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Name for a Southern Restaurant (Update at end)
Lardalish
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok, so Im in culinary school as some of you may know and in one of my classes we are starting our major project. This project consists of me creating a restaurant and everything I need to run it. The class I'm in deals with only the menu though and other classes will cover the other parts. What I need is a name for it. I can't think of anything right now, so I could use some suggestions to help me brainstorm.
Some stuff about the restaurant (such that If figured out so far)
* its a southern food restaurant, good ol southern cooking. Fried chicken, slow cooked ribs, fresh veggies, all that good stuff
* I plan on it being around the Kanki / Cheesecake Factory range of expense / class (somethin where you wanna dress up nice, but not anything black tie, Im thinking the average check will be around 40-50 per person).
* I'm thinking maybe using my last name somehow might be a good idea (Humble).
Basically this is just brainstorming and since I don't have to pick a real name for a while, I have to have something for the assignment thats due on Thursday. I googled around for a bit to brainstorm and most of what I found were things like "Troy's Place" or "Judy's Place" and so on, so that didn't really help. Plus it doesn't exactly sound right for what I'm going for.
Some stuff about the restaurant (such that If figured out so far)
* its a southern food restaurant, good ol southern cooking. Fried chicken, slow cooked ribs, fresh veggies, all that good stuff
* I plan on it being around the Kanki / Cheesecake Factory range of expense / class (somethin where you wanna dress up nice, but not anything black tie, Im thinking the average check will be around 40-50 per person).
* I'm thinking maybe using my last name somehow might be a good idea (Humble).
Basically this is just brainstorming and since I don't have to pick a real name for a while, I have to have something for the assignment thats due on Thursday. I googled around for a bit to brainstorm and most of what I found were things like "Troy's Place" or "Judy's Place" and so on, so that didn't really help. Plus it doesn't exactly sound right for what I'm going for.
Lardalish on
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OK, I get it, I'm not really giving you the advice you're looking for. But I initially was thinking that Humble's would actually be a really nice name for a Southern restaurant. Vaguely religious enough to pull in those types but still casual enough to have a mom n' pop feel. Unfortunately, this is where I'm hitting the conflict. I'm assuming you want this to have an upscale name as well, right?
That creates an association with Applebee's, which is not a good thing.
You probably want something with just a name in the possessive. One of the classic soul food restaurants in Atlanta is called Carver's, for instance.
But if you could make it work, something simple might be nice. Something like:
"Home"
"Traditions"
"Stick to your Ribs"
Yeah, I see what you mean and I might change my aim to a more "homey" feel if I don't think it's working out. But right now I think I like the, I dunno, angle? Of me having good southern cooking, but having it have some class to it. I know I'm going to have to address the tendency of some southern to be messy, and I actually look forward to that challenge. Im thinking maybe the ribs will literally be fall off the bone and have the bones actually be garnish, or an open faced pork sandwich. I dunno, I don't need specific food ideas just yet.
Also, 40-50 might not be a good estimate, I'm thinking 20-30 for entrees with desserts and appetizers and such making up the other 10-20. Then again I dunno if the average person gets both a dessert and an appetizer.
Now, as for the names, Humblebee's is kinda awesome with the logo idea attached, but for the feel I'm going for if I went with that, it probably wouldn't be that cartoony, maybe just a stylized bee buzzing around the name.
Humble's is pretty nice, I think it fits alright, its not like The Cheesecake Factory is all that fancy of a name. At least I don't think so.
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
Ooh, good point.
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
Really, it doesn't matter if I'm spending 10 dollars or 50, I don't want to be thinking about flys near my food.
I would like to look at taking classic southern dishes and scaling them up somehow. I'm thinking about that now and while I don't have anything much to show for it yet, I think I can do it. Like maybe do a pork chop recipe but use tenderloin instead of the typical chop. Like I said, Im just brainstorming right now.
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
Ok, thats two good suggestions against Humblebee's, sorry primedape.
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
Nah, this project, when its done, is supposed to be completed to the point where I could take it to the bank and get a loan. Well, assuming that I had the experience to be able to run it. So I wouldn't be able to just steal the idea.
Jordan of Elienor, Human Shaman
Lardalish
It's got lard in it, much like a lot of southern cooking (Granted, it's not very healthy. But then, few people eat southern cooking for it's health benefits).
It even ends in "dalish" which sounds an awful lot like "Delicious".
Failing that, maybe get a map of the region and see what small towns have names that start with H. Toss Humble in front of that and see how it looks? May be a good way to integrate the region with your name.
It is fancy-ish and solidly southern. Plus it comes from French, which is good for a restaurant.
Well, that's why I wasn't suggesting you rip it off, just consider it as place to start, then add your own take and change it.
"Southern Pride?"
Magnolia?
Seersucker's?
Magnolia State = Mississippi
The issue is that the ingredients in Southern food are generally not expensive--so if you're going to charge $40-$50 a person (which is definitely high-end), you need to justify the cost. That means re-imagining Southern favorites with gourmet ingredients, or basically making the best tasting ribs anyone in the country has ever tasted. That's a pretty daunting task either way.
that sounds familiar though, so it might be taken.
That is not a good idea.
Don't forget this: the south likes meat, potatoes, corn, and lots of sweet tea. There's a restaurant named "Bob's Steak and Chop House" that does essentially what you're looking to do, but it's way more expensive.
While it seems ludicrous for people without much money to pay that much for "southern" food, PLENTY of rich people WILL. It's a class divide, more than anything. However, if you're looking to diversify and want to do more than a steak restaurant, you'll need to come up with some REALLY good pot roast recipes, including melt-in-your-mouth sides. It can be done (see Bob's), but it's going to be more setting than substance that drives this restaurant. Oh, and quick service. The rich don't like to wait.
alternatly, look in the Encyclopedia of the Blues and pick a good sounding first and last name and put them together.
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I know this isn't the advice you wanted, but there is no fried chicken on the planet that is good enough to cost $30-$40.
Also, my vote goes to "Dirty Souf" for the name of the restaurant.
It's somewhat of a risk, and if not executed perfectly could bomb horribly. But if it can be pulled off, it would make for a pretty interesting and unique restaurant.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
Seriously though, one possible place to look is to name your restaurant after Southern architecture styles. Gingerbread Houses and Cracker Houses are fairly iconic of southern houses. Maybe something like that. Another style of architecture you see in New Orleans is the "Painted Ladies", though they are more iconic of San Francisco than the South.
How about "The Drawing Room"? The drawing room was the room in which a person would entertain his guests and it was quite common for Southern manses to have drawing rooms where the host would entertain his guests .
Pies are big. And to people criticising the $40-50, he's talking about total bill at the end of the night. For many restaurants, that includes an alcohol beverage, so a $20 entree, shared $8 appetizer, $5-10 beverage, and $9 dessert is definitely in that range. That's the full course. Of course you can eat there for under $20 if you order just an entree and drink water.
And I definitely think there's a defining line between "high quality southern food" and "soul food," not that soul food is low quality but that people expect soul food to be cheap. If you sell it as southern-style cuisine, that can mean you have tasty corn breads as your "freebie," a la many italian places that give people free bread. Good gravies, high quality sauces, and so on, can make the difference between feeling that their bill was worth it, even at the $15-$20 entree range.