Types of Food That Need An Entire Restaurant Devoted to Them

Here are the single-item spots we could get behind.

Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

As chefs and food critics launch into their lists of “food trends that need to die in 2014,” there’s one fad that shows no signs of simmering down in NYC: the single-concept restaurant. Rice to Riches has been banking on the novelty of only serving rice pudding for a decade and, since opening in the Lower East Side in 2010, The Meatball Shop has opened up three other locations across the city. Now with the recent additions of Empire Biscuit (only biscuits!), The Nugget Spot (just nuggets!) and Potatopia (take a guess!), you may be wondering what’s left. Have we not exhausted the options for one-entrée menus? To be fair, just about, but here are ten more foods that we find deserving of their restaurants.

Ice cream cake

It's time for people to stop trekking to Penn Station for Carvel's Cookie Puss. We need a spot that mixes the wonderfully tacky classics with the refined. Any Top Chef: Just Desserts contestants who care to give this a whirl? The country will love you for it.

Sriracha

If Nutella can have it's own bar in Chicago's Eataly, than Sriracha is clearly entitled to one as well, assuming the factory doesn't shut down. Since we all know that everyone's favorite condiment can be used in tons of ways, the catch of the flagship Sriracha bar would be that the rooster sauce has to be the star. We're talking Sriracha glazed wings, spaghetti with Sriracha sauce and super Sriracha-y Bloody Mary's, basically what you already try to make at home but refined by actual chefs. Not that there has to be one of these on every corner, but come on, if M&M's can have their own mecca in Times Square, so can Sriracha.

Arancini

Why not give those meatballs a run for their money with some scrumptious rice balls? Patrons could get a bucket to go or sit down with a platter smothered in ragu or béchamel. And don't worry about running out of choices: these little bad boys can be stuffed with meat, cheese, nuts and veggies. They can be baked or fried. Heck, there are even dessert balls made with sweet milk-infused risotto complete with jam or chocolate in the middle.

Chili

Sure there are plenty of diners that boast chili-centric menus, but all of their bowls sound pretty much the same: heavy on the beef, beans and spice. There should be a place that caters to a crowd beyond those with the same taste buds as Guy Fieri, mostly because there are so many awesome ways to make chili. You can go healthy with white bean turkey chili topped with avocado and lime or gourmet with venison or weird with goat. Not to mention that everyone loves a chili contest—which is why this imagined chili paradise would have a monthly cook-off open where the prize would include featuring the winning bowl on the menu.

Jell-O

Some people love it and some people hate when their food jiggles, but c'mon, this is an American classic! If you make the spot retro and kitschy enough, and keep it open late enough, people are bound to check it out, even as a novelty. Take a page out of the frozen yogurt book and have a self-serve Jell-O bar to mix and match flavors on top of a menu full of Jello-O cakes, traditional Jell-O molds, Jell-O salads and, obviously, plenty of Jell-O shots.

Bibimbap

Enjoy the social concept of Korean barbeque but getting a little tired of grilling your own meat? Neither are we, but here's a healthier and equally delicious replacement: Bibimbap. There are certainly enough of variations of this dish (a bowl of crisp rice topped with no less than five veggies and proteins and an egg) to sustain restaurant. Chefs can easily fill a menu with a variety of bowls or guests can order a ton of ingredients and sauces for the table and the pick and choose as to what to add to their individual rice bowls.

Souvlaki

Fair enough, Souvlaki GR (that delicious blue and white restaurant on Stanton St.) had the brains to take Greek street food to the actual street in an award-winning food truck, but who is going to check Twitter at 4am on a Saturday to see if it's actually out and about? These kebabs need a permanent establishment! Open shop in Williamsburg or the East Village and the line would be out the door – think Mamoun's Falafel on Macdougal St. circa 2004. Customers can go for pork, lamb or chicken on a stick or put their meats in pita along with Greek French fries and smothered in tzatiki sauce. Or get a platter with souvlaki on rice and a salad on the side, for all you platter-preferring people.

Holiday cookies

No matter country you're from and what holidays you observe, you're probably used to your grandma showering you with cookies that, sadly, only appear once a year. But why save all those delicious sugarcoated, syrup-dipped delicacies it for a celebration? Open a patisserie where you can get gingerbread men, Linzer cookies and Teiglach treats and international delicacies like the Greek honey cookies melomakarona and Czech vanilla crescents year round. The ambiance must always be festive, there should be a variety of hot drinks available, and local grandmas, Omas, and Bubbes may as well run the establishment.

Burritos

The news of the world's first burrito vending machine had some of us gagging, but the announcement of a build-your-own-burrito-bar? That would be delicious. Our imagined concept would somewhere between a Chipotle and a personalized salad assembly line. Start with your choice of tortilla (corn, flour or gluten-free) then add as many vegetables and proteins as your hungry heart desires. Oh, and breakfast burritos must be available all day.

Pancakes

We see you International House of Pancakes with your cliché whipped cream topped stacks (and eggs and breakfast sausage and waffles), but there's the possibility for so much more. When it comes flapjacks, the options are limitless. You can have the blueberry and chocolate chip classics for breakfast, whole-wheat and blue corn based healthy choices for lunch and savory blinis with salmon and caviar for dinner. Not to mention that patrons should always have the option to mix and match in their stacks.