If you could own a restaurant

[NJmaverick]

what would it be? What would you call it?

[Bryan]

1. A gastropub

...called "The Vodka and Orange".

[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. The Grill & Chill

:D :hi:


maybe not.............

A lot would depend on location and atmosphere and menu. I would let those elements determine the name and logo.

[HopeHoops]

3. Boobies

Hooters needs some DIRECT competition.

No "school girl uniform night" shit though - that was a little freaky.

[NJmaverick]

9. What kind of uniforms then?

[HopeHoops]

10. Same basic thing - with the double "O" thing strategically placed.

I'm talking DIRECT competition, but without the perverted shit.

[suninvited]

4. I would love to own a restaraunt

I would find a nice little place in an artsy area and serve vegetarian food made with tasty, fresh ingredients and call it The Sunshine Cafe.

[NJmaverick]

6. That sounds like a pretty good business plan

[suninvited]

17. It would even be better if I could spell restaurant

lol, it was a typo, but too late to edit now and I just noticed it.

[NJmaverick]

30. that's it no business loan for you!

:hi:

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

5. Real authentic Italian food

and I'd call it "Olive Garden"

:hide:

kidding aside, a real northern Italian cuisine (specifically, cuisine from Bologna and Emilia-Romagna) small place (20 or so tables), somewhere on Wilmington's riverfront.

Names? Either "Scoiattolo Bugiardo" (lying squirrel) or "La Bolognese" (the woman from Bologna).

I would love to open such a place. The menu would be small and limited, but change often. It would be a traditional Italian multi-course meal with a few cold cuts such as prosciutto di Parma, mortadella and perhaps cotechino (a specialty from the region around Bologna, from where I come), along with finely shaved parmigiano reggiano and/or Grana Padano. First course would be tortellini in brodo (made from scratch, as I do on occasion) or tagliatelle al ragu` (from scratch) or lasagne. Second course would be cotolette alla Bolognese or chicken breasts in cream and mushroom or the like with a small salad or oven-roasted potatoes or veggies as a side dish, finishing up with dessert or fruit.

No such things as bread with pasta or salad dressings (besides olive oil and vinegar) or pastas bathed in tomatoes and garlic. Just a simple, well-done and fresh menu for those gourmands who know that Italian food is more than spaghetti.

[ceile]

14. Sounds heavenly!

So when are you coming to cook me dinner? ;)

[merh]

47. if I win the lotto I'm want to invest in your place

what a wonderful idea, simple and delicious

[hippywife]

52. Mine would be similar

but it would be carry-out only. And I whole-heartedly on the salad dressing issue. There is no other dressing for salad that goes with Italian. Not in my house for my entire childhood, not my adult life.

My menu would be even simpler. Your choice of pasta (penne, capellini, shells, rotini) and choice of sauce (mushroom, sausage, marinara) for a dollar extra you get a ladle of each, dinner special would include two meatballs or one sausage link.

Come in pay for it and take it home so I'm not forced to clean up after anyone but myself.

:hi:

[MissMillie]

7. a luncheonette... great sandwiches on earthy grainy bread and

homemade soups. I'd also have a cooler of the soups that people could just walk in and take the soups home to heat up for themselves.

homemade desserts like pie, cobbler and fudge.


I'd call it "What a crock!"

[NJmaverick]

8. To answer my own question

I would open up a restaurant that served healthier food and more sensible portions. Perhaps a name like "It doesn't have to taste bad". The food would be lower in fat and the like. A place for people who have to eat out a lot but don't want to put on tons of weight or eating the poor fair the restaurants that bother offer (under their "healthy" menu)

[Aristus]

11. I just came up with this yesterday.

I'd like to open a coffee shop specializing in Turkish coffee. I'd call my shop "Turkish Delight." It'd be a great neighborhood coffee shop. Lots of comfy armchairs, a fireplace, classical or jazz playing softly in the background. And I'd offer free wi-fi. Turkish coffee can take a while to prepare, so free wi-fi will keep the customers happy and occupied until their coffee is ready. And there would be a big bookcase bulging with really good books, and a sign saying: "Take a book; leave a book." It would be great! B-)

[NJmaverick]

16. That sounds pretty good

although I have never had Turkish coffee. what does it taste like?

