The older I get, the more I appreciate dining out. Part of that is an increasing willingness to try new cuisines due to having more life experience and becoming bored with traditional choices (you can only order chicken tenders so many times before you feel like you’re wasting the restaurant price tag on home chef level food). And while many mid restaurants can end up having bland menus with standard, non-distinct decor, that won’t be a problem for the upcoming One Piece Cafe in Las Vegas.

The first official One Piece Cafe in America opened its doors to hungry pirates this past weekend on Saturday. Several pictures were uploaded by the staff and by god this is the type of shit I want to see more of when it comes to atmosphere. Half the time you go to some themed restaurant and they have two to three specials revolving around the theme, with perhaps one or two items that match the theme scattered around. Not in this cafe baby. I’m seeing One Piece merch everywhere you damn look from the walls to the ceiling. Not only is the atmosphere thick thanks to the heavy amount of anime art plastered everywhere, but we’ve got some interesting food items that are clearly inspired by the show to back up the aesthetics. I’d love to sail the high seas and travel across the country to snag a bite of that cake myself. However, that’d be a bit of a road trip for a series I still haven’t read or watched. I’m hoping this place performs well enough to stay alive and that more restaurants dedicated to a specific theme or anime crop up, perhaps more local to my area.

For now I guess I’ll have to live with the boba tea place that has a drawing of Naruto on the wall as my “anime-inspired” culinary option. I don’t always (almost never) hope for fast corporate expansion but more restaurants devoted to respecting the series and offering a unique dining experience for fans popping up would make me a happy Snooze. Did you hear about the One Piece Cafe? Would you visit it if you ever went by Las Vegas? Do you want more diners like this to establish themselves, or do you think it's too gimmicky? Put on your straw hat, fuel up for your next journey, and talk with other fans in the comments below!