what the outfits will be.
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id recommend making the anime cafe merge with a cyber and gamming cafe to attract more people, that would be a pretty booming business imo!!!
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bleh, i just read actual post, i was just going off poll before, didnt know you meant restaurant :oops:
um ya anime restaurant sounds fun, but remember restaurants require 300% money over cost to even make a profit... dont foget to chart the demographic area and trials to make sure you will get business. :)
if you need some help let me know, ive created several business plans, and im in my third year of business admin in college 8)
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or mabe (how do you spell maby ?)with a little used manga store , where people can bring in manga they've read and get iduno points or? and trade for somthing they want with link a new section it would be the anime meeting place of portland (second the max acess with detailed maps how to get there ) and two things people (all kinds) will go there if the people r nice the foods good and not too spendy, from the words after grad school say its gonna be a wile so mabe (?) you could talk to some off beat resutran owner or just see how they do buessness (really i can spell)
and yes i wanna work there too evern if by then i will have a collage degree and could make more $$ other place i STILL WANT TO. :D this is tapping into my child hood dream of a final fantasy theamed amusement park and hotel :cry: ...
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maybe is how you spell it :)
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yes! i become learned (victory for zim!)
oww also the place should have a monthly meal deal where where you get your food and drink for a decent price and it has some kind of anime theam to it
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and lcd monitors playing anime during dinner
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oow anime dinner theater
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all female servers should be dressed as nightelves from world of warcraft, or mithras from ff11 ... what guy wouldnt want to go to that place ? :shock: :shock: :shock:
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O.O That is the best idea that I've heard in a LONG time. ^_^ I'd go every time I was in Portland, which is, saddly, once a year. But, I'm trying to go to school down there. So, maybe it would be more. But, seriously, that would just kick ass if you really opened it!
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Lol, yeah, we're thinking this is at least 3 years off since we want to make sure we plan it out carefully and aren't in school so we can devote all our time to it.
We already were planning on having TVs showing Iron Chef and japanese game shows, but we're hoping that we can play anime as well, we just need to look into the legal aspect of that. We'd need permission from the anime companies to show the licensed animes in public, and I don't know if that costs money. We could possibly show unlicensed, but once again, I need to check the legality of that.
From my experience, cosplay is both something that weirds non-anime people out as well as draws them in. As long as we have a policy that enforces a PG costume rating, then I think it will draw non-anime people in to see all the outfits. In a themed restaurant setting, non-anime people tend to tolerate more out of the norm things because it's part of the setting. Since we're looking at having american, asian, and now mongolian types of food on the menu, we're hoping the food variety and quality will be good enough to draw in non-otakus.
As far as the gaming suggestions, we are planning on having a gaming room with DDR (complete with monthly DDR tournaments ^_~ ) and anime-style fighting arcade games, but we don't want to get as far ahead of us as to have a full out gaming center. Just the restaurant will be enough to start with, and then an added on anime store if we get popular enough.
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theres plenty of anime fans in portland, im sure you will get alot of loyals, plus non anime fans will be curious and come check it out as well :D
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Yeah! If you are having it in Portland in 3 years, I could work there!! I am going to OHSU is two years so that would be niffty! If you need a waitress then, look me up!! Tee hee. Also, it is a really good idea to wait until after school, that way you can save for it and wont have to worry about school while trying to run a business. Depedning where you put it in portland would help draw in more non-otakus also. Like if you want the punkish people who already dress weird and think its a punk gathering to come in, then you shoudl put it where they gather, or maybe in the turisty places (don't know portland very well so I have no idea where these places would be!! :oops: )
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back finally @_@ wow, all the wonderful comments about this XD im also hoping to build Ronime Studios on the back of it, wont have to travel from workplace to workplace >.>
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OMG this is so cool, Luana, I just noticed this thread for the first time and I wanted to say that years ago my sis and I thought about this exact same type of idea, and what it would take to make a biz like that work, ever since we saw a store up in BC on vacation that was called Anime Cafe (it was not, disappointingly, a restaurant at all). At the time anime wasn't nearly so mainstream as it has become now and as it started to get that way... Kumoricon happened instead for us. But wow, yeah, go for it; if it's in Eugene I'd go ALL the time! Hell, if you ever needed extra help I'd LOVE to work there. I really hope you try it, I totally think the community here would support it, what with the college and the anime club and the fact that Eugene is just charmingly odd.
