Ask the experts — the consultants who work with corporations on naming new brands, for example — about how they come up with those names, and they will start talking about "conceptualizing the concept" and "developing criteria."

Perhaps that's a reasonable approach for laundry detergent. But restaurants are a different — altogether quirkier — matter, it seems. Although some restaurateurs do call upon the expertise of professional consultants, many others find the perfect names for their establishments in the most unlikely places.

You'd never guess it from the name, but Bourgeois Pig is a coffeehouse in Los Angeles. "We wanted a name that had nothing to do with coffee," explains Jody Epstein, one of the owners. But how did Epstein and her partner, Brad Benson, come up with Bourgeois Pig? "I lived in France for a while and had a French boyfriend," explains Epstein. "It's what I used to call him behind his back.."

While the boyfriend might have been less than thrilled if he had discovered his nickname, it seems to suit the coffeehouse just fine. "We're really happy with the name. People love it, it gets a lot of attention, and no one forgets it," says Epstein.

And that is the kind of name operators are looking for — an unforgettable name that attracts attention from potential customers and from the media. "Your restaurant's name is one of the most important communications you'll do," says Joseph Bona, president of CDI Group, Inc., a Bronx, New York-based design firm that often helps its restaurant and retail clients choose names for their businesses. "Your restaurant's name instantly tells people who you are and what you're about. It's the first thing people will react to, it forms their first impression."

Forsaking the namesake idea

Bonnie Foltz was looking for a fun name for her restaurant. "Bonnie's Cafe just didn't do anything for me," she explains. Foltz found inspiration one day while sitting in her living room surrounded by her collection of pigs, which includes porcelain pigs, wooden pigs, pigs on potholders, pigs on place mats, pigs of every kind and shape.

"It just came to me that I should name it Bonnie's Pig Pen Cafe. My kids agreed with me on the name," she says.

And evidently so do her customers in the tiny town of Leon, Kansas, population 600. Two years after opening, Bonnie's Pig Pen Cafe is home to a 125-piece pig collection, many of them brought in by customers. "Customers get a kick out of it," says Foltz. "They bring me back pigs from when they go on vacation."

Hand-me-down monikers

Some restaurateurs say they never had to think up a name.

In the case of Dona Abramson and Stuart Tarabour, their restaurant's name came with the location. Their restaurant site, a former coffee shop located on a corner in New York City, came with a circa 1937 neon sign that read "Bright Food Shop." They decided that the sign — one of the oldest in the city — was perfect for the restaurant they were planning: a casual place serving Mexican, Southwestern and Asian food.

"We don't know if there was a Mr. and Mrs. Bright, or if its name came from the fact that it's on the corner and has so many windows," says Abramson, but the Bright Food Shop name continues to bring in customers.

Ron Silberstein knew that he had found the perfect name for a brewpub when he read a newspaper article about a bear that had escaped from a circus in the Ukraine. According to the story, the bear entered a pub, stole a patron's beer and then fell asleep in the park next door after drinking it. Silberstein and his partners, Ragnhild Lorentzen and Pablo Zubicaray, decided to dub their newly opened San Francisco brewpub the ThirstyBear Brewing Company. Customers' reactions? "It's easy to remember, and it adds a sense of fun," says Steve Grant, the brewpub's general manager.

A good name equals good business

Selecting the proper appellation is one key to a restaurant's success. Lettuce Entertain You, a Chicago-based restaurant company, has come up with dozens of colorful names for its numerous successful operations. The names, including Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba, Pizzaahhh! and Mity Nice Grill, reflect the unique character of each restaurant.

But the methods used to come up with the names were pretty informal. The company's first restaurants were named R. J. Grunts: R. for president Richard Melman, J. for Jerry Orsoff, his partner, and Grunts because, well, because Orsoff's girlfriend supposedly grunted when she ate.

Another restaurant name came from a conversation at a cocktail party. "A man whose first name was Fritz was coming up with restaurant names. At one of them, someone else said, 'Fritz, that's it!' and I said, 'No, that's it,'" remembers Melman. And so Fritz, That's It became a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant.

As the Lettuce Entertain You name itself suggests, Melman's company went through a period where it based restaurant names on puns. It opened restaurants called Lawrence of Oregano and Jonathan Livingston Seafood. "We may have even gotten a phone call from the author on that one," says Melman. "We changed it to Jonathan's."

Even if the author hadn't called, Melman says he was tiring of those names. "They were fun when we first started," he says. "Then everyone started doing it and we tired of it. That was a long time ago. But it does show that having a sense of humor can be profitable."

A picture is worth a thousand words

So, how do you know if the name you just thought up is one that will work — not just in the current market, but for years and years?

Dave Gordon, immediate past chairman of the American Marketing Association, has a simple suggestion. "Tell people the name you're thinking of and have them describe how they picture the restaurant. Who are the people there? What is the menu like? What are the waiters like? That way, you will arrive at a name that is consistent with what you are trying to do," he says. "In reality, you don't have to do a big research project. Ask some people you know, some people you don't, friends, neighbors, people who fit the demographic for your restaurant."

Joseph Bona offers this advice: "Never focus on and fall in love with the first name you think of, because often you'll find that the name you love best can't be registered or the customer doesn't react to it."

Bona finds that coming up with a name is the toughest part of his work. "Naming is one of the most personal decisions to make," he says. "Even the design [of the restaurant] is more objective."

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