[Aristus]

35. It can take a little getting used to, because it's unfiltered. You mix the grounds

(ground fine to a powder) with the water and slowly heat it over a gas flame. The grounds form a crust over the top, and when the coffee is warm, but not hot, you stir the grounds up into the brew. This forms a layer of light-brown foam over the top that darkens as the coffee heats up. Just before it starts to boil, you take it off the flame and let it cool a little. After a while, you put it back on the flame to reheat. You can do this as many times as you like, although three heating-cooling cycles is about right. You can drink it straight, or add spices to taste to the mixture before adding water. I use cinnamon, ginger and three cloves of cardamom. Cardamom gives Turkish coffee its distinctive flavor. When the coffee is done brewing, let it sit for a few minutes to let the grounds settle to the bottom of the pot. Then pour into one of the tiny, delicate cups out of which Turkish coffee is traditionally drunk, and add sugar to taste.

Like I said, it takes some getting used to. Sometimes you have to pick cardamom cloves or coffee grounds out of your drink, but the flavor is heavenly. B-)

Turkish coffee is the antithesis of the venti double half-decaf skinny no foam Americano now, now, NOW kind of coffee a lot of us are used to these days. It's meant to be sipped and savored, preferably accompanied by intelligent conversation with good friends or interesting strangers. B-)

[NJmaverick]

38. Sounds enticing. Although I have to confess to never having heard of cardamon

[Aristus]

43. Here you go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardamom

[NJmaverick]

44. hmmm now I have to figure out how to try all of this

you got my curiousity up

[pitohui]

46. i like that and don't forget the apple tea EOM

.

[Arkansas Granny]

12. I think a lunch only cafe in the downtown business area would be fun.

I would have a knockout salad bar and serve a couple of home style entrees and soups that changed each day according to the season and maybe a couple of desserts. I'd call it "What's for Lunch?".

[Auggie]

13. Italian food

I'd name it... Auggie's

[ceile]

15. Seafood

I love cooking fish and coming up with crazy sauces usually with a Latin taste. I'd probably let my SO name it since I don't speak a word of Spanish.

[Swede]

18. Southern barbecue might be a good one. Jethro's Place?

Barbecued ribs,chicken etc. Cole slaw,hush puppies,real diner type of place.

[Bennyboy]

19. Burritos as big as your penis!

Guys would flock to this place thinking "man that is gonna be some big burrito!"

And for date night, well what better way to advertise than take a date here? "See the size of that burrito, sweetie?"

Not to mention the crazy logo possibilites...

[NJmaverick]

23. then on date night you serve these:

?h=500&w=500&v=1210469671

[piratefish08]

69. Fuck. I guess I would have to open up a Taquito stand .........

:shrug:

[Initech]

20. I want to own a restaurant that caters exclusively to stoners.

:smoke:

[NJmaverick]

21. and it would be called?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

27. Stonehenge, of course

;)

[Bennyboy]

31. My friends have one in Tahoe... Divided Sky

Which is a Phish song title. The parents of the band Blue Turtle Seduction own the place and it is long hair and natty dreads there all day every day. fantastic coffee too....In Myers on the south shore on the highway right before the inspection station if leaving tahoe....

[Throd]

51. Could I order a can of cake frosting and some Fritos?

[Initech]

53. That would be one of those off-menu specials.

:smoke:

[armyowalgreens]

55. On Mill ave, down the street from ASU, there is "Chronic Tacos"...

and "Munchies" gyro shop.

They are right next to each other.

[newcriminal]

22. My son wants to start a food fight restaurant.

[kwassa]

24. A seafood place on the water, be it bay or ocean.

in a funky little seaside town.

Kwassa Krabs?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. If you could own a restaurant what would it be? What would you call it?

:D :hi:

[NJmaverick]

28. This one I answered

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8993033&mesg_id=8993090

[Tuesday Afternoon]

29. oh dear ...

It doesn't have to taste bad :rofl:

[azmouse]

26. Mr Cholesterol

All fatty junk food, all the time!

[prole_for_peace]

32. Call it Fat Bastards

and serve unhealthy comfort food...for fat bastards

full disclosure: i could stand to lose a few pounds (30) so I fall in my targted demographic

[Initech]

60. And here's your menu:

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

:rofl:

[DU GrovelBot]

33. ## PLEASE DONATE TO DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND! ##

This week is our third quarter 2009 fund drive. Democratic Underground is
a completely independent website. We depend on donations from our members
to cover our costs. Please take a moment to donate! Thank you!

[guitar man]

34. Greasy Fingers

Featuring my own style of gourmet BBQ, cold libations and the best blues and rock bands in the area nightly :)

[Inchworm]

36. A dirty, nasty bar with a grill

That makes the best hamburgers in the world.

Hmm.. I'd call it...

