How the restaurant name generator works
It works for restaurants, takeaways, cafés, bakeries, food trucks and dark kitchen brands. It's free and you don't need to sign up.
- Choose your business type. For example restaurant, takeaway, café, bakery, food truck or dark kitchen.
- Pick a cuisine. For example British, chippy, curry house, pizza, Chinese, Turkish, Caribbean, vegan or brunch.
- Pick a vibe. Cosy, posh, playful, rustic, modern, coastal or family.
- Add your town or street (optional). The tool can blend in local words and landmarks, such as a canal, a market or a hill.
- Add a word you love (optional). This could be a family name, an ingredient or a nickname.
- Generate. You get names built from 10 different naming patterns. Tap the heart to shortlist one, or "more like this" to get similar names.
- Check your shortlist. One tap opens each of the UK checks below with the name filled in where the site allows it.
Every result shows the pattern it uses, so you can see why a name works and make your own version.
10 ways to name a restaurant (the patterns behind the tool)
Most good restaurant names follow one of these patterns. Mix them up to find one that fits.
| Pattern | How it works | Example idea |
|---|---|---|
| Place + noun | Your street, landmark or local word, plus "kitchen", "table" or "grill" | The Towpath Grill |
| Founder's name | A real name makes it feel personal | Nell's Back Kitchen |
| Two ingredients | Two things you cook with, joined by "&" | Leek & Lovage |
| Alliteration | Words that start with the same sound | Fennel & Flint |
| Wordplay | A pun on the food, gently done | Scraps & Saveloys |
| Trade words | A word only cooks use | The Proving Room |
| Local dialect | A regional word locals will smile at | Snap Tin Canteen |
| Number + noun | A house number or a lucky number | Number Nine Grill |
| Coined word | Two words blended into one new one | Hobfire |
| "The" + adjective + noun | Classic and easy to say | The Blue Shutter |
60 restaurant name ideas to get you started
These are original ideas written for this page. Some may already be used by a business somewhere. Always run the checks below before you print anything.
British, pub-style and gastro
- The Towpath Grill
- Lockkeeper's Table
- Leek & Lovage
- Damson & Dripping
- Barley & Brine
- Rhubarb & Rye
- Mill Race Dining Room
- Nell's Back Kitchen
- The Ginnel Kitchen (a ginnel is a northern word for an alleyway, used in Yorkshire and Lancashire)
- Hobfire
Chippies and fish bars
- Scraps & Saveloys
- The Golden Scrap
- Haddock & Hope
- Vinegar Hill Fish Bar
- Low Tide Chippy
- Shingle & Shell
Pizza and Italian
- Leopard Crust (the dark spots on a well-baked crust)
- Blister & Basil
- Fold & Flame
- The Proving Room
- The Sugo Club
- Nonna's Back Room
Curry houses and South Asian
- Tandoor & Tide
- The Spice Ledger
- Brass Handi
- Clay & Coriander
- Copper Pot Corner
Chinese and pan-Asian
- Lantern Lane Noodle Bar
- Twelve Pleats (for a dumpling house)
- Steam & Sesame
- Golden Steam Dumpling Room
- Night Owl Noodles
Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern
- Copper Skewer
- Ember Shish
- Blue Shutter Taverna
- Charcoal & Sumac
- Za'atar Street Kitchen
Burgers, grills and steak
- Bun Fight (a British phrase for a lively get-together)
- Proper Patty
- Smokewright
- Ribeye Row
- Number Nine Grill
Caribbean and African
- Sorrel & Saltfish
- Scotch Bonnet Social
- Kofi & Sons Grill
- Pepper Pot Parlour
Vegan and vegetarian
- The Allotment Table
- Root & Rafter
- Beet Generation
- Fennel & Flint
Brunch and all-day
- Late Riser
- Brinewell
- Saltmarsh Table
Takeaways, food trucks and dark kitchen brands
- Last Orders Grill
- Late Shift Pizza
- Rolling Scran (scran means food in much of the north and Scotland)
- Hatch & Hob
- Snap Tin Canteen (a snap tin is the tin miners carried their lunch in)
- Bait Tin (bait is a packed lunch in the North East)
- Fernholt
Want more? Use the generator with your own town and cuisine. Or browse our café name ideas and bakery name ideas.
