When naming a business, most people believe that the name should say it all. In the case of some food trucks, though, we sincerely hope that these names don’t.
You may have seen that we recently compiled our 2013 list of the 101 Best Food Trucks in America. We considered more than 400 trucks from across the country; some were ultimately notable for their menus or popularity, and others stayed on our radar thanks — for better or worse — to their chosen name or slogan.
Not to say that these qualities are mutually exclusive, though; trucks with crude, unpleasant, and/or too "punny" names still made our final cut (see Slap Yo Mama) based upon our evaluation criteria of popularity, critical review, and originality. However, we can’t say that their questionable names helped to boost their ranking.
Don’t think we’re being priggish here — we get that it’s all about catching the potential customer’s attention. Also, of course, we don' actually think the names should be banned — we're all for free speech. Even still, and all in good fun, some of these names cross the line enough to end up in our slideshow.
1. Slap Yo Mama (Los Angeles)
(The Daily Meal)
We can’t speak for everyone, but we’re unsure that we’ve ever had food that is so good that it makes us "wanna slap" our mamas. Actually, we’re unsure that slapping our mamas should ever be an innate reaction to good food, or good anything. But we’re not everybody, and the popular LA food truck seems to have quite the following.
2. Love Balls Bus (Austin, TX)
(Love Balls Bus)
"Takoyaki" (fried savory pancake spheres that are a popular Japanese street food) might not be the most truck-friendly name, but we don’t think that that’s an excuse to be so controversially explicit about one’s menu offerings. Like Bon Me, the cuteness of the website almost makes us believe that they didn’t realize their truck name faux pas, but then we read the P.S. note on the bottom of their "about us" page.
3. Bon Me (Boston)
(Bon Me)
The name may in fact be inspired by the classic Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, but you might be prompted to look twice if you see one of these trucks roaming the streets of Boston. In scanning their website, we’re pretty convinced that the name is somewhat naïve, since they don’t seem to have many questionable innuendos — oh wait, is that a "bon me sandwich?" Never mind…
4. The Greasy Wiener (Los Angeles)
(The Daily Meal)
Props to "best wieners on wheels." You really have to tip your hat to any entrepreneur behind a food enterprise who can pull off the genitalia references and sexual innuendo that The Greasy Wiener seems to. With menu items like "The Package," "sack of fries," and the slogan, "Loads of fun... in a bun!" will take on any contender when it comes to a lewd turn of phrase.
See all 8 trucks at the Daily Meal
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