we are trying to figure out a good name for an upscale restaurant 
 that will be in a relatively small town that is within 30 miles of a major
metropolitan area.  The expected clientele will include business
travellers and other sophisticated consumers.  Can someone help us find
web resources that either list names of upscale restaurants in major
metropolitan areas or have marketing information regarding upscale
type names.  (or other relevant materials that may assist us with this
project - naming a white table cloth steak and seafood restaurant)
thanks for your help

Hello maxiethedog-ga,

Choosing an appropriate name for your restaurant is a challenging
task. The description you gave indicates that brand that you want to
develop representing a style and personality that will differentiate
you in the ever-changing restaurant landscape. Because opening and
operating a restaurant is a very popular dream, there are ample
resources to help you with your endeavor.

You focused on getting lists of upscale restaurants as one way of
getting a feel for naming conventions and trends in the hospitality
industry. I?ve collected lots of resources to help  you with
conducting this research. Since you?re not the first person faced with
this tasks, I searched to find resources on how to go about naming
your business, and particularly, how to name your restaurant. There
are tons of possibilities. I especially recommend the companies that
specialize in naming businesses and the resources they offer. The
blogs and discussion forums they sponsor look especially useful.

I?ve categorized the materials I?ve found to help you make sense of
the wealth of resources available. Please don?t hesitate to ask for
clarification if any of it is confusing.

Wishing you well on finding or creating a wonderful name that will
lead to tremendous success for your restaurant.

~ czh ~



================================================
RESTAURANT NAMING TRENDS --  ARTICLES, RESOURCES
================================================

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:hmsAf2QLG1UJ:www.restaurantowner.com/members/402.cfm%3Fsd%3D42+%E2%80%9CUpscale+steakhouse%E2%80%9D+is+not+a+brand.+Neither+is+%E2%80%9Cfamily-friendly+Italian&hl=en
Grab Your Brand by the Horns: How to Build Your Brand

Pick up any book on marketing, or most business magazines, and one
marketing concept is likely to pop up again and again ? branding.
Maybe a consultant has told you that you have to ?brand? your
restaurant to succeed in the marketplace.

Simply stated, a brand is the feelings, opinions and visions you have
about your new restaurant translated into an experience that you
consistently provide for your guests. Your brand character is a
definition of what you want your restaurant to be and what you want
your restaurant to stand for. Your brand character is what you want
your guests to experience each and every time they are in your
restaurant. When that vision and experience becomes imprinted in the
minds of your customers, you have successfully ?branded? your
business.

Positioning Versus Branding 

?Upscale steakhouse? is not a brand. Neither is ?family-friendly
Italian.? Those descriptions are positions. ?Gourmet pizza,? ?New York
deli? or ?casual seafood on the beach? are examples of a restaurant?s
position.

The positioning of your restaurant may include parts of your brand
character, though. For example, being family-friendly may be part of
your brand character, but the brand character is so much more than
this one element. Positioning can be described in one sentence. For
example, ?Home Run is a sports bar serving hamburgers and snacks.?
That?s the restaurant?s position, not its brand character.
To describe your restaurant?s brand character takes more time and more
words. Phil Glowatz is a partner in JP Group, a firm that works with
companies to establish and maintain their brand identities. ?A brand
can?t be expressed in one sentence,? Glowatz says. ? An analogy is how
you?d describe a person. You can?t describe everything about a person
in one sentence. A person has richness about him or her that you learn
about over time.?

***** This is an excellent article to help you think through what your
name represents in terms of the brand identity you want to establish.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.wordlab.com/wordboard/categories.cfm?catid=23
Wordlab -- The Wordboard Naming and Branding Discussion Forum
FORUMS > Restaurant, Cafe, Bar and Bistro Names

***** These discussions are great for generating ideas about naming a
restaurant. You might even want to post a question about naming your
restaurant.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.wordlab.com/found2.cfm
Restaurants -- There are 1390 entries in this section.

And not only restaurants, but cafes, bars, pubs, truck stops,
brasseries, delis, fast-food joints, and supper-clubs as well.

***** Browse the list for inspiration and brainstorming.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.restaurant.org/business/magarticle.cfm?ArticleID=502
What's In A Name?

The decision of what to name your restaurant can be as critical as
what's on your menu, because it is one of the first (and lasting)
impressions customers receive.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.namelab.com/news/news_100404.html
Restaurant News, October 4, 2004
Out of Sight, Still in Mind

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.logoworks.com/logoworks-inthenews-slammed.html
SLAMMED Magazine
Sept/Oct issue, 2004 
Beyond Buzz
Four Tips for Cooking Up a Sizzling Brand

Sometimes a new eater opens to an earful of buzz based on who?s in
charge, who?s in the kitchen and what?s on the menu. More often than
not, however, a restaurant opens with minimal fanfare. Restaurateurs
heave to work hard to create an identity for their budding bistros.
How can they communication their own vision with their customers
before anyone even sets foot inside? As the president of a design firm
that specializes in logos and corporate identity, I?d like to share a
little bit of what I?ve learned when it comes to branding a
restaurant. Here are four quick tips:

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/index.asp
Marketing know-how from professionals and professors
Discussion Forum

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstID=10278
Wanted:hip Name For a Restaurant Cafe Pub By E Sea

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstid=10236
Tagline For Latin Bistro and Restaurant

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstid=8904
Catchy Name For Coffee Cafe Cum Fast Food Required

http://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstid=8831
Need Name For Island Chicken Restaurant


***** You can review numerous discussion threads on the subject of
naming a restaurant. You can also post your question and ask for input
on naming your restaurant.

