This restaurant wanted to put some beautiful music on their menu… and made a really bad choice

14 April 2023, 11:35 | Updated: 14 April 2023, 11:46

Is this the result of a designer having a musical joke on an unsuspecting restaurant owner?

The owners of Amadeus Café in Mahon, Menorca, wanted some beautiful music to decorate the front of their menus.

Perhaps some Mozart might have worked nicely, to complement the restaurant's name. But they ended up with something a bit unexpected.

Since Reddit user Lasyen_ published the menu, eagle-eyed music lovers have been eager to express their amusement. Even Eric Whitacre got involved:

Haven’t got it yet? We’ll give you a clue: they’re a modern Stone Age family…

The melody of ‘Meet the Flintstones’, composed in 1961 by Hoyt Curtin, Joseph Barbera and William Hanna, is actually believed to have been inspired by Beethoven.

The main theme closely resembles a part of the B section in his Piano Sonata No. 17 (‘The Tempest’). If the restaurant was named ‘Ludwig’, things might have turned out very different indeed...

After this Flintstones fiasco went viral a few years ago, it has become something of a meme within online musical circles.

In April 2023, a tweet from Threatening Music Notation went viral, with a tongue-in-cheek reimagining of one of Los Angeles’ most iconic civic buildings, decorated with a Flintstones fantasia in graphic notation form.

On menus and in memes, that Stone Age family keeps popping up in modern life – keeping us all on our toes.