Underground restaurants are fascinating to me. If you don’t know, an underground restaurant is a restaurant without a city license and are usually operated out of someone’s house or apartment. This makes these operations illegal, however enforcement on them must be insanely difficult. One of the most famous underground restaurants is Paladar. This was a restaurant run out of two USC student’s dorm room and became very successful, even having an episode on Munchies done on them. It had originally started as a dinner party for their friends but quickly grew to the point where they had to start charging people to eat with them. I’m not sure how much they actually made from the place but I’m sure it supplemented their income nicely. And with college as expensive as it is now it’s understandable why they wanted to make a little more money on the side. (Not to mention that it is completely punk rock to subvert the state and do what you want to do.)

The menus for underground restaurants can vary wildly. Paladar was more of a fine dining operation, with modern plating and food choices/sizes. But you can also get a simple, homecooked meal from one of these places. Really it just depends on the skill of the chef and the equipment that they have. However don’t expect a wide variety in each specific menu. Because it is such a small menu, most underground restaurants have a prix fixe menu or a fixed menu each week and they only make those courses which usually consist of an appetizer, main course and dessert. This makes it cheaper than eating at a restaurant though. For example, Paladar charged $15 per person to dine with them. That’s the cost of a pizza but instead, you’re getting high quality food that could rival that of any nice restaurant in which you pay $50+.

In my opinion, underground restaurants are a good thing, it brings people closer together than a restaurant ever could. It is more intimate being that it is literally in someone’s house, and therefore conversations come much easier. Most of the time seating is communal so there is the opportunity to meet new people and make new connections. We live in a society that is so lonely and individualistic, and because of this are afflicted with anxiety and depression. I see this as a way to break through the monotony of everyday life and be ACTUALLY social, not stuck behind a keyboard talking to people you never see. And food is the gateway to this, it brings people together, allows people to talk and be social. They subvert the “norms” of restaurants in that any one can do this and charge less money for a better quality meal than most legitimate restaurants can. I’m sure you wouldn’t make a ton of money, but the reputation you could get as a chef could definitely get you places. I’m not saying everyone should go out and start their own restaurant out of their apartment or anything, but I am saying that I see the benefit of some people doing so.