It’s Andy here today. Ann is in OurLittleCorner celebrating a “helluva” town.
If you’ve followed my blog you should know by now that there is nothing that I enjoy more than a good pun. And you also should know that I suffer from what some might consider to be a severe case of CPD (Compulsive Pun Disorder), an affliction that distresses my family to no end – especially when we’re in public. So you can appreciate how excited I was coming across a 2017 Eater piece with the title, “Name of Groans: The Search for the Most Truly Awful Restaurant Name in America.”
Eater had solicited restaurant names from their readers and grouped the names that were submitted into four categories: Puns, Distressingly Sexual, Crimes Against Language, and Just Really Bad. To my way of thinking, the names in the pun category were far from “awful.” In fact, they were inspirational. Who wouldn’t want to try out a restaurant with a name like : A-Fish-o-na-do or Ciao Thyme or Fonduely Yours or Pork & Mindy’s or Thelonious Monkfish?
Actually I’ve set foot in very few pun-named restaurants. One of those was on a recent visit to New York where we had lunch at Pig and Khao (which has amazing food by the way). “Khao,” which means rice in Thai, is pronounced something like “cow.” Because the menu includes both pork and beef dishes I’m assuming the owners intended their restaurant name to be a pun; if they didn’t they should have.
Closer to home I can think of a couple more restaurants. Wild Flour, a bakery out toward the Pacific coast, is one my cycling club’s regular coffee stops. I can’t resist their fabulous scones. Then there’s Tacolicious that has been featured on a number of occasions here at BigLittleMeals.
But these few examples are a mere drop in the pun bucket when it comes to the number of restaurants across the nation (and beyond) which sport puns on their marquees. Clearly it’s time to update and expand the 2017 Eater list of pun-based restaurant names. My blog today is a modest contribution to that end.
After some serious searching I quickly concluded that there are far too many clever names to share in a single blog. So even though I understand that one person’s idea of a good pun can be another person’s idea of a dud, I’m going to put my reputation on the line and list some of the eating establishment names that “pickled” my fancy. To offer some pretense of rigor, I’ve organized my selections into six categories: 1 Famous People, 2 Other Languages, 3 Song Titles, 4 Movies/Books, 5 Musical Bands, and 6 Others Too Good To Leave Out. For each category I am designating my personal favorite, which may or may not be yours.
Famous People
- Dairy Godmother (Alexandria, VA)
- Mustard’s Last Stand (Denver, CO)
- Okra Winfrey (South Africa)
- Pita Pan (San Francisco, CA)
- Theloneous Monkfish (Cambridge, MA)
I got a kick out of each of these names but vacillated between Mustard’s Last Stand and Theloneous Monkfish as my favorite. Being a jazz fan tipped the scale in favor of Theloneous Monkfish.
Other Languages
- Beau Thai (Portland, OR)
- Ciao Thyme (Bellingham, WA)
- Taco the Town (London)
- Tacolicious (San Francisco, CA)
- Naan Stop (Isla Vista, CA)
- Naansense (Chicago, IL)
- Pig and Khao (Lower East Side, New York City)
- Pasta La Vista (San Francisco, CA)
There were a ton of eating establishments with names falling into this category making it difficult to narrow down. For obvious reasons I did not include names such as “Pho King” (with locations in Oakland, Davis, and San Jose, CA). To appreciate the pun – and to understand why it’s not listed – think about how to pronounce “Pho” (it’s “fuh”). As far as my favorite, I would rank Naansense slightly higher than Pasta La Vista
Songs
- Franks for the Memories (San Francisco, CA)
- Grill from Ipanema (Washington, DC)
- Crepevine (San Francisco, CA)
- I Dream of Weenie (Nashville, TN)
I loved all of these. I guess my choice has to be I Dream of Weenie because it got my biggest chuckle. Franks for the Memories wasn’t far behind.
