I can see where setting you off on restaurant settings/styles/architecture makes sense. It is a concrete example (like Mav stated) of form and function, art and utility.

Restaurants also feature a lot of support spaces that the casual user rarely thinks about. Probably 1/3 of the floor plan of the restaurant I once worked in was "behind-the-scenes" space. It is important to make young architects aware of the necessity of (and relatively large amount of space needed for) things like water pipes, heating ducts and elevator shafts. I also once worked in an architectural firm with lots of fresh-out-of-school architects and I heard lots of stories about they (or their "classmates" usually) designing really spectacular houses or offices only to realize at the last minute that they had forgot the bathrooms.