# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/161 "2018-06-23T05:41:25Z")
Can’t find the link, but there was a restaurant in the mainland U.S. called Lua. They changed their name when someone pointed out that we call the toilet lua (literal meaning hole or pit) in Hawaii. A quick check shows that Lua Resturant (a Spanish restaurant) has closed in New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/162 "2018-06-23T12:27:17Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Dining at the [Heart Attack Grill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_Attack_Grill) is not something high on my list. Then again, knowing that you’re going to die _sometime_, why not go there for a meal and spin the wheel. If you just so happen to drop dead _there_, your death gets some press along with a free burger! ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/163 "2018-06-23T12:50:35Z")
There was a place in Montgomery called Smoky Bones barbecue. I thought the name made it sound more like a crematorium. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/164 "2018-06-23T14:33:51Z")
Bull Shed Years ago, when when my ex and I visited Kauai, we asked if there was a good place to have prime rib. The person on the front desk replied “Yeah, the Bull Shed!” :eek: Then laughed and said that’s really the name. One of the best prime rib I’ve ever had. Edit: Just checked and it’s just “Bull Shed” and still there! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/165 "2018-06-23T14:38:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Here in Toronto, there’s The J&W Restaurant. On their flyers, the ampersand actually looks more like an “E.” Which, makes sense, of course, because an ampersand is just a ligature of “Et” or “et.” In fact, in the browser I’m viewing this board on right now, the & looks like a fancy _E_. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/166 "2018-06-23T15:11:10Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > In Phoenix, AZ there’s a Mexican-Chinese fusion restaurant named Chino Bandido. I’ve been there. Actually, a pretty decent place! Or at least it was about 7 years ago, when I last went, no idea how it is now. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/167 "2018-06-23T15:47:41Z")
In Duesseldorf, Germany there is (was?) a Thai restaurant called Prickypoo. Yes, really. ---
**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 23, 2018, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/168 "2018-06-23T16:15:04Z")
Fusion restaurants are somewhat common now. Some of them are just the owners of the restaurant deciding that they like several types of cuisine, so they, just by themselves, combine them. These are examples: > **[Ridiculous Fusion Restaurants That Are Actually Fantastic](https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/best-restaurants-fusion-food-usa)** > > We're not talking about Cronuts. Then there are cases where, in one country, immigrant to that country from a second country regularly serve at home and in restaurants that they open up cuisine that combines the food from the first country with the food of the second country. Then someone in third country likes that fusion cuisine and opens up a restaurant in the third country serving the fusion cuisine of the first and second countries. One example I know of is China Chilcano in Washington, D.C., which serves the food created by Chinese and Japanese immigrants to Peru. This isn’t a made-up cuisine. At least 5% of the population of Peru is of Chinese and Japanese ancestry and presumably often eats this fusion cuisine. There are even one big chain - Nando’s - which serves the cuisine of Portuguese immigrants to Mozambique, and it has about a thousand restaurants in 24 countries. ---
**Author:** ![wanderer2575](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@wanderer2575](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wanderer2575)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2018, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/169 "2018-06-23T17:18:20Z")
Near where I used to live is/was a family-style restaurant called The Green Apple. I never set foot in the place. Humorist Erma Bombeck used to refer to a particular digestive tract ailment as the “green apple two-step” and i could not put that out of my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Major\_Matt\_Mason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Matt_Mason)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/170 "2018-06-24T01:25:56Z")
Warren Zevon, being a Philly area guy, probably got the name “Lee Ho Fook” here: > **[Lee How Fook serves generations in Chinatown](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/blogs/the_spot/Lee-How-Fook.html)** > > "When I was a kid, customers would always say to me, 'You’re going to be running this some day.' I would tell them, 'No, no way. Absolutely not.' I mean, I watched how hard my parents worked - they were always here. It was our life." In addition, the Philadelphia Folk Festival feeds their volunteers in the “Alferd T. Packer Memorial Food Tent”… -MMM- ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/171 "2018-06-24T01:31:54Z")
> [@zombywoof](#): > > Pho restaurants seem to go in for punny names (“Pho King” is one near me) almost as often as sewing stores (“Make it Sew!”)…they all make me want to puke. Our local one is ‘Pho Yum’…despite the cringe-worthy name, it’s pretty darn good, so it didn’t turn me off enough to avoid…I would, however, avoid that sewing shop on general principle alone… ---
**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 24, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/172 "2018-06-24T02:04:19Z")
> [@breezman](#): > > There was a place in Montgomery called Smoky Bones barbecue. I thought the name made it sound more like a crematorium. There’s a BBQ place near Columbus Ohio called Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill. I could tolerate that, but was turned off by a joint offering allegedly similar food, which called itself “Smacky’s”. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/173 "2018-06-24T02:49:38Z")
Not a restaurant, but there used to be a pretzel place in Intercourse, PA & the sign said "The Intercourse Pretzel Factory. Soft and Hard’. It was stolen several times as I recall. We also have a local Vietnamese restaurant called Phuk Et. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/174 "2018-06-24T06:27:45Z")
Anything with “Mom’s” or “Home Cooking” in the name. My mother was such a terrible cook that my brother and I were born on the same day 11 years apart. There was just no way the family could have survived two cakes. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/175 "2018-06-24T14:30:16Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Anything with “Mom’s” or “Home Cooking” in the name. My mother was such a terrible cook that my brother and I were born on the same day 11 years apart. There was just no way the family could have survived two cakes. It’s not a restaurant name, but a local pizza place, on their marquee, advertised “HOMADE PIZZA.” I’ll pass. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/176 "2018-06-24T15:00:15Z")
The “Frog and Peach”. Yeah, I know it’s fictional…but _is_ it? [http://www.frogandpeachpub.com/](http://www.frogandpeachpub.com/) ---
**Author:** ![4d3fect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/4d3fect/32/9728_2.png) [@4d3fect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/4d3fect)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/177 "2018-06-24T17:25:38Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > The “Frog and Peach”. Yeah, I know it’s fictional…but _is_ it? > > [http://www.frogandpeachpub.com/](http://www.frogandpeachpub.com/) Still there, last I looked. I’d stay away from the Peche a la Frog though. ---
**Author:** ![MethidMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@MethidMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MethidMan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/178 "2018-06-25T13:03:44Z")
I remember a Chinese restaurant called the Pupu Inn. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/179 "2018-06-25T13:39:13Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue is home to the Chinese takeout restaurant Fu King. I used to patronize a Chinese place called Fook Kee. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2018, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350/180 "2018-06-25T14:14:27Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > I used to patronize a Chinese place called Fook Kee. There seem to be a number of Pho Kings around, which works especially well if you use the “fuh” pronunciation for “pho,” which is closer to the Vietnamese. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turn-off-restaurant-names/816350.md?page=10)