SpongeBob themed restaurant emulates Bikini Bottom in SP

A link between the children of 20 years ago and those of today is the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants”, released in 1999. Now, young and old can enjoy the character’s universe together, at Bob Esponja – Burguer e Restaurante, a restaurant theme park recently opened in Vila Nova Conceição, in the south of the capital.

The complex, which emulates Bikini Bottom, the underwater city where the cartoon takes place, has fast food, a restaurant, a store and a kids’ area. The ambiance includes jellyfish trapped in the ceiling, tables reminiscent of the Krusty Krab restaurant and even statues of the characters spread across the three floors of the house.

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The latter, in fact, demonstrate the care put into the thematization work. The characters have different sizes, respecting their heights in the drawing. The villain Plankton, for example, is a millimeter-sized creature and his statue may even go unnoticed by restaurant customers, but it exists and is next to the stairs that lead to the third floor.

The crab burger, a classic food from the cartoon, is on the menu in two versions. The mini, in the restaurant, for R$25.90, and the regular one, in fast food, for R$39.90. The restaurant’s chef, Heaven Delhaye, says creating the burger was a challenge. “We wanted to be as faithful as possible to the design. We tested more than 20 recipes until we had a delicious sandwich that was also a reproduction of what you see in the design, even respecting the way it was assembled.”

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The restaurant’s menu also includes common everyday foods, such as breaded chicken (R$51.90) and filet mignon parmigiana with risotto (R$91.57), as well as vegetarian and vegan options. “We brought a reinterpretation of dishes that everyone knows, but with a haute cuisine technique”, explains the chef.

The creation of the complex was only possible thanks to the green light from Paramount, which holds the rights to the animated series. Each stage of the scenography assembly required approval from the company’s parks department in the United States.

On weekends, when the characters walk around the space interacting with customers, including SpongeBob himself, the line stretches around the corner. To avoid waiting, the tip is to visit the place during the week.