Inchworm's Nooner

:hi:

[baldguy]

37. I thought about doing this a few years ago.

There's a bike path near where I live - It's about 20 mi long & follows the Buffalo end of the Erie Canal & behind the Univ of Buffalo. At one of the main road crossings, about 5 mi from one end there was a small home which had been an insurance office. It would've been perfect for a refreshment stand - bottled water, juices, iced tea, even sodas & ice cream. Unfortunately the bldg was sold to a neighboring business & torn down for a parking lot.

[charlie and algernon]

39. hmm, a sports bar called "The Den"

Dozens of partitioned rooms each containing a couch and a few chairs with a table in the middle and TV. Each one is defferent and you can rearrange it as you see fit. You bring a bunch of people, get good food, and you have your own room to watch sports on TV. I could even sell season passes for the rooms, so you and your friends can have the same room every sunday for football games, etc.

[kentauros]

40. It'd be a bakery and tearoom combination.

That way, there's less clean-up from customers. Let them enjoy the baked goodies and tea selection (I suppose we could offer coffee, but it'd be limited.)

Hmmm, what to call it... How about

Harmony

:D

[Forkboy]

41. The Choke and Puke.

[The empressof all]

42. I'd own one that was open for only one meal a week

Probably on a late Sunday Afternoon. It would be a prix fixe menu served family style. I would envision a repeat clientele who would be delighted to eat whatever I chose to put in front of them. They'd purchase lots of wine. We'd have one room that was kid friendly and one with a more adult atmosphere.



I'd call my restaurant "HOME"

[pitohui]

45. um, i "could" own one, i choose not to

the life of a restaurant owner is not all beer and skittles and laundering money, popular opinion aside

it's damn hard work

i made a vow a long time ago that if it's the restaurant business or suicide...suicide it is

i have nothing but the highest respect for those who thrive in this business, it's fucking brutal

[NJmaverick]

48. I could believe it

[kentauros]

50. Yes, it is brutal.

CHEF!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oslqvmsdDRU

[Throd]

49. A Japanese/Texas fusion steakhouse

[triguy46]

54. "Just Desserts"

The idea came from our daughter when she was 10 or so. We were travelling, having dinner out, wife and I talking about something, and one of us said something about someone "getting their just desserts." Daughter's ears perked up and she asked, "Where is that? Where do you get just dessert?" So from then on, this has been the family dream.

[Arugula Latte]

57. "Just Desserts" has been well known in the Bay Area since I was a kid:

http://www.justdesserts.com/

[madamesilverspurs]

56. "Mom's"

Simple meals served home style, staffed by empty-nesters, no dessert unless you eat your veggies.

[begin_within]

58. Blazing Salads

and it would be an all-salad restaurant. Appetizer salads, main-dish salads, dessert salads.

[mwooldri]

59. The [[ Insert city name ]] Fish Bar.

Serving simple English style Fish and Chips.

Plain, simple and straightforward with no nonsense. Let the food do the talking.

Mark.

[NJmaverick]

64. How much talking can fish and chips really do?

I mean it's not bad but I can't imagine there is really all that much room to stand out.

[mwooldri]

72. If they're good the word will get around.

That goes for any restaurant. Good honest straightforward wholesome food using fresh ingredients prepared well at great prices in a clean environment that's welcoming - along with excellent customer service will bring in the punters. Of course a bit of promotion helps too...

I chose a fish and chip shop because I do miss British style fish and chips, there are a couple of places that make an effort to recreate that experience here locally in Greensboro (an Irish pub and a proper fish and chip restaurant, but sadly not full British style) but if I had the money, time, health insurance etc, I could be tempted to go for it.

Mark.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

61. It would be a multi-dimensional experience -

A combination whorehouse/law office/hot dog restaurant.

We'd serve only hot dogs, in all incarnations - every regional variation - and lots of sides: fries, potato salad, cole slaw, macaroni salad, baked beans, baked apples, macaroni and cheese all the Southern stuff, but also things like Singapore Slaw and Mira's German Potato Salad and sauteed spinach with garlic. In short, the menu would be all over the place, but the only entree would be hot dogs.

Everything made from scratch. We wouldn't be cheap, even though we'd have to spend a lot of money to look it.

There would be a lovely suite of law offices, conference room, and library above the restaurant.

The whorehouse would be in the back, and, it would be co-ed. In their down time, the whores would work as servers. I once had dinner in a place like this in Acapulco, and it was really neat. We'd have all kinds of decorating accommodations for our clients, who could get laid downstairs, and then come upstairs and get some righteous legal help from the lawyers.

