Sometimes restaurateurs have an easy time coming up with a name for their restaurant. Other times they try too hard. Unless the owner’s or chef’s name is included, the success of a restaurant’s name is a jump ball.
I was critical of the name Neighborhood Services because it didn’t sing “I’m a restaurant!” I don’t like the name Asador because it sounds like “get your ass in the door” instead of the Spanish word for grill—way too obscure and it doesn’t make me hungry.
A loyal SideDish reader is sick of restaurants with numbers in their names. I think she’s overreacting a little but here’s what she has to say:
I’m sick of these numbered restaurant names. Soooo many! Just pulled up Eater and the first two articles are about Café 43 and House 34. Then, of course, there’s 560 and FT33 and Stampede 66. Central 214. Surely, I’m missing a few. 20 Feet. I’d gladly eat at any of them. But, these names. Will it ever stop?
Numbers don’t bother me as much as exclamation points or an unfamiliar accent mark that doesn’t allow me to understand the name in blink. What are some of your least favorite names for restaurants?
