174 comments

  4. Hello!

    We just drove to Detroit from NYC and saw these store names:

    “LOVE’S JUST HORS D’ OEUVRES AND ME SUPPER CLUB” – Detroit, MI

    and

    “QUAKER STEAK AND LUBE” (There’s several, many in Ohio.)

    ~ Juliana Francis & David Patrick Kelly

  8. Tightwad Convenience Store, TIghtwad MO.

    Unfortunately the Tightwad Bank closed years ago, but my mom has a picture of my brother holding up a penny in front of it.

  9. We would like to nominate “Eat My Buns” Bakery and Donuts, in Ajo, Az. and “Belly Acres RV Park” same town. Also ,near Casa Grande Az. there is “The Burnt Bun Cafe” as well. Guess it’s the heat affecting our ability to invent logical names! Really like your amusing website.

    Thanks, Tom

  12. In Houston TX, there used to be an auto shop in the galleria area (on Richmond near 610 for anyone local) that was called Lickety Lube.

  13. Out in California there are a lot of Vietnamese Pho resturants.

    My favorite is the “Pho King”.

  14. In Orlando FL, there is a head shop (Marijuana and other pariphenalia store) named The G-Spot. Orlando is peppered with billboards and advertisements challenging you with: “The G-Spot, can you find it?”

  15. The Goody-Goody liquor store chain in Dallas started as a liquor store named Goo Goo, so that everyone would remember the name.

  16. Curl up and Die Hair Salon
    Clark or Broadway
    Chicago IL

    &

    Yankee Doodle Italian Food
    Tucson, AZ

  19. I have two new store names: Bad Ol’ Bern/Smokin’ Up the Neighborhood, in Emporia, Kansas (a barbecue restaurant); Wok N Roll, Overland Park, Kansas (Chinese restaurant)

  20. The Stand-Bi Market, a convenience store in San Francisco’s Sunset District.

  21. I nominate the Full of Bull restaurant that used to be in Saugus, MA. on Rt 1 South

  22. Good Head hairdresser in Chicago
    Lotus to Go Go Vietnamese Restaurant in Minneapolis
    Fireworks and Chesse along a Wisconsin highway

  23. Schumann’s Meats in Columbus OH. It’s in a very urban area and the sign is a giant metal or plastic steer on a pole!

  24. Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn. Located in Alaska, I don’t recal exactly. We happened upon it while lost.

  27. In Calgary Alberta Canada there is a store named
    Dan’s Not Calm It appears to be a curio shop.

  28. There is a museum of velvet painting Velveteria in Portland Oregon. Over 200 paintings on display.

  31. There is a store called, “Yowza” in Manhattan, KS that specializes in futons and gifts.

  33. Stuff ’em, Buff ’em and Fluff ’em–

    Taxidermist/car detailing/beauty shop
    Canon City, Colorado

  35. We have “Taste Good” Chinese Restaurant here, and there’s this place that was called “Ying’s” and then he added more and called it “Ying’s Wings”. That wasn’t enough, though, it became “Ying’s Wings and Things”. That was before he built the bar area. The name now? “Ying’s Wings, Things and Bar”.

  36. Gross Gas, Rte. 1 north of Bar Harbor, ME
    House Poon, Chinese Restaurant, Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY
    Artery Cleaners, Southern Artery, Quincy, MA
    Bird Cleaners, Miracle Mile, Miami, FL
    Stuff N Things for Pets, Ballard, WA

    I wish I couild remember something else about those places.

  37. There used to be a large brick warehouse or manufacturing plant kittycorner from Hamburger Mary’s restaurant in San Francisco (I forget the street – somewhere south of Mission) with the sign, “House of More Plastic Bags”. I loved it.

  38. “Oh My Nappy Hair” salon and the “Oh My Nappy Talent Agency” right next door (los angeles, CA)

  39. We have a chain of grocery stores in Texas named Piggy Wiggly. There used to be four or five of them here in Denton, but there’s only two left now.

  44. Pussy’s Port o’ Call
    a kennel for cats in Northport, Maine

    Tumbling Tots Child Care
    One in Ashville, NY, and there was also one somewhere in coastal Maine in 2003

  45. There was an All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet whose say read “I You Can Eat” in NW Indiana.

    I also heard of a funeral parlor in Chicago (at least years ago – not sure if it is still around) called “Ketchum and Killem”… names of the 2 owners

  47. In Calgary…. a liquor store…. Liquor Box…. must be catering to the young female university crowd.

  48. We saw a beauty salon in Arkansas called “Curl Up and Dye”. And a church with a mispelled marque that said “The Church of Chris”. We have pictures of both. How do we submit them?

