America's Worst Chain Restaurant Names

Nobody ever said that choosing a name for your restaurant is easy. Not only does it need to be catchy and memorable, it also needs to communicate a little bit about the business itself to potential customers. But while some have mastered the art of restaurant-naming, others probably could have used a little help in that department. These are America's most poorly-named chain restaurants.

America's Worst Chain Restaurant Names (Slideshow)

Some chain restaurants have names that are darn near perfect. Waffle House? A+. Outback Steakhouse? Way to go. Dairy Queen? Spot-on. Those names just roll off the tongue, and not only are they simple and memorable, they tell customers exactly what the restaurant is. Heck, I've never even been to Old Country Buffet but I can take a pretty good guess at what I'd find at one.

But while some restaurants seem to have been named through divine inspiration, others seem like they were given little or no thought at all. Case in point? Fuddruckers. The name is absolutely meaningless, and seems more like an inside joke between founder Philip Romano and his friends than the name of a serious business. It works, though, and today we don't even question it, but it's undoubtedly a horrible name for a restaurant.

So from the super-popular to the more obscure, come along as we explore some truly awful chain restaurant names. They might leave you scratching your head every time you pass one by, or you could be so used to the name that you don't even give it second thought, but there's no denying that these 11 chain restaurants are the worst-named in America.

Beef O'Brady's

First of all, Beef O'Brady's concept? A "family sports pub." While that may be oxymoronic, the name is just moronic. It would get a pass if it was founded by someone named Beef O'Brady (in fact, he would have been obligated to open a restaurant in that case), but the founder's name was Jim Mellody. There's no excuse for a name this bad.

Big Boy

Reportedly based on a nickname founder Bob Wian gave to a local kid, the Big Boy came to not only be the name of its mascot but also of its signature burger. Yes, the burger and the mascot may both be "big boys," but that doesn't excuse the name, which is made even worse by the regional addition of "Bob's," "Shoney's," and "Frisch's" to the beginning.