It would be called "Tricks'n'Torts," and our motto would be "Assuring you are served, serviced, and screwed."

I can't wait to float this one past my local Bar association....................................

[KamaAina]

62. New Orleans-style. Marcel's Nouvelle-Orleans.

"Marcel" sounds a bit more Creole than my true and actual name, Mark. And I defy you to find a place (besides NOLA itself) that couldn't use one. Especially with live jazz!

edit: spelling

[Chan790]

63. I've been kicking around a few ideas for a while.

One is a coffeehouse-type place with a full bar, a full kitchen and a stage for live entertainment and a huge projection screen. I want to put it someplace dank and dark with unfinished brick walls, maybe the basement of an old factory somewhere in the meatpacking district. I'd hope it developed a rep for being a place where intelligent discourse happens. I picked out the name years ago, It's Peaberries and Bourbon. (Those are both varietals of coffee beans, Bourbon is of course also a type of liquor.)

The other idea is a veg*n "greasy spoon"; serving vegetarian and vegan versions of "greasy spoon" food: chili cheese dogs, bacon cheeseburgers, smothered waffle-fries, etc.; the very thought of "greasy spoon" food makes my stomach churn with discontent and my mouth water. I don't have a name for that one yet, someone once suggested Shaolin Burger.

[NJmaverick]

67. Wouldn't the live entertainment clash with the conversation?

[Chan790]

68. Only on weekend nights...

I wasn't planning on having a live act every night, but it would seem to me that on Fri-Sun you'd have too many people to be able to have conversations anyways. Tuesdays are usually slow in any restaurant, so maybe we'll have movie night and a discussion group afterwards.

I see your point though and it requires some thought, it's not easy to blend things that I love (the old CBGBs down on Bowery, philosophical salons, good coffeehouse/bars, finger food) into one cohesive concept...but it seems worth the effort.

[RebelOne]

65. A former boyfriend of mine owned a restaurant in Miami.

It was seafood and called The Bimini Grill. That is probably as close as I ever will come to owning one.

[HamdenRice]

66. Authentic outer-borough NYC mixed marraige food, "Boricua-Moreno"

I've actually thought about this a lot because my friend and I are complete foodies and we've always dreamed of opening a restaurant.

We also have so many friends from so many different ethnicities, with so many mixed marriages and blended families, and we both cook so many different styles we've learned from friends, families and neighbors.

There is a style of cooking in the outer-boroughs of New York that combines dozens of different ethnic group cooking together, but it doesn't yet have a name or a restaurant. The borough of Queens is now officially the most ethnically diverse county in the USA.

For example, since the 60s, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans have opened restaurants in African American neighborhoods, and they cook a modified soul food with Latin influences -- bbq ribs with Latin flavors, for example. There are also Chinese restaurants that cook Latin food, called Chino-Latino. Everyone cooks Italian, but influenced by our own backgrounds -- so most African Americans cook spaghetti with tomato sauce, but with African American southern herbs and spices.

Everyone also eat Jewish deli food, and cooks it at home. When I was growing up, on Sunday mornings, we listened to gospel on the radio while eating bagels & lox, and gefilte fish.

African Americans and Afro-West Indians all eat curries from the West Indies, but the big influx of Indians and Guyanese has dramatically altered the curries over the last two decades towards a more authentic style based on cumin, corriander, tumeric, etc., rather than so called curry powder.

So I would open a restaurant that featured the food that people are eating in the outer boroughs. "Boricua-Moreno" roughly translated from Neuyorican Spanish means "Puerto Rican & Black" or "Black Puerto Rican."

[NJmaverick]

73. Sounds like you could have a winner

although it would probably do better in another city.

[davsand]

70. I'd call it "I (heart) food."

The entire menu would be heart healthy and tasty with a focus on fish, poultry, local meat and produce, and reduced sodium levels. We'd also tie in with cooking and nutrition classes specializing in cooking good food that is actually healthy for you and acceptable for special diets. The wine list would be a strong one (focused on lower priced wines from around the world) and dark chocolate would play a prominent role. Whole grain would be another emphasis.

I have become absolutely convinced that people will pay money for good tasting food that is not laden with salt and saturated fats, and I have come to realize that the people who need and actually want that menu the most are the ones with any disposable income to spend on leisure and dining. Marketing would be made a lot easier by sending coupons and gift certificates for the classes to cardiac units in the area.


Laura

[MilesColtrane]

71. My restaurant would be on a spacious, open deck of a large blimp.

Dinner would be served at about 1500ft.

I'd call it "O. T. Humanity's".