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A DINING EXPERIENCE can be more than just plopping down at a nondescript table, surveying cookie-cutter surroundings and ordering from a least-common-denominator bill of fare. Have an itch to break out of that plain Jane mold? The following theme dining trifecta provides one interesting scratch. Belly dancers, tiki gods and crocodiles, oh my.

Louie Favorite (ENLARGE)
Trader Vic's serves more than 65 cocktails, including the Samoan Fog Cutter (left) and the Zombie.
CHARLOTTE B. TEAGLE/AJC STAFF (ENLARGE)
Like all Imperial Fez food, couscous and veggies are eaten with (believe or not) fingers. When not digging into five-course meals, they're encouraged to join belly dancers on the floor.
Becky Stein/special (ENLARGE)
Dante's Down the Hatch, a 38-year-old Atlanta landmark, features fondue dishes and jazz in an old-world sea shanty setting. The centerpiece is a faux sailing ship hitched to a pier, with crocodiles in the moat below.
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RELATED LINKS: • Photos: Theme restaurants draw diners into a different world • Neighborhood Nosh: Nick's Food to Go • Spring Dining Guide • Blog: Table Talk

TRADER VIC'S AT THE HILTON ATLANTA

• Address: 255 Courtland St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-221-6339, www.tradervicsatlanta.com.

• Hours: 5 p.m.-12 a.m. Mondays-Saturdays.

The Polynesian restaurant chain, which operates with equal amounts of high-end sense and tropical kitsch, originally swung open the doors of its Atlanta tribe in 1976.

Those who have ever vacationed at Walt Disney World's Polynesian Resort know what sort of interior style to expect. The décor is sensationally South Seas with grimacing tiki idols, bamboo rafters, lush greenery, radiant glass buoys and velvet island paintings. Hard-core tiki culture enthusiasts cite the Atlanta Vic's as one of the best surviving examples of American Polynesian pop.

In the past, the Hawaiian shirt-wearing faithful who often congregate in the restaurant's bar section weren't always welcomed with "alohas." Within the past five to six years, local Vic's management has turned that around by embracing the die-hards with hospitality equal to that given to the casual diners, hotel guests and conventioneers who frequent the joint. Regular special events include the weekly Mai Tai Thursdays, when a drink the restaurant claims was invented by founder Victor Bergeron goes for $4.50 a pop.

The island-flavored Rat Pack delivery of Tongo Hiti, fronted by Kingsized vocalist Mike Geier, performs Don Ho favorites and lounge versions of everything from Abba to Sade with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

The bar, with its stool seating, regular tables, high-top tables and cozy nook, is the creation station of other famous Vic's libations. According to Kevin O'Leary, director of food and beverage at the Hilton Atlanta, more than 65 different cocktails make up the list, which includes its own massive menu.

"I've talked to people whose goal is to sample every drink," O'Leary says. "With that many, somehow or another you get derailed."

Popular drinks like the almond-tinged, slightly sour and totally fruity Samoan Fog Cutter come in decorative glasses, a nod to prefab tiki culture. Colorful concoctions including the Zombie, Tiki Puka Puka and Bahia bring that celebratory sense of island relaxation underneath Atlanta's skyline. Want to take a taste of the bar home? Trader Vic's brand drink syrups and some of the snazzy glasses are available for purchase.

A short trek from the bar finds a hallway with a glass-shrouded view of Vic's star attractions: the Chinese wood-fired ovens. The massive cookers provide the wafting smoky scent of meats and seafood, which curls up and into the nostrils of guests.

Chef Michael Broderick was brought on board last year and introduced a new menu. According to the staff, more changes are to come. In the meantime, guests continue gorging on staples like wok stir-fried seafood (lobster, scallops, shrimp and fish), grilled Kobe hanger steak, curry dishes and the mammoth luau dinner. The latter is a four-course feast starring a main course of spicy shrimp, stir-fried chicken and snow peas, a fillet of beef and a side of steamed rice.

IMPERIAL FEZ

• Address: 2285 Peachtree Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-351-0870, www.imperialfez.com.

• Hours: 6-11 p.m. Mondays-Sundays.

"Toto, I got a feeling we're not in Atlanta anymore."

