Not just for coffee shops and hair salons any more!
June 6, 2008 11:07 AM   Subscribe

 
I like this one better.
posted by porn in the woods at 11:11 AM on June 6, 2008




Errr....the boner link is NSFW (which...duh) if you click next. (Note to HR: Or so I heard.)

I don't get "Pizza Heart".
posted by DU at 11:19 AM on June 6, 2008


Seaside's own Pho King! Unremarkable Pho, but the raw beef salad is worth a visit. Bonus- someone just opened up a Bad Ass Coffee franchise right up the block.
posted by squalor at 11:22 AM on June 6, 2008


...and speaking of Pho, does anybody know the location of this establishment?
posted by squalor at 11:26 AM on June 6, 2008


I don't get "Pizza Heart".

That is an odd one. Maybe it's a take-off of "Pizza Hut"?
posted by cog_nate at 11:29 AM on June 6, 2008


Aweseome - Merchant of Tennis is right here in LA on La Cienega.
posted by forallmankind at 11:29 AM on June 6, 2008


That's a Pizza ::My:: Heart (Funny, there's a chain of those in Northern California too!)
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:32 AM on June 6, 2008


Check out Shop Horror (the site and the book) for a very nice, if groan-inducing list. Don't get me wrong, I love puns, but some of them will make your toenails curl up in horror... ("Pinedemonium Interiors"? "Wooden It Be Nice"? "The Better Hearth"? "From Here To Maternity"? Arrrgh...)
posted by PontifexPrimus at 11:35 AM on June 6, 2008 [1 favorite]


There's a hair salon in my town called "Locks Landing". Not only terrible (as in "not good") pun, but I always think it's a locksmith.
posted by DU at 11:39 AM on June 6, 2008


Great stuff here!

There's a coffee & sandwich shop in my town called "Latte Dah."
posted by Dr-Baa at 11:40 AM on June 6, 2008


My grandma worked in a Curl Up and Dye in Houghton Lake, Michigan for years. I always loved that name.
posted by yodelingisfun at 11:40 AM on June 6, 2008


The guy at Master Bait & Tackle must hate answering the phone.
posted by rusty at 11:48 AM on June 6, 2008


What, no Miso Hungry?
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:48 AM on June 6, 2008


Been trying to find a photo of our area's Chinese takeout place You-A-Carry-Out-A, but no avail. You'll have to take my word on it.
posted by jbickers at 11:50 AM on June 6, 2008


Idea for a donut shop: Natural Born Crullers. (OK, maybe not a good idea.)
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 11:50 AM on June 6, 2008


Ohh, I used to get drunk at lunch on Fridays at the bar next to Fi-Dough (#20). Decent steak sandwiches, too. The bar, not Fi-Dough. Although they might have had steak sandwiches, too. I never asked.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:53 AM on June 6, 2008


(Also, now I live around the corner from a shoe store called "Shoe Nuf.")
posted by uncleozzy at 11:59 AM on June 6, 2008


I know it's not as clever, but I crack up every time I drive by DICK PHARMACY.
posted by TrialByMedia at 12:03 PM on June 6, 2008


How about Ho Lee Chow?

There's a place in Vancouver called Dick's Lumber. I always thought their slogan should have been "We've got wood."
posted by wabbittwax at 12:05 PM on June 6, 2008 [3 favorites]


Around here we have "Pete's A-Place." Prince's Pizzeria with a Leaning Tower of Pizza on the roof. I remember a French hair salon named "Volt'hair" as well.
posted by mkb at 12:08 PM on June 6, 2008


Unintentional, but there's a Chinese buffet right down the street from my favorite disc golf course called Fu Xing Buffet, which we of course pronounce as "Fucksing buffet". Really the joke never gets old. Probably the best Fucksing joke was when some of my friends actually ate there after being out on the course getting baked and drinking beer in the sun all day. One of the guys completely gorged himself, came back to my house, and passed out on the couch for a few hours. When he woke up he looked around and said, "Man, I was just in a Fucksing coma there." "Fucksing coma" is now our official term for food-induced stupor.
posted by baphomet at 12:08 PM on June 6, 2008 [2 favorites]


