# Turn off restaurant names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350 "2018-06-19T01:30:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/21 "2018-06-19T03:54:39Z")
When I was in college, a place called The Creperie opened up across the street from our campus. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/22 "2018-06-19T03:57:48Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > They sent in my area but I still don’t know what the hell an Au Bon Pain is. I always thought of it as The Painful Boner, right up there with The Crappery. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/23 "2018-06-19T03:58:20Z")
Genghis Grill doesn’t offend that many people because they mostly don’t know exactly what he did. A lot of people know vaguely that there was someone named Genghis Khan who at some vague time at some vague place conquered a lot of land, but they don’t know anything more than that. It’s not much different than Little Caesar’s Pizza. Some people know vaguely that there was a film about a gangster nicknamed Little Caesar and that there was a Roman emperor named Julius Caesar, but they know little more than that. The feeling of most people going to either restaurant is that there’s no reason for them to be concerned about famous figures from classical or medieval times, regardless what they did. The Alferd Packer Restaurant & Grill gets by because it’s considered a sick joke. Alferd Packer is actually moderately well known in Colorado. The students at the University of Colorado apparently think it’s hilarious to name a cafeteria after him. Trey Parker and Matt Stone made a movie called _Cannibal! The Musical_ about him. I was in this cafeteria in 1996 while at a conference. Apart from the sick humor names for the parts of the cafeteria, there’s nothing special about it. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/24 "2018-06-19T03:59:50Z")
On a trip to Cape Cod a few years ago I drove by a shuttered restaurant in Wellfleet called “The Angry Tomato”. This joint (a “Mex-Itali grill”) was unsurprisingly a very short-lived venture, following in the footsteps of a failed pizza parlor called “Monkey See, Monkey Do” at the same location. :smack: I see that the place was [bought](http://capecod.wickedlocal.com/news/20160111/felix-buys-former-angry-tomato-plans-commissary-kitchen--) by the owner of the Cape Cod Mosquito Squad, which thankfully is **not** the name of a restaurant.\* \*The new owner did have culinary experience as his company made food from algae, and he reportedly planned to use the property as HQ for his mini-fleet of food trucks. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/25 "2018-06-19T04:50:53Z")
[http://www.pinktaco.com/](http://www.pinktaco.com/) ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/26 "2018-06-19T05:54:14Z")
There used to be several Coon Chicken Inns. The menus and other memorabilia used to appear on eBay with some frequency. > **[Coon Chicken Inn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coon_Chicken_Inn)** > > Coon Chicken Inn was an American chain of three restaurants that was founded by Maxon Lester Graham and Adelaide Burt in 1925, which prospered until the late 1950s. The restaurant's name contained the word Coon, considered a racial slur, and the trademarks and entrances of the restaurants were designed to look like a smiling caricature of an African-American porter. The smiling capped porter head also appeared on menus, dishes, and promotional items. Due to changes in popular culture and the Th... Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/27 "2018-06-19T06:19:52Z")
I could just barely bring myself to eat at the Pup N Taco. Yeah, it sold hot dogs and tacos, but the implication, well. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/28 "2018-06-19T06:33:26Z")
I have always hated Chucky Cheese. Mainly because their spokesperson was a rat. With, I might add, a giant creepy rat logo. The other place my kids always wanted to go was fronted by a big creepy clown. Ugh! There’s a place close to us called ‘Fly’n Burger’. Unfortunate. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/29 "2018-06-19T07:16:37Z")
There is a Sambo’s restaurant in Santa Barbara, California. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/30 "2018-06-19T07:19:15Z")
There used to be a bar by my house called “Dorothy”, with a big picture of Judy Garland on the door. I would walk by it for months before someone mentioned that despite what any reasonable person would assume, it was _not_, in fact, a gay bar. That really bothered me for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/31 "2018-06-19T07:50:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > There used to be a bar by my house called “Dorothy”, with a big picture of Judy Garland on the door. I would walk by it for months before someone mentioned that despite what any reasonable person would assume, it was _not_, in fact, a gay bar. > > That really bothered me for some reason. I would think the fact Judy Garland was an alcoholic would also be bothersome. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/32 "2018-06-19T07:56:53Z")
Also true. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/33 "2018-06-19T08:55:36Z")
There used to be a taco place called “Tacos El Rey” (translation King Taco) near my house, which was pretty popular and did brisk service. A few months after it became popular a place opened up a few doors down called “Tacos El Reina” obviously trying to cash in as Reina means Queen so it’s suppose to mean “Queen Taco”. However in actual Spanish it should be spelled “Tacos La Reina” due to La being the feminine word. So not only was it a cash in it deliberately used bad Spanish to try to trick people. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/34 "2018-06-19T09:14:21Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Donner Party and Grill? Would you believe — one of the survivors of the Donner Party did later open a restaurant in Sacramento, and was in fact sometimes the butt of jokes or criticism. It didn’t help that he was kind of a jerk — a German fellow (Karl something?) who acted selfishly at certain moments during the Donner Party saga; and, while several members (in separate incidents) resorted to cannibalism, this Karl fellow was found by the others to be unusually callous about it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/35 "2018-06-19T09:53:33Z")
Portland is the home of Hung Far Lo. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/36 "2018-06-19T10:02:53Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > There used to be a taco place called “Tacos El Rey” (translation King Taco) near my house, which was pretty popular and did brisk service. A few months after it became popular a place opened up a few doors down called “Tacos El Reina” obviously trying to cash in as Reina means Queen so it’s suppose to mean “Queen Taco”. However in actual Spanish it should be spelled “Tacos La Reina” due to La being the feminine word. So not only was it a cash in it deliberately used bad Spanish to try to trick people. That, or the owner was a drag queen. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/37 "2018-06-19T10:30:23Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > It’s not much different than Little Caesar’s Pizza. Some people know vaguely that there was a film about a gangster nicknamed Little Caesar and that there was a Roman emperor named Julius Caesar, but they know little more than that. The feeling of most people going to either restaurant is that there’s no reason for them to be concerned about famous figures from classical or medieval times, regardless what they did. What annoys me about Little Caesar’s is the ad where the mascot hits the ground with his spear and the pizzas that are on it flip off the spear and then back onto it. Pizzas aren’t rigid enough to do that, at least not ones that I am interested in eating, and furthermore, if anything the pizzas should go further down the spear rather than flip upward and past the spearhead. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/38 "2018-06-19T10:31:25Z")
Backyard Burgers. They taste slightly better than 5 Guys, but I am vaguely turned off by the name because it is just close enough to Backdoor Burgers to be mildly gross, but if they actually called it Backdoor Burgers then I might go because of the humor. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/39 "2018-06-19T10:34:25Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > There is a Sambo’s restaurant in Santa Barbara, California. Sambos used to be a popular chain of restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2018, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/40 "2018-06-19T10:53:24Z")
Caffe Nero never appealed to me. “These Christians, they don’t even burn well!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350.md?page=3)