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Help on name for a new restaurant

8K views 46 replies 14 participants last post by  durangojo 
#1 ·
Not sure if this is the right forum for this thread. I would love your opininons. I am about to open a restaurant, at the beginning it was only going to be pizza, pastas and italian desserts... but necessities have changed and I am expanding the menu. My pizzas will be cooked on a brick oven with wood, I will have pastas, a few dishes with chicken and beef, hamburguers, soups, salads, all kinds of desserts and more...

I am down to two names which me and my wife like both, if you have any idea of a different one of if you like one of the names below, please let me know.

One name is Al dente and the other one is Gourmet Express

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
#5 ·
I apologize I was not specific enough.  The restaurant will be in Mexico and I checked there are not too many restaurants with that name...

As far as Gourmet express with the express on the name do you get the feeling that is fast food?  Or the name just plain sucks? haha... I would like to use the word gourmet on the name if possible, but I am open to new ideas.

Thanks all.
 
#6 ·
I apologize I was not specific enough. The restaurant will be in Mexico and I checked there are not too many restaurants with that name...

As far as Gourmet express with the express on the name do you get the feeling that is fast food?
Gourmet Express does suggest fast food. As for using the word gourmet, I can't really comment on that due to a conflict of interest/img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
 
#7 ·
"Al dente" would lead me to believe that the restaurant is chiefly a pasta restaurant. If that's not the case, you may want to rethink that one. "Gourmet Express" sounds like something you would get at an airport when you're in a hurry. Personally, I think the use of "gourmet" in the name of a restaurant is a bit conceited as well.
 
#9 ·
where in Mexico. are you after tourists? gourmet express is probably taken world wide but I think it denoted franchise. If your going for authentic cusine

then tell em what you got. Hole in the wall, grandmas table, Firehouse Pies, of course I love the name Panini!! etc.
 
#13 ·
Italian ! Lost in Mexico
 
#14 ·
I am in Nogales, which is right across the border from Arizona.  This restaurant will serve no turists at all, mostly locals.  The reason, I would not want italy on the name is because I will have other stuff on the menu that is not italian.  At the beginning it would've been good, but now around 60% of the menu is italian... the rest is not.  I even have tamales on the menu.  I have chocolate tamales with crystallized orange, this are consider somehow gourmet tamales if there is such thing as gourmet tamal.  I also have some kabobs made with chicken, bacon, zucchini and onion and before serving I put some tamarind salsa on top.

I also have hamburguers... I have one with pinneaple, one that I put some chipotle salsa, so it is not your regular hamburguer. 

Thanks all for your contributions
 
#18 · (Edited)
I don't understand. Why are you looking for an English name? What's wrong with something Spanish? If you like the idea of "gourmet" as a way of talking about elevated and original food, in Spanish it's not nearly as hackneyed or problematic. Take the examples "La Sibarita" or "Gastronomo Andale!" for instance. Either is far better than "Gouremet Express," and both give a better idea of what you're up to than "Al Dente."

"Alfonso Diente's" is kind of cute. So are "Cafe Alfonso Diente," and "Diente de Alfonso." The more I think about it the more Al grows on me. Un vato simpatico, no?

Buena suerte,
BDL

PS. Of course there are "gourmet" tamales, in the way you mean "gourmet." But just remember that the term "gourmet" has negative connotations in the US. Because it was so overused in the seventies and eighties, it now makes us suspicious that someone is trying to sell something not very good.
 
#19 ·
I am not necessarily looking for a name in English.  Gourmet is the same in english and spanish and Al dente is a world wide expression.  I am right across the border from the US, so having a name in english is not a weird thing here since there is a lot of influence from the US.  I do not care if the name is in English, Spanish, French or Italian as long as it's a good name.

Oh and why Alfonso? haha who is Alfonso?  :)
 
#20 ·
Since restaurants fail very fast Instead of    I-Hop   call it   I- Hope.
 
#23 · (Edited)
esoltero,

ther must be no air on your planet...sorry, i just gotta say this.....are you friggin' nuts to open a restaurant on the border? you may as well just paint a bullseye on yourself....just let me know where to send the flowers or a charity donation...you sure about this? i have passed through nogales many, many times on our way to san carlos or bahia kino...you notice, i said passed through, as in did not stop, never, ever, even to go to the bathroom. friends, people i know and ourselves go as quickly through nogales as we can, and never at night. the locals are packing up and the tourists don't hang out. did you inherit the place or something? are you or your wife mexican? not that it matters to the cartels...it's right up there with juarez, tijuana and nuevo laredo for drug violence......why not go across the border to nogales, arizona...least there you would have a fighting chance.....maybe you should name it 'comida pasada'.....

bueno suerte, for sure...okay, sunday sermon over

joey
 
#24 ·
Well, that was a piece of encouragement!!

Go for it bro, but nix the Italian.

I personally think you should offer local menu at a reasonable price.

Just make yourself an option for cooking at home to just a convience.
 
#26 ·
One if the first rules of business is that the name of the business should tell you everything that you need to know about the business. Taco bell for example indicates that they sell tacos. Pick some that is relative but not necessarily catchy.

Personally, I like "Al dente express" which would indicate quick Italian foods.
 
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