How to Start a Jungle Themed Restaurant

Jungle-themed restaurants feature colorful décor and themed menu offerings. These unconventional surroundings provide an ideal setting for an experience that satisfies the senses, although restaurant staff must fulfill those customer expectations. "Entrepreneur" Magazine spotlights a rainforest jungle themed restaurant that has met that challenge in many locations.

Step 1

Establish your restaurant business structure. Select a business structure with a certified public accountant with restaurant expertise. Common business structures include sole proprietorships, limited liability companies and Subchapter S corporations. Meet with a commercial insurance agent with liability experience. Visit your city or county clerk's office for a business license and needed permits. Ask your city’s health department about a pre-opening inspection. Contact your state Department of Revenue for a sales tax license (See Resources).

Step 2

Lease a visible and accessible location. Find a building easily reached by main roads and with plenty of parking. Look for a site adjacent to a busy retail center or office park. Obtain written zoning approval before you sign a lease. Work with a sign-making company to create building signage with colorful jungle-themed graphics.

Step 3

List your regional restaurant competition. Identify regional niche and themed restaurants. Niche restaurants include vegetarian or soup and salad establishments. Themed restaurants include those with auto racing or Wild West décor (See Resources). Visit your local Chamber of Commerce for demographic data on residents’ age, income and education levels. This data helps you assess the overall pool of restaurant customers. Locate your chamber through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (See Resources).

Step 4

Develop your jungle themed restaurant décor. Select an African safari jungle (See Resources) or an Amazon rainforest jungle motif (See Resources). Work with an interior designer to select your décor and furniture. Consider faux animal wall skins or lush leaved wallpaper borders, plus tables and chairs in jungle colors and textures. Purchase jungle-themed artwork and trees, and add appropriate water features. Locate an interior designer through the American Society of Interior Designers (See Resources).

Step 5

Publish your themed restaurant menu. Develop menu selections that mesh with your jungle restaurant theme. Adopt wildly creative names for common menu items, such as hamburgers and steaks, and develop signature menu choices. Work with a food stylist and a graphic designer to create an appealing menu that will hold customers’ interest (See Resources).

Step 6

Buy your restaurant equipment and fixtures. Order equipment, such as commercial refrigerators and ovens, along with food preparation tables and serving ware. Determine your specialty equipment, such as bread makers and grilling machines, after you evaluate your menu selections. Ask about a discount on the complete order (See Resources).

Step 7

Hire experienced restaurant staff. Find outgoing and adventurous employees of all ages through carefully worded newspaper Help Wanted ads, as well as through business networking groups. Contact local culinary schools or college hospitality management programs, and ask about recent graduates or students eligible for work/study programs. Outfit staff in jungle-themed attire, and conduct team-building trivia contests. Offer prizes for the team with the better knowledge of your menu and service policies.

Step 8

Host a jungle-filled grand opening gala. Welcome your customers with a grand opening that features a special menu and a celebratory cake. Show jungle exploration videos to enhance customers’ dining experience. Conduct drawings for restaurant gift cards, and create a mailing list with the entry forms. Offer a frequent diner program that rewards a customer when he fulfills his dining frequency requirements. Advertise the event in newspapers’ lifestyle sections, along with regional magazines and websites.

Things Needed

• Business structure documentation
• Insurance documentation
• Business license
• Permits (if applicable)
• Health department certificate
• Sales tax license
• Written zoning approval
• Lease
• Building signage
• List of regional niche and themed restaurants
• Demographic information for your city
• Restaurant decor
• Restaurant furniture
• Restaurant menu
• Restaurant equipment and fixtures order
• Ad rates and copy for newspaper Help Wanted ads
• Jungle themed staff attire
• Prizes for staff trivia contests
• Grand opening menu
• Grand opening cake
• Jungle videos
• Gift cards
• Entry forms for mailing list
• Frequent diner cards
• Ad rates and copy for grand opening ads
• Ad rates and copy for regional magazines
• Ad rates and copy for regional websites

References (4)

• Quantified Marketing Group: The Experience Economy: An Overview of an Emerging Economic Trend
• "Entrepreneur" Magazine: Jungle Fever
• Rainforest Cafe: United States Locations and International Locations
• How to Start a Jungle Themed Restaurant

Resources (6)

• IRS.gov: State Revenue Sites
• Pick a Restaurant.com: World-Wide Restaurant Search: United States
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Chamber Directory Search Page
• The Jungle Club: Restaurant Decor
• Rainforest Cafe: A Wild Place to Shop and Eat:: Decor
• American Society of Interior Designers: Find an ASID Interior Designer

About the Author

Based in North Carolina, Felicia Greene has written professionally since 1986. Greene edited sailing-related newsletters and designed marketing programs for the New Bern, N.C. "Sun Journal" and New Bern Habitat ReStore. She earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration from the University of Baltimore.

Photo Credit (3)

• Jungle Themed Restaurant
• Jungle Themed Restaurant
• Jungle Themed Restaurant