Underground restaurant

An underground restaurant, sometimes known as a supper club or closed door restaurant, is an eating establishment operated out of someone's home, generally (though not invariably) bypassing local zoning and health-code regulations. They are, in effect, paying dinner parties. They are usually advertised by word of mouth or guerilla advertising, often on Facebook, and may require references to make a reservation. An underground restaurant is also known as a guestaurant, which is a hybrid between being a guest in a dinner party and a restaurant.

Underground restaurants are popular in Latin America, where they're known as either a paladar or a restaurante de puertas cerradas (closed door restaurant). Depending on local licensing laws, they may or may not be illegal; either way, they've been built into the culture for decades, and often have higher standards than many licensed establishments. They are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.

The attraction of the underground restaurant for the customer is to sample new food, often at low cost outside the traditional restaurant experience, which can be expensive and disappointing—underground restaurants have been described as "anti-restaurants." They also generally provide a more intimate, dinner party style experience. For the host, the benefit is to make some money and experiment with cooking without being required to invest in a restaurant proper. "It's literally like playing restaurant," one host told the San Francisco Chronicle, "You can create the event, and then it's over."

Canadian underground restaurants

• Secret Pickle
• Charlie's Burgers - ranked by Food and Wine Magazine as one of the top three "word of mouth" supper clubs on its list of “100 Best New Food and Drink Experiences in the World”.

United Kingdom underground restaurants

In the UK, Underground Restaurants and Supper Clubs have started to blossom, with reviews in leading newspapers such as The Times and The Guardian. They range across the UK but are mainly concentrated in London.^{[citation needed]}

• Parkholme Supper Club - the first UK charity supperclub, raising money for Médecins Sans Frontières
• The Underground Restaurant

United States underground restaurants

• FRANK (Dallas, TX) - is an underground, private dinner party experience where MasterChef Season 2 finalists Jennie Kelley & Ben Starr host for participants.

Germany underground restaurants

Guerilla-Kochen – the first legalized underground restaurant in Germany. Serving fine menus with selected wines. Accompanied by live music. "

See also

• Speakeasy
• Smokeasy
• Guerrilla Gourmet

References

• FoxNews article on the best Supper Club or Underground dinners in the world, published on January 24th, 2012