How to Choose the Right Restaurant and Food Slogans

How to Choose a Restaurant Slogan

Isn’t it crazy how certain songs get stuck in your head for days on end? Something about them — the chorus, the melody, tempo — refuses to leave you alone.

Restaurant slogans work the same way. They’re shorter than a song (the point is to be brief, effective, and memorable), serving as first impressions and tone-setters that shape a customer’s perception of your establishment for years to come. It’s an opportunity to leave an unforgettable mark on consumers and stay relevant in an evolving market.

Catchy restaurant slogans capture the attention of a target audience, establish brand awareness, and create a unique tagline that makes your establishment stand out. The more memorable a slogan is, the better chance your restaurant has of staying at the forefront of customer’s minds.

In this guide, I’ll demonstrate how to write good food slogans and what you should include in your restaurant taglines. I’ll also highlight plenty of real-world examples of funny and creative restaurant slogans so you can take inspiration, no matter whether you’re looking for fast food restaurant slogans or italian restaurant taglines.

What’s in This Guide?

• What is a Restaurant Slogan?

• How to Write a Restaurant Slogan

• The Best Restaurant Slogans of All Time

• Great Slogans Need Great Restaurants!

• FAQs

What is a restaurant slogan?

A restaurant slogan is a phrase you create to describe what makes your restaurant special. Since your restaurant’s slogan or tagline will be used across various elements of your marketing plan, it's important to make sure it's clear, memorable, and effective.

Sticking with the music metaphors, restaurant catchphrases are a lot like a song’s chorus or opening bar. It’s the very first thing customers will think of in regards to your brand. Let’s take a look at some of the best restaurant slogans there ever was:

• Burger King – Have it your way.

• Dunkin Donuts – America runs on Dunkin.

• McDonald’s – I’m lovin’ it.

These famous slogans have instant brand recognition, create a positive association with the restaurant, and foster familiarity with customers worldwide. In just a few simple words, they promise both comforting cuisine and a unique culinary adventure.

How to write a restaurant slogan

Like a good song, the right elements need to fall into place. This means your restaurant slogan ideas will probably need to be workshopped and pieced together like a jigsaw puzzle. The main things to consider when writing your restaurant slogan are:

1. Your target audience.

2. Your business values and brand.

3. Using as few words as possible.

4. Your customers, friends, and family.

5. Pre-existing popular slogans (never plagiarize!).

There tends to be a recipe for success when it comes to restaurant slogans. Specialist marketers and leading professionals, such as Stacy Allens, suggest that “uniqueness, simplicity, and relevance” are the three most crucial criteria for a successful slogan.

I’ll now take you through how to create a unique slogan for your restaurant in detail, using examples from popular taglines to illustrate why each point is important.

1. Consider Your Audience

A fast food restaurant’s primary appeal is convenience. Knowing that, chains work to create easy-to-eat dishes in a hurry because they know who their audience is. 

When planning any restaurant marketing strategy, it’s important to be aware of the audience you wish to target. Are the majority of your customers families who enjoy delicious food and fine dining, or do college-age kids frequently dine in because you offer fresh food at student prices? This will come into play when you design your slogan and branding.

If your restaurant is international, there are certain language barriers to consider. For example, when KFC launched the slogan “Finger-lickin' good” in China, it translated to “Eat your fingers off” — which isn’t exactly what they intended to convey! 

2. Stay True to Your Brand

Saying that your restaurant provides “great service at a reasonable price” doesn’t differentiate you from your competition. Make sure your slogan identifies what’s unique about your establishment instead of simply stating what a customer would expect from any restaurant. Consider your branding, concept, cuisine, and your business values before you decide on a slogan.

Take Olive Garden’s former slogan: “When you’re here, you’re family.” Their aim was to convey that eating at their restaurant was similar to eating at your own kitchen table. Their never-ending salad and breadstick options are meant to be enjoyed by an entire group, and the environment is conducive to lively conversations. None of that is explicitly stated, but the messaging still comes across. 

Use descriptive and emotive imagery to boil down your services, ambience, and culture into a tight catchphrase or slogan that aligns with your restaurant branding.