-------------------------------------------------


http://citypaper.net/articles/011801/nc.names.shtml
The Name Game
From Citron to POD, the story behind the monikers of some local eateries.



=========================
LISTS OF RESTAURANT NAMES
=========================

http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/sitemap.asp
http://www.bestrestaurants.com.au/details.asp
Best Restaurants of Australia

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/restaurantissue/top40.html
TOP 40 RESTAURANTS IN THE U.S. ? 2004

------------------------

http://www.gayot.com/restaurantpages/index.html
UNITED STATES -- Featured Cities

http://www.gayot.com/travel/guides/california.html
TRAVEL GUIDE: CALIFORNIA

http://www.gayot.com/cityguides/sanfrancisco/main.html
THE BEST OF SAN FRANCISCO

http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/bestof/steakhouses/sanfrancisco.html
Best Steakhouses SAN FRANCISCO/BAY AREA

http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/bestof/sf_steakhouse.html
10 Best Steakhouses in San Francisco

***** You can search for restaurant names using various filters but
the process is very time consuming because of the way the website is
structured.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.zagat.com/shop/shop_products.asp?preload=60002
U.S. Restaurant Guides

http://www.zagat.com/shop/shop_products.asp?preload=60003
International Restaurant Guides

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/04/04/CM100MAIN.DTL
Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.city-eating.com/
http://www.city-eating.com/shortlist.asp
Best Restaurants in the World

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.toprestaurants.com/
A guide to the best, the most interesting top restaurants

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/2090.cfm
World?s Top 50 Restaurants 2005

http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/1945.cfm
Best Restaurants in New York City

-------------------------------------------------


://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&q=best+restaurants&spell=1
Search for: < best restaurants >

-------------------------------------------------


://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=restaurants+directory
Search for: < restaurant directory >

-------------------------------------------------


://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=restaurant+dining+guides
Search for: < restaurant dining guides >

-------------------------------------------------


://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&q=%22steak+and+seafood%22+restaurant
Search for: < "steak and seafood" restaurant >



===================================================
NAMING YOUR COMPANY / PRODUCT ? GENERAL INFORMATION
===================================================

http://www.inc.com/magazine/20040701/gettingstarted.html
What's in a Name? 
Is your company's brand name doing everything it could? Here's how to
get the name you deserve.
From: Inc. Magazine, July 2004

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.wordlab.com/links.cfm
http://www.wordlab.com/list.cfm
The Big List -- Latest 250 Entries

***** This list is a great trigger for further brainstorming.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.aol.entrepreneur.com/aolsb/article/0,4558,321580-1,00.html
The Ultimate Guide to Naming Your Business
What's in a biz name? Plenty. It must get you noticed and build your
brand. Here's how to choose one that works.

By following the same basic steps professional namers use, you can
come up with a meaningful moniker that works . . . without breaking
the bank.

What Does It Mean?
Start by deciding what you want your name to communicate. To be most
effective, your company name should reinforce the key elements of your
business.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.refresher.com/!brandnaming.html
Facing a Brand Naming Initiative?

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.rhymer.com/questions.html
Ten crucial questions when naming your business, product, or Web site:



==================================================
NAME DEVELOPMENT COMPANIES / ORGANIZATIONS / TOOLS
==================================================

http://www.snarkhunting.com/
Snark Hunting ? the naming and branding blog
Igor - a San Francisco-based naming & branding agency

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.namelab.com/index.html
NameLab

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.namedevelopment.com/default.asp
http://www.namedevelopment.com/brand-name-research.asp
http://www.namedevelopment.com/blog/
Strategic Name Development, Inc.

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.namingtoolbox.com/
http://www.namingtoolbox.com/Name_Razor/
http://www.namingtoolbox.com/article/index.aspx
Naming Toolbox

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.namingsystems.com/
http://namingsystems.com/articles.html
Naming Systems

-------------------------------------------------


http://www.restaurant.org/business/resources_magazines.cfm
Restaurant, Foodservice and Hospitality Industry Publications



===============
SEARCH STRATEGY
===============

restaurant naming
trends in product naming OR "name development"
upscale names
best restaurants
naming "white tablecloth" OR upscale restaurant
naming your restaurant
trends upscale names hospitality
upscale brands "hospitality industry"

outstanding.  I do not have time to look at all this right now, but
this is exactly the type of material I wanted.  I really appreciate
your help.  This is my first time to try google answers and I am
extrememly pleased.  I will be back many times I am sure

We just love to name restaurants. :)  I got a free dinner waiting for
me in NYC if the place really opens.

Upscale:  Maxim's   - like maximum and your user name and hints of Paris.

Might be overdoing it in the suburbs.  Personally, I think the most
important thing about the name is that it is memorable and cannot be
confused.  The restaurant is going to have earn its reputation; the
name alone isn't going to put it on people's lists.
If there is a word specific to the area, that might help bring in
travelers and people from the city once they heard that the foods
good.
The style in the region can also be important.  "Maxim's" might turn
off people in some areas who find "Dew Drop Inn" witty, especially if
the food is better than the old roadside café name suggests.
How do foreign languages appeal in your area?

I'll stop and let others respond, Myoarin

Michelin:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin_Guide

Mobil:
http://www.mobiltravelguide.com/mtg/

Zagat:
http://www.globecorner.com/s/74.html

Maxie, that  w a s  fantastic.  Been wondering what Czh was doing.

If you want any assistance with brainstorm, you can come back here and
"run it up the flagpole".
Good luck, Myoarin

Hello maxiethedog-ga,

I'm glad the information was helpful and I look forward to your future
questions. Thank you for the affirmations, five stars and extremely
generous tip.

~ czh ~