When opening a new restaurant, finding the perfect name for your business can be challenging. You want to find something that sums up your vision and lets potential customers know what they can expect when they eat at your new place. The perfect restaurant name will also be catchy and easy to remember.
Thinking of restaurant name ideas can be tricky, especially if you don’t have branding or copywriting experience. Yes, you could hire an expert to develop a few restaurant name ideas for you — but you know your business better than anyone else. It’s your baby, after all!
If you want to create a great restaurant name, we’re here to help. We’ve put together some essential tips to help you brainstorm the ideal name, no matter what type of restaurant business you run. Use our step-by-step guide to help you brainstorm catchy names, and take inspiration from our examples.
Finding the perfect name is an essential part of opening a new restaurant.
The best restaurant names reflect the ambiance and style of the restaurant itself. They can reflect the restaurant’s mission statement and give customers a clear idea of the type of restaurant they’re visiting.
A good restaurant name also helps you create a brand identity for customers to engage with. Think of the most famous businesses around the world — you likely identify the business names with the type of product being sold or the service being offered. The word “Google” sounds futuristic and high-tech, and so are the services the company provides.
Think of your restaurant’s name as essential to your branding and marketing strategy. You can use the name in your website’s domain name and on your social media accounts to make it easier for customers to find you online. You can also use it on posters, business cards, and any other printed media to promote your business. None of this is possible without a name for your food business.
By now, you should understand why a unique restaurant name can help your business. We’ll now help you develop restaurant name ideas by providing an easy step-by-step guide that should help get your creative juices flowing.
When coming up with restaurant name ideas, your first step should be to think about the style of restaurant you’ll open and the type of cuisine you’ll serve. A steakhouse should have a different kind of name than a pizzeria, and fast-food restaurant names will have a different vibe than fine-dining restaurant names.
The type of food and ambiance you want to create will impact the style of name that will work best in your restaurant. If you’re opening a casual-dining restaurant or a relaxed food truck, you might want to include a pun in the name that will help diners remember you — but this likely isn’t the right choice for fancy restaurants. Try to avoid cheesy names and puns for high-end restaurants.
Reread the mission statement in your restaurant business plan, and keep it in mind while thinking of restaurant name ideas.
Next, do some research into your target audience. The perfect brand name for your restaurant will appeal to your ideal potential customers, so they should be included in the decision process.
Think about the demographic you’re looking to attract and how you can create a dining experience they’ll enjoy. Many business owners like to develop a persona for their ideal customers. They imagine them as real people and think of ways to market to them.
With a customer persona in mind, you can sketch out a complete brand identity for your restaurant. Develop a brand voice — the tone in which you’ll “talk” to your customers in marketing materials, on menus, and on your website.
You can then use this brand identity and tone of voice to help you narrow down restaurant name ideas. Ensure the brand name you choose fits with the tone and your overall branding strategy.
To start generating ideas for names, create a mind map. Write down all the words you associate with your restaurant, using these different categories to help you:
The cuisine type
The ingredients you use and their provenance
The dish names on your menu
The atmosphere you want to create
The target customer and their likes and dislikes
Adjectives you’d use to describe your restaurant
By writing down as many words as you can think of that describe your restaurant, you’ll have a list of potential adjectives you can use in your restaurant name — or at least an idea of where to start.
If you’re serving food from a different country, you can also include words from that language — add Spanish adjectives to your list if you’re opening a Mexican restaurant, for example.
Think of this step as the final stage in gathering information and inspiration.
With a list of words and phrases ready to inspire you, it’s time to start thinking of restaurant names. If you’re still struggling for ideas, plug your list of words into a restaurant name generator or an AI tool. It might not create the perfect name for your restaurant, but it could spark some ideas for you.
When you’re first thinking of restaurant name ideas, you don’t need to be picky. There’s no such thing as a bad idea, so write down everything you can think of and narrow it down later.
Once you have a few options for restaurant names you like, it’s time to make your choice. Remember to think about your ideal customer and how they’d react to each restaurant name you think of. Will it make them want to come inside?
To help you in your restaurant naming journey, we’ve pulled together a few creative restaurant name ideas you can use as inspiration.
Here are a few options for Italian restaurant names:
Giovanni’s Trattoria
Ristorante da Maria
Our Family Osteria
Tuscany Taverna
Nonna’s Cucina
Here are a few American restaurant name ideas:
Southern Comfort Kitchen
The All-American Smokehouse
BBQ Boulevard
Liberty Bell Brasserie
New York Slice
Here are a few French restaurant name ideas:
Bistro d’Amour
The Parisian Plate
Bon Appétit
Chez Pierre
Le Brasserie
Here are some Chinese restaurant name ideas:
Wok & Roll
The Noodle House
The Pavilion
The Red Lantern
Szechuan Palace
Here are a few Mexican restaurant name ideas:
Fiesta Flavours
The Burrito Boys
La Terraza de Tacos
La Cocina
Casa de Mamá
Once you’ve come up with the perfect name for your new restaurant, you can open the doors to your eatery and start an effective marketing plan to get customers through the door. Whether you run a Greek taverna or a Thai takeout spot, the perfect restaurant name will help you drum up business and develop a loyal customer following.
KioskBuddy makes life easy for restaurant owners looking to set up a self-service station in their eateries. Simply download the app, and let customers place and pay for their own orders in a few quick taps. It’s quick to set up, and you can include elements of your restaurant’s branding — including your restaurant name — on the kiosk display.
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