  49. In Kankakee Il, a beauty salon called “Curl Up and Dye” and in Beecher, Il, “Beecher Meat and Liquor” and “Beecher Tool and Dye”

  52. Rowdy Beaver (brand new restaurant & bar)
    417 w. Van Buren
    Eureka springs, AR 72632
    Located in the old Duke’s West Oaks place

  59. great Novelty food joint
    pepered possum aged armadillo spicey raccoon jerky
    elk buffalo burgers and quail .
    very fun place to eat.

  60. Is there a statute of limitations? I’ll never forget the grocery store sign I spotted in Troy, New York about 25 years agoannouncing the existence of the Sanitary Food Circus. Maybe it’s still there providing the sensational yet safe satiety which has always been their watchword.

    The Permanent Solution beauty salon, a half hour or so south of Burlington Vermont, is another fond memory from 2 decades ago.

    More cheerful and also more current is Nice n Necessary on 4th Avenue in Brooklyn, NY, one of many such stores selling everything from detergent to underwear to coffee pots to socks.

  61. One of my favorites: Nut ‘n’ Butt Puppys (sic), a pet store in Orlando. It may have changed its name. The misspelling adds a nice touch.

  62. ARDS CRICKET RANCH
    827 Lynch Street
    Pensacola, FL
    32505

    I saw this on a matchbook cover many years ago, and it just struck me as being funny. It is a fishing tackle shop. I did get one of their very colorful t-shirts for Christmas one year. As far as I know they do not have a web site.

  63. Huff House (restaurant off rt. 17 in upstate ny)
    Used to Be’s (restaurant, bar)
    Peek-a-Boo 5&10
    Plump Brothers (plumbing, Hackensack)

  65. I carry a money clip I purchased at Bob’s Bizarre Bazaar formerly in the Westport district of Kansas City MO. Bob Berdella had a penchant for teen boys, various torture techniques and cannibalism. After bagging the remains of a dozen or so victims and placing them curbside with the weekly trash, he was caught and sentenced to prison in Potosi MO. He died in prison from a heart attack (too much red meat in his diet we were told) and missed the MO Protocol. Local film makers have produced a full length movie of his exploits and it tours the indie film houses on a regular basis. There is also a book by Tom Jackman of the Berdella murders.
    Mike Mather
    Shawnee KS

  67. Near Port Townsend, WA, is a small billboard for a family company that specializes in excavation. The family name is GRAVES, so the billboard reads:

    GRAVES EXCAVATING

    I love that sign.

  68. In western Canada, there is a septic system service (I think it’s called Acme) and their motto is on all their trucks:\

    “We’re Number One in Number Two”

  70. “Mo Better Meaty Meat Burger” — often nominated as the best burger in Los Angeles. On Pico and Fairfax. Until recently. It is now deceased.

  71. A favorite from years back:

    From the window of a bus, I saw a sign on the second floor of an old commercial building, on the stretch of the Bowery within Manhattan’s Chinatown:

    Lung City Travel (apparently a travel agency)

    I don’t know if it’s still in business.

  72. Southfield Michigan has “Mercury Fish N Chips”
    Shelby Twp. Michigan used to have the Disco Methodist Protestant Church (the name was changed in 1979)

  73. I used to pass a business along I-95 just outside Richmond, VA. It was in an industrial section, and the name as Sterile Concepts.

    I never found out what it was, but I’m hoping they perhaps made autoclaves?

  74. How about the Whizz-Burger hamburger stand just west of Chattanooga, Tennessee. You can see the sign from I-24.

  75. In Melbourne, Australia, a custom manufacturer (now closed) of ceramic and stoneware tableware by the name of “The big duck and fish company”. Say it a few times quickly… No, again…

  76. Howard L. Tingling, DDS
    Southfield, MI
    (If memory serves, he’s an endodontist. Singy with the anaesthetic?)

  77. There used to be an automotive supplier in Warren, MI, whose marquee read:
    CONDAMATIC
    Screw Machine Operators Wanted

    (Damn. I can spell “anaesthetic” but not “stingy.”)

  78. There’s a little restaurant in Venice, Florida, on Highway 41, named “Wee Blew Inn”.

  82. Gas station chain throughout the midwest… “Whoa n Go.” Can’t find a picture.

    In Springfield, PA: Prince’s Pet Goodies and Auto Repair.

