Dew Drop Inn and Lettuce Entertain You: Onomastic Sobriquets in the Food and Beverage Industry. Coffee houses, restaurants and taverns are social retreats where people meet and eat, drink and converse, conduct business and celebrate family and professional occasions. The names of these gathering places are as diverse as the coffee, cocktails and cuisine which they serve to their customers. Their business names reflect the nature of the food or drink which they ply (China Buffet, Pizzeria Uno, Shaw's Crab House, Steak 'N' Egger), their proprietor's names (Harry Caray's, Michael Jordan's), or their geographic location (Bourbon Street Cafe, Chicago Chop House).
The names of others, however, constitute clever word plays (Once Upon a Thai, Thai Tanic and Thai Foon), or mimic proper names and literary characters (The Hearty Boys, Lawrence of Oregano), book titles (Tequila Mockingbird), commercial establishments (Grub Med Greek Ristorante, Lettuce Entertain You), ethnic designations and distortions (Bohemian Crystal, Carlos Murphys), humorous epithets (The Honest Lawyer, The Jewish Mother), films (Dog Day Afternoon), phrases (Relish the Thought), songs (Grill from Ipanema), and brand and trade name puns (Quaker Steak and Lube).
You make me hungry! I didn't know you were from Chicago. Wasn't there a Lawrence Of Oregano? Wasn't that created by Richard Melman who started with a restaurant called R. J. Grunts? But you can get some names which just unfortunate, such as Genki Sushi and Fook Yuen. They are very ethnic. There is also the romantic Brew Moon, or the accidental Won Kee Seafood and Soon's Kal Bi.
Tequila Mockingbird? Oy.
Reminds me of the stir-fry place I saw in Lexington, Ky.: Wok This Way.
When the name of an establishment is neither a pun nor a plain name, it can be kind of weird. Bed Bath & Beyond, Bath & Body Works, and Pier 1 Imports always sounded kinda peculiar to me.
Toys-?-Us has a half-pun ring to it.
I wonder if having a pun in your store's name can boost your business. Of course, you need to have good service and the like, but it seems lots of folks are enchanted by names of products.
Services, too: can you imagine people saying “I wonder who so-and-so is. Just a sec', lemme altavista him…” “Google” has too much of an “eye” sound to it to use any of the other terms. The word “google” (apart from sounding like “googol”, which I have never associated with the name) makes me think of “goggles” which, of course, you put on your eyes. It also sounds like “ogle” which is an ocular (there's another word) verb as well. In addition, the two “o”s can be filled with irises and pupils (and perhaps some eyelashes) to make an even clearer suggestion.
There are many Thai restaurants in Portland. (Some say too many, I say not enough.) Many of which have punny names:
Typhoon
Thai Spoon
Beau Thai
Thai Pod [Thai Pad might have been even better]
Thai Noon
And, as a bonus, a Japanese, etc. restaurant:
Misohapi
I'm sure there are plenty of others I'm forgetting.