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Hee hee, yeah there's a place near me called the "Anime Salon" and it has absolutely NOTHING to do with anime, as far as I can tell ^_^;; I saw it when I was driving by the other day and was like OMG O.O !!!!! MUST GO!!! And then I went and was majorly disappointed :cry: Judging from the size of the manga and anime selections in Borders, Barnes and Noble, Suncoast, etc, and the fact that anime is showing up so often on the cable channels, we think (and hope) anime's gotten mainstream enough (and even more so in three years if it continues at this rate) that the Cafe should earn its keep ^_^
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:3 Gooo foooor iiiittttt. -glomps-
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I think it would be great :) I'm not sure if Eugene would be big enough to support it though. Either way, I'd stop in if you opened such a restraunt. Since Eugene no longer has a decent arcade you may want to consider some kind of arcade or PC LAN gamming enviroment. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think video games are fairly popular with the Anime crowd and it'd also give you a source of income between food hours.
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Yeah, we've decided to have it in Portland since there's a bigger market there. From what I've seen, Portland should have enough people that it should do well enough just as a restaurant ^_^
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Hey is there going to be an cafe at the Con this year, and what about the mount fujji size thing of Cup O' noodles?
I would love to have a stand that just sold munchies for people in need instead of living off of pocky like I did last year :(
If I had the money I would totaly do it but I don't and I wouldn't know how to go about getting invester for the idea.
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instead of living off of pocky like I did last year
thats not a very good thing to do
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nothing wrong with pocky >.>
a full case in 15 mins.... now those are issues >.> *cough*
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I second the idea about a food stall, but I think this cafe is a little too far in the future to push for a con stall yet....XD (even though I'd love to have a place in the dealer's room to buy ramen or other such things.)
As for the anime cafe, I'd go everyday, and I'd bug you until you let me work for you. An opportunity to cosplay and earn money at the same time? I'm so there! Heh eh. :roll:
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you know when this opens your going to have your pick of top cosplayers to work for you...(did i mention i have first aid and cpr training? :D )
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I DO TOO. I'm red cross certified! :3
And Um. :3 I'm super cute! (haha, th'at a lie!)
Anndd. I'll be a Neko girl. And i'll be like; 'Ah. -sexy pose- I love boys who eat lots!'
:3 -thumbs up- I'll get you lotsa business!
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Are you two trying to suggest we should purposely lodge objects in our throat to lose consciousness, and of course need mouth to mouth? :P
Hmmm, I wonder if it's possible to drown yourself in ramen noodles..... :lol:
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Uh. o--o; I'm not ready to answer that question at this given point in time.
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Lol, I wouldn't be surprised if people really did try and choke themselves just to get CPR from the waitresses or waiters ^_~ Ya never know, fangirls/fanguys can be pretty extreme sometimes...
And yeah, the cafe stall at Kumoricon WOULD be awesome, but we're no where NEAR to the point that we could do that. We could do a thing where once the cafe opens, we have a stall at the dealers room or something that you could place orders at and then they call back to the cafe and have it made and delivered over to the con. Or we could premake it and just keep it warm or something... I dunno, but that's still a ways off ^_^;;
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Lol, I wouldn't be surprised if people really did try and choke themselves just to get CPR from the waitresses or waiters ^_~ Ya never know, fangirls/fanguys can be pretty extreme sometimes...
Two ways I can think of to solve that problem could be either have a sign up saying "Staff does not know CPR" or, if there are compliants about them not knowing it, have another sign that says "Those revived by CPR must leave a minimum of a $20 tip."
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I think a Booth at the dealers room would be really cute. :D Oh. xD
You guys should think about making some kind of mascot. (A cute one!)
I say... 25... o-o; And they had to of washed thier teeth that morning.
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Two ways I can think of to solve that problem could be either have a sign up saying "Staff does not know CPR" or, if there are compliants about them not knowing it, have another sign that says "Those revived by CPR must leave a minimum of a $20 tip."
Lol, I don't think health standards would allow either of those, but one way to dissuade a good portion of cases is have a disclaimer saying mouth to mouth will only be done by a waiter/waitress of the same gender as the customer. Oooo, but then we'd have the yaoi/yuri fans to deal with :shock: Hmmm, this is tricky...
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sounds awsome to me!!!!!!!!!!!!! i would so0o00 work there!!!!!!!! i always liked the idea of being in a uniform while working!! and it would be nice to show my cat-girl goodness during work!!! i like this idea! *runs around insane*