These Five Restaurants Got Their Official Names In The Most Random Ways

Fast food restaurants that weren't always called by what we now know them as.

Shasta

• Published in Interesting
• February 6, 2020

The truth is when it comes to naming things, it's not an easy task.

It typically comes with hours upon hours of brainstorming. And ultimately the name ends up being random and coming from no-where anyone else would guess.

Although fast food isn't the greatest for you, many of us can't resist the urge of not having to cook. Then we seem to find ourselves at restaurants just like these. But have you ever been sitting inside one, and wondered where the name originally came from?

Just in case you have, I've got five stories for you that will tell you exactly how they got their name!

1. Whataburger

The regional burger chain began at a time when patties beyond 4" didn't exist.

So Founder Harmon Dobson decided on a 5-inch burger, so that people exclaim “What a burger!” to.

And then the name just stuck.

2. Wendy's

Founder Dave Thomas opened the doors to his first Wendy’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, in the year 1969.

Ironically enough, Wendy's was named after his beloved daughter Melinda, who went by the nickname Wendy.

Their logo makes a lot of sense now.

3. Subway

Frank DeLuca and Peter Buck opened 'Pete's Super Submarines' in 1965, in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

A few years after that, they renamed it 'Pete's Subway'.

However in 1974 the pair wanted to franchise their store, so they simplified the name to Subway.

4. Starbucks

Co-Founder Gordon Bowker heard a rumor from a friend at an ad agency that words that began with 'st' were considered to be powerful.

While they were brainstorming a name for their brand, they were looking at a map and came across a town called 'Starbo'. It was then that Bowker was reminded of 'Starbuck' from Moby Dick and the legendary coffee brand Starbucks was born.

Although they did consider naming the brand 'Pequod' after the ship in Moby Dick as well.

5. Domino's

Two brothers, Jim and Tom Monaghan purchased a pizza place by the name of 'DomiNick's' in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1960.

Then the original owner came to them and decided that he wanted to keep his rights to the name.

The brothers had to quickly decide upon a name, so that their restaurant could be put inside the phone book. So a deadline essentially is how the name came to be.

Reportedly a delivery driver by the name of Jim Kennedy dreamed up the name. And here we are 6 decades later with Domino's.

Excuse me while I go load up my family and head to the nearest fast food joint, writing this has me craving a burger or a sandwich from Subway, I'll decide on which one on the way!

Tell us which name story surprised you the most!

I think Starbucks was the most shocking for me.

Shasta