Ever wonder what goes into naming a restaurant? It could be something as simple as tacking your own last name onto the awning, or finding a word in another language that perfectly describes the place's vibe — with that extra foreign quality, of course.
But what happens when a name goes very, very wrong? It could be lost in translation, or simply a double entendre that doesn't quite strike everyone's fancy.
“Every new opening I deal with wants to have a catchy name,” Maureen Mills of Network London, a restaurant PR company, told The Economist. “There are three rules: make sure it’s not rude, people can spell it, and it’s not in an obscure language.”
We took a look at some of the biggest restaurant name fails in the world, and were pretty surprised at how easily they were found. Have one near you to add? Let us know in the comments below:
Restaurant Name Fails
What: Dirty Dick's Crab House
Where: Various locations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida
Type of restaurant: Seafood
Fail type: Innuendo to the max
What: Fu King Chinese Restaurant
Where: Lake City, Florida
Type of restaurant: Chinese food (obviously)
Fail type: Language barrier
What: The Chocolate Log
Where: McLeod Ganj, India
Type of restaurant: Dessert and coffee shop
Fail type: Unfortunate mental image
What: Soon Fatt Chinese Takeaway
Where: Dublin, Ireland
Type of restaurant: Chinese food
Fail type: Hits a little too close to home
What: The Spotted Dick
Where: Toronto, Ontario
Type of restaurant: Pub
Fail type: Gives perpetual fear of pub's toilets
What: Pu Pu Hot Pot
Where: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Type of restaurant: Chinese Restaurant
Fail type: Just imagine telling a friend that's where you're going to eat
What: Poopsie's
Where: Pembroke,
Type of restaurant: Sport's bar.
Fail type: A restaurant is not a 3-year-old girl with pigtails
What: Chickpizz
Where: Stoke Newington, London
Type of restaurant: Chicken and pizza
Fail type: All words are not meant to be shortened
What: A & K Lick-A-Chick
Where: Little Bras D'Or, Nova Scotia
Type of restaurant: Chicken house
Fail type: Both in the animal and human form, this just sounds gross.
What: The Slug And Lettuce
Where: Various locations across the U.K.
Type of restaurant: Brunch, lunch and snacks.
Fail type: We'd all like to pretend there are no insects in the produce
What: Captain Poo's
Where: North Myrtle Bch, South Carolina
Type of restaurant: Bar and grill
Fail type: An "h" at the end of Poo would have helped -- this one's too explicit
What: Cabbages & Condoms
Where: Bangkok, Thailand
Type of restaurant: Asian cuisine (and a space to raise awareness about family planning)
Fail type: At least your food will be protected
What: Butty Boys
Where: London, England
Type of restaurant: Sandwiches and more
Fail type: Immature sense of humour alert
What: Beaver Tail
Where: Across Canada
Type of restaurant: Pastries
Fail type: In no way conveys the deliciousness of deep-fried pastry, and instead brings to mind dead pelts
What: Jamaican Cuisine Jerk Spot
Where: Orlando, Florida
Type of restaurant: Jamaican cuisine
Fail type: Let's put it this way -- would you want to tell someone you met your soulmate there?