I’ve been yakking about Sabatiello’s reality TV debut, and I just realized that the name of the restaurant annoys me. It’s too long- 5 syllables!- and the website describes the food as “eclectic” and “unexpected.” Well, “Sabatiello’s” says “old” and “same Italian food you’ll find anywhere else.”
Names matter! Here’s my short list of best and worst restaurant names:
Annoying:
Remo's (sounds like Nemo)
Paradise Grill (tacky)
Mackenizie’s Bar and Grill (already a Mackenzie’s in Greenwich!)
Dragonfly (way too trendy, but 10 years ago trendy, and therefore tacky)
Republic Grill (this name does not stand out, maybe because it makes me think of the Thai restaurant Republic in Union Square)
Good names:
Duo, Market, Tigin (nice, short, communicates restaurant theme)
Saltwater Grille (despite the pretentious e, every one loves the salty ocean)
Egane (unusual name matches unusual food style- Korean BBQ)
Not great if you think about it:
Plateau (if something plateaus, that’s a bad thing)
Fin II (I question naming a restaurant the equivalent of Fin Jr. The well-regarded original Fin is in Fairfield. Why not call this one Fin also, just like there are 3 Tengdas in Fairfield Co.?)
OK:
g/r/a/n/d (good with a dash of annoying because of the slashes)
Crabshell (neutral- “shell” implies dead, but “crab” conjures visions of a summer crab feast at a picnic table)
Telluride (nothing about the menu reminds me of a ski resort, but the name is unusual and memorable)
Siena (only 3 syllables and named after a popular tourist destination)
What have I missed? And which ones do you like/hate and why?
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Stamford's Best and Worst Restaurant Names
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2 comments:
Well, not to continue to dump on Sabatiello's, but it sounds like a place that would serve cheap, listeria-laden hoagies with a side of limp, greyish deli pickles.
Napa & Co is a restaurant I LOVE - but the name and the font that it's presented in on the building makes it look like an upscale jewelry store.
Ole Mole is a bad name for a place that serves such delicious and seemingly authentic Mexican takeout. It sounds like a cheap chain name.
Kit's Thai Kitchen - there is no actual Kit. But it does do a good job of making you THINK there's a Kit.
These are my 30 second thought nuggets. I will have to think on it over a glass of wine...
A glass of wine can help almost any endeavor. Sabatiello's is past hoagies... that's the prob. They're not hoagies but they're not Telluride... they've got to find their identity.
There is an actual Kit, miss lambira! But I'll let you find out who she is... a bit of a scavenger hunt for you.
You're right; Ole Mole sounds cheap but is so much better than that. It's simple, but so right.
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