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Humorous Food Signs

glossyp

By glossyp
in Food Traditions & Culture

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R.E. Turner

R.E. Turner

Posted
Posted

The funniest food-related sign I've ever seen was for Dairy Queen's Flame-Thrower burger. Sure, it wasn't funny in and of itself, but it was awfully funny hanging on the front of the local DQ - for about two weeks after the restaurant was gutted by a fire. I'm still kicking myself for not stopping for a picture... (And it's awfully hard to simultaneously kick myself while rolling on the floor laughing at the above-pictured Chinese menu! Hrrnk, indeed!)

"Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well. Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress."

Charles Pierre Monselet, Letters to Emily

Jeni Hicks

Jeni Hicks

Posted
Posted

Sadly, no picture - but on my honeymoon in Kenya we stopped for gas on our way to Amboseli, and across the street from the pump was the sign I will never forget:

"Guest House and Butchery"

:wub:

Jeni

BeeZee

BeeZee

Posted
Posted

Well, last night I ordered the following in a Chinese restaurant

Hot Pot - white mean chicken with eggplant

Guess I'd be mean if I was stuck in an iron pot...

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" - Oscar Wilde

Sugarella

Sugarella

Posted
Posted
A colourful update on something that has been cited in several ancient cultures.

gallery_27716_2445_8502.jpg

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Incidentally, this also belongs in the Deal Breakers thread........

Susan G

Susan G

Posted
Posted

Route 17 in western New York State had a billboard for years:

Mrs. Murphy's Smorgasbord

One wonders how it stayed in business so long!

I'm a canning clean freak because there's no sorry large enough to cover the, "Oops! I gave you botulism" regrets.

  • 2 weeks later...
Oyster Guy

Oyster Guy

Posted
Posted

One of the funniest signs I saw is in Toronto in the Beaches area.

It has a large neon sign out front that says good food but some of the letters are burnt out and it says GOOF.

This place is actually known as "The Goof" locally.

"Why then, the world is mine oyster, which I with sword, shall open."

William Shakespeare-The Merry Wives of Windsor

"An oyster is a French Kiss that goes all the way." Rodney Clark

"Oyster shuckers are the rock stars of the shellfish industry." Jason Woodside

"Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster."

Eleanor Clark

markabauman

markabauman

Posted
Posted

Many years ago, there was a pizzeria on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, NY named "Roma Pizza". One day the "R" fell off the sign. Henceforth, and still following a few changes of location, the business has become known as Oma Pizza.

Mark A. Bauman

docsconz

docsconz

Posted
Posted
Many years ago, there was a pizzeria on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, NY named "Roma Pizza". One day the "R" fell off the sign. Henceforth, and still following a few changes of location, the business has become known as Oma Pizza.

So that's how they got the name! That makes sense. I don't know how they are lately, but when they were in their original location they made some of the best pizze in the area.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

H. du Bois

H. du Bois

Posted
Posted

In Manhattan during the 1980s, on 8th Avenue in the 50s - a Chinese restaurant with a sign advertising "Vegetarian Pork."

In Japan, during the 1990s - an energy drink called "Pocari Sweat." :blink:

jhlurie

jhlurie

Posted
Posted
Many years ago, there was a pizzeria on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, NY named "Roma Pizza". One day the "R" fell off the sign. Henceforth, and still following a few changes of location, the business has become known as Oma Pizza.

Heh. Everytime I pass by the Bendix diner (a very famous greasy spoon, featuring among other things, a blind waiter who's worked there for many years), in New Jersey, there's a different letter burnt out on their neon sign. I wonder how that affects what people call it. :laugh:

Click for fancy artwork of Bendix, curiously with all of the neon letters successfully lit: http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/pd--100550...endix_Diner.htm

Jon Lurie, aka "jhlurie"

Eilen

Eilen

Posted
Posted
Just came across this one in Portland, Oregon.  The place has closed -- moved to another location, according to the note on the door -- so I hope some civic do-gooder or deranged bar owner has arranged for the sign to be prserved for a sniggering posterity.

gallery_7296_1706_439734.jpg

I'm fortunate(?) enough to live about five blocks from the new Hung Far Low location--it's now in the "new" Chinatown, or, the area of Portland that is rapidly increasing in its Asian population and thus in the number of Asian restaurants.

