TV Dinners: Would you tuck in at these fictional eateries?

TV dramas and comedy try to reflect reality, but as we know, it’s often reflected in a weird, inaccurate funhouse mirror. Take restaurants, for example….

TV characters eat in the same place week after week (often day after day), they rarely actually put the food in their mouths, and they never take more than a moment to order.

But what would these places be like in real life? Here are a few of TV’s best-known eateries, and whether we’d eat there…

Bob’s Burgers

This cartoon eatery (from the show of the same name) sits on one of New York’s less glamorous streets, with Bob and his family running every aspect of the casual diner.

Bob’s Burgers has a fun, lively staff (most of whom are Bob’s kids), and its specialty burgers have glorious names like “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Hamburger” and “To Err is Cumin”. But the place looks like it has questionable hygiene, and some of its burger ideas are stomach challenging (such as the “She’s a Super Leek” and “Hit Me with Your Best Shallot”).

Still, even its weirdest burgers look substantial and tasty, so we reckon it’d be worth the risk.

Luke’s (The Gilmore Girls)

Gruff, but good-hearted, Luke runs the diner in Star’s Hollow where Lorelai and Rory Gilmore eat practically every day.

The menu looks too good to be true – as Lorelai eats nothing but pancakes, fries and burgers but still looks thin enough to disappear if she turned sideways. The service is practically instant as well, and at least 50% of the time they don’t seem to pay. So we’d give Luke the thumbs up (along with a healthy tip).

McLaren’s (How I Met Your Mother)

This Irish pub is where the HIMYM gang spent much of their time through eight seasons, and qualifies as a restaurant as it serves food. One character said of the burgers in McLaren’s: “It’s like Christmas in my mouth…meat Christmas!”

It looks like a good time place; filled with attractive people, a flirty staff, and you can even get takeaways delivered there from other restaurants. Yep, we’d give it a try.

Fun fact: McLaren’s in inspired by a real-life pub in Manhattan named McGee’s.

Los Pollos Hermanos (Breaking Bad)

The fast food chicken in Los Pollos Hermanos (translation: The Chicken Brothers) looks pretty tasty, and owner/manager Gus definitely would’ve run a tight ship, which means good service and cleanliness.

But on the debit side, the food is almost certainly bursting with calories, and it’s a front for a ruthless criminal. So on balance, we’d give it a miss.