Instead, stepping into the Fez is a simulated culinary vacation to Morocco.

Before being escorted to your table, you slip off your shoes and store them in the lobby where innumerable images of former celebrity diners like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hillary Clinton and Reba McEntire hang about. En route, you breeze by the gift shop, which trades in imports like Moroccan art and souvenirs. Belly dancing garb glimmers on the rack.

The nearby dining room is an exercise in Moroccan culture. It looks like a place where Indiana Jones would put down the whip, slide off the fedora and cozy up to a meal. Rugs and traditional fabric cover the floors, walls and ceilings. Ornate lamps hang from above, and guests park themselves in low-riding chairs and on cushy pillows in front of low tables.

Servers splash pitchers of fragrant water on your hands. Call this cleaning the utensils. At Imperial Fez, you eat with your fingers. Instead of a napkin, you hang a white towel over your shoulder to wipe off any residual couscous. It's a five-course experience overseen by owner and chef Rafih Benjelloun, a colorful and accessible host who's been helming the operation since it opened in 1991.

Dinners range from $45 to $65 per meal. Main items run the gamut from marinated beef ribs to bud-tickling shrimp sauteed with tomatoes, onions, green bell peppers and garlic. Each comes with lentil bean soup, an array of Moroccan salads, a pastry-like appetizer (b'stella featuring Cornish hen, roasted almonds, cinnamon and spiced eggs), the chef's choice of dessert, Moroccan hot tea and a variety of breads.

With Benjelloun's background in filmmaking and live performance, belly dancing seems like a natural addition. Beginning at 7:30 nightly, a thumping sound system helps belly dancers entertain the room while swiveling their hips, swinging glistening swords and balancing small platters of fire on their noggins. Guests are encouraged to join dancers on the floor.

DANTE'S DOWN THE HATCH

• Address: 3380 Peachtree Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-266-1600, www.dantesdownthehatch.com.

• Hours: 4-11:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 4 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 5-11 p.m. Sundays.

This 38-year-old fondue restaurant is a bona-fide landmark, having survived everything from economic recession to fire. And no one does theme dining with such dedication and intense flair as Dante's.

The spectacular three-story interior puts diners in the middle of an old-world village, which could easily provide inspiration for a quintessential sea shanty. The centerpiece is a fully decked-out, faux sailing ship hitched to the pier. Actual crocodiles lounge in the moat below the vessel, and guests of all ages peer down for a gander.

A total of 13 various levels make up the awe-inspiring village chock-full of conversation pieces. It's almost like browsing through those amazingly stocked, high-ticket antique dealers on Chamblee's antique row. Mannequins dressed as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn hang out next to a bait shack. A barbershop plucked out of Sheffield, England, dating to the late 1800s, serves as a lounge near the restrooms. A full-size pirate dangles from the ship's rigging. And a storefront bears the sign Stephensen Bros. Ltd., a nod to the restaurant's owner and creator, Dante Stephensen.

Stephensen, an outspoken, pipe-smoking restaurateur with a keen attention to detail, can typically be found cruising the grounds and keeping tabs on the overall guest experience.

And a large part of that experience is the fondue. Diners pierce meats, seafood and veggies with fondue forks, dunking them into hot pots gurgling with oil. Handcrafted Chinese dumplings packed with a hodgepodge of meats, vegetables and spices can take a fondue dip or be munched in the raw.

For the Swiss cheese fondue, a gaggle of cheeses get gooey in the pot and guests use bread, apples and veggies as dipping tools.

And the chocolate fondue experience is an event all its own. According to Stephensen, it's so involved it takes at least two hours to devour and serves six to 12 people. It requires two days? advance notice, is only available Mondays-Thursdays, and Dante's only serves one dish per night. The chocolate cooks for eight hours and comes tableside with fresh fruit and marshmallows.

Guests dive into their meals in seating areas located throughout all levels of the elaborate grounds. This includes the ship, where musicians set up shop nightly. Jazz has been a key ingredient to Dante's since its inception. Jazz pianist Paul Mitchell led his trio and tickled the keys at Dante's from 1970 until his death in 2000. Today, his protégé John Robertson carries the torch. Live jazz takes place Tuesdays-Sundays. Mondays feature acoustic guitar and vocals.