BOOKS/MOVIES
- Aesops Table (St Paul, MN)
- Bean Me Up (Ocean City, MD)
- Lard of the Fries (Sidney, Australia)
- Olive or Twist (Ashville, NC)
- Pork and Mindy’s (Chicago, IL -recently closed)
- Planet of the Grapes (Nova Scotia)
The Australian sense of humor won me over for this category – for some reason Lard of the Fries brought a spontaneous laugh. Olive or Twist would have been my choice in terms of creativity.
MUSICAL GROUPS
- Bread Zeppelin (Dallas and Houston, TX)
- Grateful Bread (Seattle, WA)
- Rolling Scones (Nova Scotia)
While I include only three in this category, they are all solid puns. I’m tapping Rolling Scones as my favorite, but the other two are just a hair behind.
Others too good to leave out
- Lard Have Mercy (Austin, TX)
- Nimcomsoup (London, England)
- Pour Judgement (Newport, RI)
- Prawnbroker (Ft Myers, FL)
- The Bay Gull Store (Broad Channel, NY)
- Weener Take All (Buffalo Grovce, IL)
- Wok in the Park (St Louis Park, MN)
It took some hard soul searching to pare this residual category down to just seven names. Three of these are top contenders for my favorite: Lard Have Mercy, Weener Take All , and Pour Judgement. Because I’ve selected one restaurant name with “Weenie” and another with “Lard,” I will dub Pour Judgement the winner of this category. What a perfect name for a bar and grill!
HAVING YOUR PUN AND EATING IT TOO – A Collage
Let me know if you have your own favorite pun-based restaurant names .
Finally, to cap off today’s blog I’m including a recipe for Ann’s version of chicken larb, a popular dish in Thai and Lao cuisine. We call it Praise the Larb Salad.
Praise the Larb Salad
For the optional rice powder: toast 1/4 c jasmine rice over low heat, stirring, until it’s golden, about 8-10 minutes. Be careful; it will burn easily. Cool and then grind in a spice grinder until fine.
For the pickled topping
- 2 Persian cucumbers, cut in half length-wise and then sliced
- 1/2 medium-sized red onion, chopped
- 2 T seasoned rice vinegar
Mix the rice vinegar with the cucumbers and onion and set aside to marinate.
For the chicken
- 1 T vegetable oil
- 5 oz fresh spinach leaves -or 1/2 c chopped cilantro – or both
- 1 lb ground chicken (or ground pork or ground turkey)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 T fish sauce (or soy sauce)
- 3 T lime juice
- 1/4 c toasted and ground jasmine rice (see above); optional – but adds a lot
- 1 tsp brown sugar
- 1-3 tsp sriracha sauce or sambal oelek (or substitute 1 tsp red chili flakes)
- Chopped mint leaves and Thai basil leaves for serving (optional); lettuce to make a wrap (optional).
- Jasmine rice for serving.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the ground chicken and cook, breaking it apart and stirring frequently. When all of the pink is gone, add the spinach leaves and cook and stir until the spinach is wilted and mixed in. Add the garlic, green onions, fish sauce, lime juice, ground rice, brown sugar, and sriracha, and continue to cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt to taste.
Serve at room temperature over cooked and cooled jasmine rice or with lettuce for a wrap. Top with the pickled onion/cucumber mix and the chopped mint and basil.
Every one of these made me smile!
Better grins than groans, I think.
Unfortunately, and I don’t mean to BRAIN on your PUNRADE, Ciao Thyme in Bellingham is no longer putting food on the table (though they may still be offering cooking classes, etc.)
Thanks for braining on my punrade and setting me straight. It’s a good name regardless.
Back in our Denver Days (70s) there was a joint near our home named Muther Phukkars… It was gone when we drove past just 45 years later. Can’t imagine. Have no certain knowledge of their business plan but kinda guess it involved booze (drugs) and loud music.
Now that’s one of the less subtle names obscene (I’ve seen).