Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Restaurant Names


rich

Recommended Posts

Some of my favorites from Madison Wisconsin:

Jolly Bob's Jerky Joint

Dotty's Dumpling Dowry (a burger place that has neither dumplings, nor any association with someone named Dotty)

Wah Kee Noodle

In Quebec, QC, Canada I've always liked:

Le Couchon Dinge

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This only serves to remind me that I am getting old and my memory is fading.

I have seen (somewhere) a Chinese place called "Yangtze Doodle", and a deli called "Noshville", and I have a recollection - if not a true memory - of a place in NYC's chinatown back in the late 60's called "Big Wang".

Of course, it could have been a hullabalootion......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:rolleyes: Personally, I've always felt that Hooters should open a companion string of restaurants hiring only nice young guys with tight butts, and call it "Buns".

Put them side by each, and every one'll be happy! :raz:

"Commit random acts of senseless kindness"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:rolleyes: Personally, I've always felt that Hooters should open a companion string of restaurants hiring only nice young guys with tight butts, and call it "Buns".

Put them side by each, and every one'll be happy! :raz:

My wife has suggested something similar, called Peckers. Woodpecker as a mascot, etc etc etc...

Screw it. It's a Butterball.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hehe, to add to the kit-bashed names, there is a nail salon on a certain street in Seattle WA, and above the name of the salon is a black and white sign in a metal frame on the roof which says:

FOOD

DISCO

So we called it just that: The Food Disco. "Yeah, the big Safeway by The Food Disco!"

Also, outside of Spokane WA is (was? been awhile since last I've been in the area) a Chuck E Cheese type of establishment with an awning with type along the bottom of it that read:

PIZZA FISH YOGHURT

And the numerous bad Chinese places all in a row on Division St. in Spokane still crack me up, because each one advertises "Chinese and American Food". Need to cater to the locals, ya know!

Another funny thing I passed by was a grocery store with one of those dot matrix electric lit signs advertising all the sale specials. One came up: "Chicken Beast: 2.99/lb". My partner at the time did not believe me, so dead in the middle of a Spokane winter I convinced her to go there with me and wait for Chicken Beast to flash up. It did. Soon after that we made it a habit just to wait for it whenever we were passing by: "Chicken Beast! Yay!"

Pat

Edited by Sleepy_Dragon (log)

"I... like... FOOD!" -Red Valkyrie, Gauntlet Legends-

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and in bangalore a popular chain is "homely chicken"

(this one prompts visiting americans to joke that

the good looking chickens end up in KFC).

milagai

:smile:

:biggrin: then there's that little place called 'kentacky chicken corner' (i believe it predates kfc's arrival in india )

no known branches-even batter than the real thing/finger lacking good?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I adore restaurant names. I've been to "Dirty's" in Austin and they do serve the best burgers and malts anywhere. A very small town in Western Colorado has a restaurant called "The Broken Drum, (you can't beat it)". That's the full name, by the way. This little island town has a restaurant named "The Place Next to the San Juan Ferry". Pretty much comes with directions in the name. Then my home town had a restaurant with no name and no set serving times. To dine there, you had to call Effie early enough in the day, tell her how many people would be coming; you had to arrive planning to eat at 8:00 pm and everyone got a medium sirloin steak, baked potatoes, salad and apple pie with ice cream. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FuKim Chinese Buffet (Houston-2 locations)-they hosted a porn party there during the Super Bowl this year.

Cheddarheads(Houston)-Packer fan hangout.

Liquid Kitty(LA)

Hasta la Pasta (Houston-hoefuully closed by now)

Frank in Austin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

About 2 years ago, Haskins Gas Company (a local propane concern) took over the South Dorset General Store – one of those convenience store / gas station / lunch counter affairs. They cleverly morphed the company name to come up with....Hasgas General Store. Yeah. I'd eat there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Fukiu Sushi - apparently pronounced foo-kwi or foo-kiew. Yeah, right. That's not what the local's call it.

Barbara Laidlaw aka "Jake"

Good friends help you move, real friends help you move bodies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once did a commercial voice-over for a place in Mobile, AL that was a combination (the quotes are from the script, which I still have) "chicken joint" that served fried chicken and a bunch of sides, including "red jello", and jewelry store, where you could get "quality 14 K gold chains and medallions". I promise you that I am not making this up. This was real. I saw the place. I barely escaped with my life.

The name of the place (with the name changed to protect the unwitting) was XXX's Chicken Shack and Jewelry Emporium. Also the frist time I've ever seen one business or building referred to as a shack and an emporium at the same time. We made him pay cash. No way we were fronting him anything on these commercials.

I think it lated about 2 weeks. He was robbed 3 times. Your basic failure to grasp the concept. He had that "quality 14K" jewelry on display, and seating nearby for people to sit all day and watch your "security procedures". Dude's lucky he didn't get killed.

Screw it. It's a Butterball.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is (was...dunno if it's still there) a diner (Dottie's Diner) in Winston-Salem that shared a sign with a casket showroom.

One or the other was advertising "Drive through Service."

Jenn! I know where that is! The casket place used to be the hair salon I went to. I think the diner is still there. It kind of freaked me out when I saw what had happened to the saln

My favorite dumb restaurant name: "The Cow Hop" in College Station Texas. Specialty: a "cow pie with fries" (and occasional food poisioning, but I was on a grad student budget).

The stupidest restaurant name....here in Greensboro a few years ago there was a place called the "French Ambiance Restaurant". Hi, here's a sign warning you we're darned pretentious.....

They were out of business pretty fast...

Anne

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On Highway 26 in Rossville, Indiana, is a large metal sign on a building that says "Sanitary Lunch." It looks like the place was once a little diner, but now it's an antiques and gift shop. I really like the sign, though.

In Maywood, Illinois, near the horse race track, there was once a hot dog stand called "Eat It and Beat It" -- not a place you'd want to hang around for too long.

And I've learned that any place with "Mom" or "Grandma" or some such feminine relative in its name is a place to avoid.

"It is a fact that he once made a tray of spanakopita using Pam rather than melted butter. Still, though, at least he tries." -- David Sedaris
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...