It's in Vancouver... :)
posted by anthill at 12:09 PM on June 6, 2008


I'm a big fan of the Hung Far Low building in Portland.
posted by TrialByMedia at 12:10 PM on June 6, 2008 [1 favorite]


Asian restaurant in Buena Park, LA:

Mai Dung

I s**t you not....

don't have a picture though.
posted by dibblda at 12:13 PM on June 6, 2008


I've always wanted to open a joke shop.
posted by Eideteker at 12:15 PM on June 6, 2008


There's a concrete repair business in town here whose slogan is "Your Hole is Our Goal". They put it on the trucks and everything. Wish I had a photo.
posted by echo target at 12:15 PM on June 6, 2008


I don't get "Pizza Heart".

Actully, I think it's Pizza My Heart, which I suspect is a play on "piece of my heart."
posted by SteveInMaine at 12:17 PM on June 6, 2008


In Seattle there used to be a carpet and flooring business called David Fuxon Carpets. This was back in the 40s and 50s. Not punny but perhaps unfortunate.

Across the lake in Bellevue there is the What the Pho! Vietnamese restaurant.
posted by bz at 12:22 PM on June 6, 2008


which I suspect is a play on "piece of my heart."

You want a piece of my heart? You better start from the start.
posted by uncleozzy at 12:25 PM on June 6, 2008


There's a "Do Drop Inn" right up the street from me.

I suspect that's a lot more common than most of the ones on the list, however.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:25 PM on June 6, 2008


Thaiphoon
posted by Pollomacho at 12:34 PM on June 6, 2008


Bunghole liquors is in Salem MA right across from the Nathaniel Hawthorn National Park. That's some good writin.
posted by Gungho at 12:39 PM on June 6, 2008


There was (is?) a motel in South Burlington, VT called Pacific View Motel. It does not have a view of the Pacific Ocean (of course) but it had a nice view of the Pacific gas station next door.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:39 PM on June 6, 2008


In North Bay, Ontario: "Mosey On Inn"
posted by Shfishp at 12:48 PM on June 6, 2008


Always liked Let's Get Stoned, a masonry/stonework business in the 'burbs of Philly.
posted by medeine at 12:49 PM on June 6, 2008


Toronto has a Vietnamese soup shop called Pho Xe Lua - translated: "Pho Train"
posted by anthill at 12:54 PM on June 6, 2008


Sorry, that should be Pho Train
posted by anthill at 12:56 PM on June 6, 2008


just a note anthill - it's pronounced like "fuh", not like "foe"...so the soul train reference might be a stretch.
posted by gnutron at 12:59 PM on June 6, 2008


Oakland used to have a cafe/lunch spot called the Edible Complex, which I always thought was pretty clever. My favorite though was a restaurant down by the freeway which, while it lasted, was horribly and hilariously called Sophie's Choice, I assume in ignorance of the book and movie. I wonder if they served Polish food, or maybe just water and stale bread.
posted by tula at 1:04 PM on June 6, 2008


Yeah, but how many roundeyes know that?
posted by anthill at 1:04 PM on June 6, 2008


I've been living in this city too damn long. I recognised Juan in a Million right away, and I never even go into East Austin.
posted by spamguy at 1:09 PM on June 6, 2008


Yes, it's a pun on "Piece of my heart."

What I wouldn't give to have a slice of their prima pizza right now. Best slice in California!
posted by numinous at 1:19 PM on June 6, 2008


Toronto has a Vietnamese soup shop called Pho Xe Lua - translated: "Pho Train" Pho Xe Lua is a very common menu item at Pho places.
posted by TrialByMedia at 1:30 PM on June 6, 2008


I liked 'William the Concreter' when I saw it but when somebody pointed out the address (1066), well that's just genius!
posted by TwoWordReview at 1:44 PM on June 6, 2008 [3 favorites]


I swear to god that there was once, in Las Vegas, a Vietnamese restaurant called "pho chien," and it was right next to a veterinarian's office

