I just got back from eating at Lone Star Steakhouse. I've decided that I really don't like theme restaurants. Not that the food isn't good...I mean, it's nothing special, but it's not bad. What I really hate is the whole forced decor and atmosphere. Just because your restaurant has three neon roses and a hanging moose head does NOT make it authentic Texan cuisine. In fact, I don't understand why either of those things are in a restaurant that prides itself on being Texan cuisine in the first place. What is Texan cuisine after all? Bigger steaks than other places? Because my steak was pretty damn small. I'd have to call that very un-Texan, perhaps even North Dakotan or something else far away from Texas. And a moose head? Aren't they from up north? Do they belong there? Maybe the place was owned by an authentic Canadian restaurant beforehand and it was too hard to get the nails out of the moose head. The neon roses make a little sense, because I'm pretty sure there's a song or something about a Texan rose, but still...wouldn't a map or cowboy gear be a little more a propos? I'm not just picking on Lone Star here, the other themers (as I like to call them) are the same way. Outback is one of the worst, it's like every one of them made replicas of the props closet from Crocodile Dundee and glued them to the wall. And I swear I almost walked into the womens room when I was a kid because I didn't know the difference between a "bloke" and a "sheila". There used to be one, I think it went out of business, but it was called Bugaboo Creek. It was a Canadian themer. What the fuck? There were mountie uniforms on the walls, and a big stuffed buffalo head that sang every once in a while. That place deserved to shut down. I'll get my fix of Canadian food from an egg mcmuffin, thanks.