Restaurant consultant notes:
In general, Chinese restaurants try too hard to translate restaurant names “directly” into English. It does not work. They think in Chinese and translate into English.
Their focus: Attempting to seek wealth, they name their restaurants filled with countless so called prosperity words.
Should be focus: clean bathrooms, great food, great service, asking for community feedback
hence, you see restaurant names:
You Happy, I’m Happy
Joy Luck
Lucky Joy
Fortune You
Happy Village
Coming to a plaza near you!!
The following..
Happy U, Me 2
Blender Village (Brenda’s Village)
Touch My Heart
Touch My Heart Again
Friends 4 Ever
Fatman Returns
We cook! Hi five Man!!
Mr. Bling! Slogan: “We Never Sleep, Come in.”
Note: A GRAND OPENING sign on the fasçade on a Chinese restaurant translates to
“My uncle’s daughter has a friend who works in public relations in China and said that a bright funky ugly grand opening sign will increase business. Ling Ling told me to leave it up for at least….. 3 years”
Restaurant names are important. When patrons have good experiences, they want to tell their friends. So make the name easy to spell and easy to remember.
A great example is Panda Express. I met the founder Andrew Cherng a few years ago at his Pasadena office. It was the size of Costco. Not only is the restaurant name easy to remember, the menu is simple to understand. Read La Times interview.
Its true, keep it simple.