  84. While visiting my oldest daughter in Fairbanks, made a stop at Skinny Dicks Halfway Inn(August 18,2006). Pretty cool place. Heard about from my parents who stopped there in 1990. Its located halfway between Denali and Fairbanks…kinda.

  86. From Cincinnati, in a flatiron building at LIberty and Reading, now defunct, but who could forget?

    THE HARD WORK AND SACRIFICE WIG BOUTIQUE AND BEAUTY PARLOR.

    No, sorry, no picture of the sign.

  90. I have to place a vote for Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn, about 20 miles or so south of Fairbanks, Alaska. (I have a photo if anyone from this site is interested).

    But one of the best signs I ever saw was on a country road in Delaware. It was out a ways away from any large towns. “Helen’s Beauty Salon”. And just under that, on an attached sign “Worms”.

  92. Public Hair (barber/beauty) was in East Lansing, MI. Has been out of business for some years.

  96. okay…well, actually i go to a salon that is called “Cut up and Dye” i love the place…

    and i was on my way to the beach and i saw a ranch that said “Backache Acres” i laughed my ass off…

  99. Crusin’ Chubbies (Strip Club) Wisconsin Dells, WI

    The Dew Drop Inn, Pownal, VT

  100. In Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, a store that sells flowy women’s finery, a la Stevie Nicks…
    “Oh My Gauze”

  101. In Moscow, Idaho, there is a bar called the Slurp N Burp. They also sell their beer in mason jars instead of glasses.

  102. MMM Carpet

    Located of of Highway 101
    4877 Hopyard Road, Suite B1
    Pleasanton California

  103. In Lake City , Florida, the world famous Fu King Chinese Restaurant ! I’d like to send you a picture of the sign. Let me know how to get it to you. It’s really Fu King Funny!!

  105. Fu-Kim Vietnamese Food, Houston, Texas. It’s just about two blocks from the Toyota Center.

  109. In Osage MN there is a cafe/bar/ gas station/baitstore. I think its called Doc”s Cafe but their awning says “EAT HERE GET GAS AND WORMS”

  110. In Arcadia, CA. there is a restaurant called “Young Dong Garden”. I still can’t bring myself to go inside.

  111. In Homewood, IL, there used to be “Lowe Quality Paints”. Can’t understand ~how~ they went out of buisness!

  112. There’s this septic tanks service place called Brownie’s Septic Tank Service, i’ve called to buy a shirt, they don’t sell them

  113. “What the Pho?” (Pho is read “Fu-” as in “FUC…”you know…)

    300 Pacific Coast Highway #110, Huntington Beach, California 92648

    Its a Vietnamese Restaurant…

  116. I have two Delaware locations:
    “Cum on Inn” a bar in New Castle, DE and
    “Breakfast Sandwich and Cigerette Outlet” in Newport, DE

  120. I would like to nominate John’s Big Deck a Bar and Grill in downtown, 928 Wyandotte St. Kansas City, MO 64105 816-474-5668

    Great name!

  121. Here are three from the past in Pittsburgh

    “Al’s Terminal Lunch” A lunch counter in the Terminal Buildings
    “Henry Bathtub Protector” got me
    “Shields Rubber for Industry” Painted big on the side of a bldg.
    “Rexall Drugs Lunch and Trusses” Self explanatory I guess.

  122. how about “A DONG Supermarket” seen on a van in Westminster, Ca
    and “Phuket Thai” a restaurant in Huntington Bch. Ca

  123. The name of my dad’s bar in Centreville, MI called “Our Neighbor’s House”. I would ask him, “Where have you been?” and he would say “I was at “Our Neighbor’s House”. LOL

  124. how about in detroit…

    an automotive supply company called

    fuch’s lubricants

    its off of i 75 in detroit

  125. DAY CARE ABOUT YA’

    made up by a family friend for a
    day care she was going to open :D

  127. real cool chineese food joint in san juan puerto rico called Hot Wok Cafe. no longer in bussiness.

  129. Norm’s Altruistic Lounge, a tavern in Milwaukee Wi.

    i always imagined at least one free beer available as i passed by on the bus.

  132. Kum and Go in Omaha off of 156th and Pacific….There are many others around the area as well.

  133. File these under odd combos:
    There’s a petstore/movie rental place in Russellville, AL called Video & Varmints–and another place in Rochester, NY called Pianos & Clocks–and they sell just that.