What makes a good restaurant name?
A good name passes these six tests:
- Easy to say and spell. If someone hears it on the radio, can they type it into Google? Avoid odd spellings like "Kwik" or doubled letters.
- Short. One to three words is ideal. It has to fit on a sign, a receipt and a phone screen.
- Hints at the food or feel. "Lantern Lane Noodle Bar" tells you what to expect. "Hobfire" needs a strapline.
- Room to grow. "Stockport Pizza Co." is hard to take to Manchester. "Pizza" is hard if you add burgers.
- Not too close to a local rival. Customers will get confused and so will Google Maps.
- Free to use. The legal checks below are the part most new owners skip.
Say it out loud on the phone. "Hello, Haddock & Hope, can I take your order?" If it sounds awkward on a busy Friday night, keep looking.
How to check a restaurant name is free in the UK
The generator links each of these checks for your shortlist and looks up the .co.uk and .com domains for you. Here's what each one means, so you can do them yourself too.
1. Companies House (if you'll be a limited company)
A company name can't be the same as one already on the register. Some small things don't count as a difference, such as "Ltd" at the end, "the" at the start, or "&" versus "and". Use the free company name availability checker.
Some words are sensitive and need approval first. Examples include words that suggest a link to royalty or the government, such as "Royal", and words like "Society" or "Association". A name such as "The Royal Oak Kitchen Ltd" may need extra paperwork. The generator flags these words, using Companies House's list of sensitive words.
Registering a limited company online costs £100.
2. Sole traders and partnerships
You don't register a trading name with Companies House. But your name can't include "Limited", "Ltd", "LLP" or "plc". It also can't be offensive, or too like someone else's trade mark. If you trade under a name that isn't your own, your own name still has to go on invoices and letters.
3. UK trade marks
A company name check is not a trade mark check. Search the UK trade mark register for your name. Focus on these classes:
- Class 43: services for providing food and drink, such as restaurants, cafés, takeaways and catering
- Classes 29 and 30: food products, if you plan to sell packaged food under the name. The IPO's class search shows which class fits each product.
If a similar mark is registered for food services, pick another name. To protect your own name, a UK trade mark costs from £205 and lasts 10 years. It usually takes 3 to 4 months if there are no problems.
4. Local food businesses with the same name
A business that has used a name locally for years may be able to stop you, even without a trade mark (this is called "passing off"). The generator links the FSA's food hygiene ratings search, where you can look for food businesses with the same or a similar name near you. Also search Google Maps for "your name + your town".
5. Domain names
Check .co.uk first for a UK business, then .com. A .co.uk name can only use letters, numbers and hyphens. If the exact name is gone, try adding your town or a word like "kitchen". Read whether you own your restaurant's domain name before you buy one.
After you've picked a name
- Register your company (or tell HMRC you're a sole trader).
- Register your food business with your local council at least 28 days before you open. It's free.
- Buy the domain and claim your social handles the same day.
- Make your menu. Try our free menu templates or the printable menu maker.
- Put the name to work online. Set up an ordering page so customers can order from you direct, with no app commission.
Menuthere gives you a free ordering website, QR codes and unlimited menu items, with no commission. Your own custom domain comes with a paid plan. Read more about our takeaway website builder and commission-free online ordering.
6. Social handles and WhatsApp
Check the handle on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Try to get the same handle everywhere. Check what you can call your restaurant on WhatsApp Business too, as display names have their own rules.
This is general information, not legal advice: If your name is important to the business, speak to a trade mark attorney before you spend money on signs.