I passed it up, for obvious reasons, but it really was there in about 1995 or so
posted by fourcheesemac at 1:45 PM on June 6, 2008


There's a place called Well Laid Carpet in Richmond VA; I've always wanted to see them spin off a business named Well Hung Wallpaper.
posted by newmoistness at 1:46 PM on June 6, 2008 [2 favorites]


There is a shop not far from my house called Mrs. Sippy's Coffee. I'm embarrassed to admit that I had to drive past it two or three times before I caught the pun.
posted by quin at 1:51 PM on June 6, 2008


In Santa Cruz, there was a store called MMM Carpets. I managed to drive that belabored lol lotta lesbians here joke well into the ground! :P
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 1:59 PM on June 6, 2008 [2 favorites]


I live around the corner from Phat Phuc Noodle Bar and R. Soles boot shop. Darwin's Deli: the natural selection recently moved from South Kensington (right by all the science museums!) to Pimlico. Further afield in Clapham is a probably-unintentional-but-hilarious Chinese takeaway called Man Ho.
posted by Pallas Athena at 2:03 PM on June 6, 2008


About a decade ago I used to get a kick out of a driving school on Union Avenue in Flushing, NY called "Boom Boom Driving School". They've since shut down but here's the only evidence of left of their hilarious existence (scroll down)

I should have taken a picture of that billboard...
posted by any major dude at 2:15 PM on June 6, 2008


I'm surprised people would pick names with negative connotations for their business. Two examples from the article -- "Curl up and dye" and "Thai-tanic".
posted by jrockway at 2:18 PM on June 6, 2008


Pallas, I totally know a guy named Man Ho. His brother is actually a MeFite. No shit.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:19 PM on June 6, 2008


My first waitressing job was at a restaurant in San Diego called Pasta La Vista.
posted by miss lynnster at 2:20 PM on June 6, 2008


Okay, the Dew Drop Inn was funny when it first was used back in the early part of the 20th century, but really. Pizza My Heart? Curl Up & Dye? Isn't this all a bit hackneyed by now?
posted by Mental Wimp at 2:21 PM on June 6, 2008


I once lived near a bridal shop that was named "A Speck of Class"
posted by R. Mutt at 2:22 PM on June 6, 2008


Did any place actually use the name "Curl Up and Dye" before the Blues Brothers made the joke?
posted by quin at 2:23 PM on June 6, 2008


...but really. Pizza My Heart? Curl Up & Dye? Isn't this all a bit hackneyed by now?

BLASPHEMY!
posted by numinous at 2:34 PM on June 6, 2008


"Master Bait and Tackle"? "Public Hair"? "The Dick Liquor" (my personal fave)? Are you serious? Life imitates the Grand Theft Auto universe. I half expected to see Rusty Brown's Ring Donuts or the Glory Hole amusement park.
posted by DecemberBoy at 2:59 PM on June 6, 2008


Yo, it wouldn't be The Simpsons without the awful business name puns:

A Bug's Death Exterminators
Bloodbath & Beyond Gun Shop
Call Me Delish-mael
Hairy Shearers
It's a Wonderful Knife
Much Ado About Muffins
Nuts Landing Dog Neutering
Paté LaBelle
Sales from the Crypt
Sportacus
Teenage Pasteland
The French Confection
The OK Car-al (Canyonero Dealership)
The Perm Bank
Turn Your Head and Coif
Up, Up and Buffet
You Thai Now
posted by dgaicun at 3:16 PM on June 6, 2008 [2 favorites]


Punny names with "thai" are just too cheap to be funny. No challenge at all, and every city has a handful of those idiotic examples. How any got on a "50 best list" shows how moronically lazy the list is.