  135. Bonnie Beaver, Ob/Gyn (Los Angeles)
    Dr. Ow, Dentist (So Cal), REALLY!
    Cheap Thrills, Sacramento 2nd Hand Clothing Store

  136. When I was a kid in Wichita Kansas, there was a restaurant called Y’et Yet?

    Also, a city council member in Garland TX named Harry Hickey. I wish I had pilfered one of his signs out of a yard.

  137. Name: Teeter Cleaners
    Street: 111 East Broadway Avenue
    Fairfield, ia 52556-3203
    Dry Cleaners
    Yes, I’m that immature to laugh at that.

  138. Master Bait & Liquor, a bait and liquor store just north of Parsons, Kansas. Very funny, they have a web site and sell tshirts with the store name.

  139. Good’nough, Electric company in Toledo, Ohio

    Happy Hooker, Bait & tackle store in Ohio

    Gas ‘n’ Go, Gas station, I can’t remember where I saw it, but I thought it was funny because leaving a gas station without paying is sometimes referred to as a “gas n go”

  140. Hi. Looking through my really old matchbooks I found a couple: Hi-Da-Way (Boston); Garden of Eat’N (location not on matchbook).

  142. There was a store out in the country near River Falls, Wisconsin
    that had a huge sign proclaiming “Taxidermy and Cheese”.

  144. I was watching “Notorious”, a crime show hosted by Bill Kurtis…at one point they showed a sign of a town in Texas called “CUT N SHOOT”, a few minutes later they showed a gas station “GAS N STUFF”. Also, there’s “Cafe Bong” on Clark St. in Chicago.

  145. From Nightline tv show, 11/7/08:

    gun store “Cheaper Than Dirt!” in Fort Worth, Texas

    gun store “Ye Old Gun Shop” in Las Vegas, haven’t been able to confirm spelling, I would like to think it’s spelled “Ye Olde Gun Shoppe”

  146. An engineer friend of mine did some contract work in backwoods, coastal South Carolina. The only place nearby to get a bite was an ‘all you can eat’ hot dog joint called “The Squat & Gobble.” The sign has a drawing of two hillbilly-looking guys squatting and eating hot dogs. I’ll try to get a picture to send–it’s a hoot!

  148. I was watching a movie, a bleak British drama, and there was a store in the movie called THIS ‘N’ THAT. I know it doesn’t count toward the official list because it was in a movie, but it is a good name anyway.

  149. Automotive place in Superior WI called “Dick’s Transmission”. Pottery place near Poplar WI called “Barb’s Jugs”.

  150. I like stuff with “sir” in the name:
    SIR GROUT® Tile Care and Cleaning
    1550 W Cornelia Ave
    Chicago, IL 60657

  151. I see that Jared mentioned “Happy Hooker” bait shop. That reminds me of “Happy Hooker” towing in Indiana. My former neighbor’s family owned the business.

  152. Salon in Redkey, Indiana called “Hairway to Heaven”. I have a picture, Also in Livingston, Montana the “Town Pump”, ” the Kum N Go” and “Loaf and Jug”.
    Then there is “Weeping Lingerie” in Northhampton Mass. Got a picture of that one too. The best was the sign in Falls Church, Virginia pointing around the corner of a shopping center towards a Karate studio…, the sign said”Mt. Kim in rear”

  158. The used to be a market in Oakland’s Chinatown called “Good Luck Market.” At the entrance to the very small parking lot was a sign which read: “GOOD LUCK PARKING”

  160. Had a sign in Martinsburg, WV route 45 said “RAPE” .. and had 4 people on the billboard, and one of them was in a … “wheelchair”… WTF, is a guy doing in a wheelchair on a rape sign for??? lol… did HE get raped.. was he the raper?? .. Just didn’t see the logic there :)

  161. The Recovery Room is a bar in Jackson, MS that gives you a free beer for every sobriety chip you surrender.

  162. I laugh whenever I drive past this one…

    Pump-N-Stuf
    in West Chester, Iowa

  163. Beaver Liquors in Avon, CO
    Trumann’s Alcohol Abuse Center (bar in Chicago that is gone now)
    Roadkill Cafe Greenville, ME

  164. I saw a work van outside my building the other day… “Sir Grout”. There was a medieval knight on the side of the van.

  165. JEALOUS NEIGHBOR Ceramics Supplier — this was in Mandaue City, Cebu, Philippines, before a road widening needed this store to relocate.

  167. Stubby’s Dog and Car Wash: Home of Waggin’ Tails and Shinin’ Cars

    This is located at 10201 W. 79th Street, Overland Park, Kansas.

  171. My uncle used to own that “Strange Drugs” in Dublin, GA. I believe it’s been out of business for years.

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