Lady T

Lady T

Posted
Posted
In some translation programs,  "hors d'oeuvres" means "out of work" (as in "jobless").  So, if you're dining in the restaurant where you work and your server is an ESL student given to literal translation, you might wan to go with the soup.  :wink:

:biggrin:

I...definitely wan to go with the soup.

:cool:

Me, I vote for the joyride every time.

-- 2/19/2004

rooftop1000

rooftop1000

Posted
Posted
In Manhattan during the 1980s, on 8th Avenue in the 50s - a Chinese restaurant with a sign advertising "Vegetarian Pork."

In Japan, during the 1990s - an energy drink called "Pocari Sweat."  :blink:

Someone gave my daughter a can of this a few days ago....I think she said it tasted like Tea soda...or Gatorade soda...I cant remember she talks alot

:rolleyes:

tracey

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

Avoid cutting yourself while slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold them while you chop away.

"It is the government's fault, they've eaten everything."

My Webpage

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moosnsqrl

moosnsqrl

Posted
Posted
In some translation programs,  "hors d'oeuvres" means "out of work" (as in "jobless").  So, if you're dining in the restaurant where you work and your server is an ESL student given to literal translation, you might wan to go with the soup.  :wink:

:biggrin:

I...definitely wan to go with the soup.

:cool:

Of all the unfortunate times to make my one annual spelling/type-o error :wink:

Judy Jones aka "moosnsqrl"

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.

M.F.K. Fisher

bleudauvergne

bleudauvergne

Posted
Posted
In Manhattan during the 1980s, on 8th Avenue in the 50s - a Chinese restaurant with a sign advertising "Vegetarian Pork."

In Japan, during the 1990s - an energy drink called "Pocari Sweat."  :blink:

This drink was also sold in China in the 1990s. It was very attractive when I had a hangover, for some reason.

Lucy's Kitchen Notebook
  • 1 year later...
jgarner53

jgarner53

Posted
Posted

In a night market/food court in Chiang Rai, Thailand, I saw a sign offering "fried dork." Sadly, I didn't have my camera with me that night.

"I just hate health food"--Julia Child

Jennifer Garner

buttercream pastries

  • 2 months later...
emilyr

emilyr

Posted
Posted

According to this article, the Beigjing Tourism Bureau is going to get rid of some of the "Chinglish" translations around the city in an effort to help foreigners better understand Chinese culutre through food.

Would you be afraid of "burnt lion's head" or "virgin chicken?"

"Life is a combination of magic and pasta." - Frederico Fellini

Jakea222

Jakea222

Posted
Posted

We have a board in the kitchen so the many FoH staff see the new specials. We had Sea Bass and "somebody" maybe me, erased the B and you had never seen the double take looks from the staff and teh European servers were confused....

Peter the eater

Peter the eater

Posted
Posted

Holy **** I have been crying with laughter catching up with this thread.

When I was in grade twelve (in the 1980's) and had calculus on a Friday afternoon, my mates and I went for a beer and a Chinese lunch at the mall. For over a year the menu read "Human Beef Special" and "Lucky Family Surprise". Wish I had a photo.

Peter Gamble aka "Peter the eater"

I just made a cornish game hen with chestnut stuffing. . .

Would you believe a pigeon stuffed with spam? . . .

Would you believe a rat filled with cough drops?

Moe Sizlack

Morten

Morten

Posted
Posted

"we serve vegetarians just tell us how you like them"

I found a poster for a resturant on the internet many years ago that stated that. Cant rember wich one, but it made me giggle :)

http://www.grydeskeen.dk - a danish foodblog :)
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