Old El Paso Opens Pop Up Restaurant Powered By Diners’ Conversation

Old El Paso is opening a pop up restaurant in which the diners’ conversation, chat and laughter will generate small amounts of measurable electricity that, once channelled through converters, will actually power certain elements of the restaurant – including the warming of your fajita!

The whole restaurant has been designed and created to fuel conversation on what Old El Paso is naming National Fajita Friday - a day they want to encourage the nation to sit and eat with their friends and family. And to keep the banter alive within the restaurant there will be a push button at each table which will dispense a card with a conversation starter on it. Even the fajitas will have thought provoking questions ‘toasted’ onto them and the restaurant will also be styled with neon signs and Mexican street art featuring fun questions to help keep the conversation flowing.

Using piezoelectric technology and specialist microphones positioned at each individual table, the more conversation the table engages in, the more electrical volts they produce. These volts are then connected to a virtual battery.

And as the battery fills up and reaches certain voltage levels, it will unlock elements and rewards for the table such as a margherita tap and even the ambiance of the table lighting.

But if conversation runs out then the battery will start to discharge. So get talking else you might not get your food!