We had a place called "curl up and dye" in my very unfunny hometown (Hammond, Indiana) that advertised in my high school's yearbook, and I graduated in 1982. So maybe this list is really for the most uncreative puns?
posted by ethnomethodologist at 3:18 PM on June 6, 2008


Near my old house in Indianapolis, there was a holy-roller church called "The Emmanuel House of Prayer." Next door, someone started a beauty salon called "The Emmanuel House of Hair."
posted by bookish at 3:37 PM on June 6, 2008 [1 favorite]



Yo, it wouldn't be The Simpsons without the awful business name puns:


Aw, you forgot my favorite:

Otto walks out of a cookware store named "Stoner's Pot Palace".
Otto: "Man, that's blatant false advertising!"
posted by DecemberBoy at 3:49 PM on June 6, 2008


How any got on a "50 best list" shows how moronically lazy the list is.

Dude, it's not the 50 best novels. It's a list of restaurant name puns. Some are lazy, some are great, all are puns.
posted by ORthey at 3:52 PM on June 6, 2008


A stumptown (aka the Amsterdam of the US and home of the largest US world naked bike ride) take on Thai in near the in-laws' place in St. John's:

Phathaya Thai

[Doesn't rely on Thai]
posted by valentinepig at 4:05 PM on June 6, 2008


In the UK we love our puns on Fish and Chip shops. There are many more, but these are the ones I remember...
Fat Friars
Friar Tuck's
The Frying Scotsman (Flying Scotsman was a famous train)
Paul’s Plaice (plaice is a flounder in the US, apparently?)
My Plaice
The Cod Father
Cod Father II
Fryday
Hunky Dory

Also, Previously...
posted by twine42 at 4:54 PM on June 6, 2008


I was prepared to hate these with a burning hatred that burns like fire, but "Cane and Able Mobility Healthcare" and "Lord of the Fries" actually gave me a chuckle. Personally, I've always been a little astonished at the Doggie Styles pet salon, located as it is in tony Mill Valley. (For those of you at work, I would recommend against a google image search to find a picture of the storefront.)
posted by whir at 7:03 PM on June 6, 2008


Basshole Bar and Grill, Lakehead, CA.
posted by jet_silver at 7:40 PM on June 6, 2008


I've always liked the barbershop Ace of Fades. (Warning, not-Motorhead music plays automatically on that page)
posted by ruby.aftermath at 8:20 PM on June 6, 2008


There was a pizza plaze owned by an Indian guy around the corner from where I used to work. Baba John's Pizza.
posted by sambosambo at 8:27 PM on June 6, 2008 [1 favorite]


Vancouver also has Uprising Breads (really good bread) and Bean Around the World (yep, coffee from all over). Canada in general has Cyclepath for bikes.
posted by Zack_Replica at 9:46 PM on June 6, 2008


Downtown San Jose once had a Pho Kyu. I have no idea if it's still there.
posted by Malor at 10:57 PM on June 6, 2008


London, Ontario had places named Casual Tees (t-shirt shop) and Kiln Time (pottery) when I went to library school there, circa '99.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:56 AM on June 7, 2008


Yo, it wouldn't be The Simpsons without the awful business name puns:

The best business name in the Simpsons:

Sneed's Feed and Seed (Formerly Chuck's)
posted by the duck by the oboe at 6:13 AM on June 7, 2008


> The best business name in the Simpsons:

I'd have to go with A Tern For The Wurst (complete with sign picturing a seagull with a sausage in its beak).
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:00 AM on June 7, 2008 [1 favorite]


Unintentional? A scrapbooking store in town is called Embellished Memories
posted by arcticwoman at 7:18 AM on June 7, 2008


A home-town fave is a costume/halloween shop called the "Fun Ghoul"

link, pic!

Also, lotsa italians in my 'hood, if ya need further explanation...
posted by NikitaNikita at 9:14 PM on June 7, 2008


Yay, I had lunch at number 16 a month or so ago.

There's a "Hoe Inn" just down the road from there which is a fast food takeaway shop, which is also kinda punny
posted by h00py at 4:53 AM on June 8, 2008


Pho Kim in North Austin/Pfluggerville was my favorite, but I believe they changed their name a couple of years ago to "#1 Pho" or some derivative.
posted by motherfather at 9:36 AM on June 8, 2008


There used to be a place in Lockhart Texas called "The Y'all Come Back Salon"
posted by fourcheesemac at 11:09 AM on June 8, 2008


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