3. Keep it Short and Sweet

It’s important to be direct and to the point with your language, as this ensures your slogan sticks in customers’ minds. Restaurant slogans should consist of 10 words max, and ideally, much less.

Using writing techniques like alliteration or rhymes will help even niche sushi restaurant slogans roll off the tongue. Take Arby’s slogan, for example: “Good mood food.” Simple and effective.

This may go without saying, but it’s definitely best to associate your brand with positive language. HubSpot highlights Reeses’s Peanut Butter Cups as an example when it comes to the power of positive restaurant taglines. Its slogan, “Two great tastes that taste great together” invites positive interpretations of the brand. Conversely, Lea & Perrins’ slogan, “Steak sauce only a cow could hate” uses negative words and comes across much darker.

4. Enlist Your Staff and Customers

If you’re having trouble coming up with a restaurant slogan, you can always ask your managers, your front and back-of-house staff, and even your customers. For instance, you could host a contest to see who can come up with the best slogan and offer a reward — like a cash prize or an exclusive discount — to encourage participation. 

You can even host a big reveal party and offer specials and promotions on your menu items as a great way to increase the hype. It’s all part of building your restaurant brand. 

5. Be Wary of Existing Taglines

Naturally, you can’t be expected to know every single restaurant’s slogan in the US. That said, you also don’t want to accidentally plagiarize another business and open yourself up to lawsuits. 

Once you think you’ve settled on a great restaurant slogan, do a quick Google search to find out if any popular establishment is using something similar. It’s also worth searching your local area to avoid being too similar to your direct competitors. If nothing comes up, you’re likely in the clear and you can give your newfound slogan the green light.

The best restaurant slogans of all time

Coming up with catchy restaurant slogans is an art form that can be hard to master. Whether you’re a food truck, a restaurant stand at a market, or a healthy restaurant, taglines must be memorable enough to attract and retain customers. Here are some of the best examples of all time to get your creative juices flowing.

43 Restaurant Slogans for Inspiration

Funny Restaurant Slogans

1. Carl’s Jr. – Don’t bother me, I’m eating.

2. El Pollo Loco – When you’re crazy for chicken.

3. Harvey’s – Meat. Fire. Good.

4. Long John Silver's – We speak fish.

5. Pat O’Brien’s – Having Fun Since 1933.

6. Pizza Hut – No one outpizzas the hut.

7. Qdoba – Food for people who love food.

8. The Purple Pig – Cheese, swine, & wine.

9. Zero’s Subs – We’re hot and on a roll.

Catchy Restaurant Slogans

10. Arby’s – It’s good mood food.

11. In-N-Out Burger – Quality you can taste.

12. McDonald’s – I’m lovin’ it.

13. Popeye’s Chicken – Louisiana fast.

14. Quiznos – Mmmmm… Toasty!

15. Sonic – Service at the speed of sound.

16. Taco Bell – Yo quiero Taco Bell.

17. Wendy’s – Where’s the beef?

Recognizable Restaurant Taglines

18. Applebees – Eatin’ good in the neighborhood.

19. Burger King – Have it your way.

20. Dairy Queen – Hot eats, cold treats.

21. Dunkin Donuts – America runs on Dunkin.

22. Five Guys – Always fresh, never frozen.

23. Hardee's – Feed your happy.

24. IHOP  – Come hungry, leave happy.

25. KFC – Finger lickin’ good.

26. Olive Garden – When you’re here, you’re family.

27. Papa John’s – Better ingredients. Better pizza.

28. Subway – Eat fresh.

29. Taco Bell – Live mas.

Descriptive Restaurant Slogans

30. Arby’s – We have the meats.

31. Bahama Buck’s – The greatest sno on Earth!

32. A&W – Where the food’s as good as the root beer.

33. Blaze Pizza – Fast fire'd.

34. Chili’s – Fun. Fresh. Flavorful.

35. Chipotle – Food with integrity.

36. Honeygrow – Do more with your vegetables.

37. Hot Chick, Inc – A fried chicken story.

38. Jack in the Box – We don’t make it ‘til you order it.

39. Jimmy John’s – Freaky fast, freaky good.

40. Off the Grid – Follow the smoke and go.

41. Waffle House – Good food fast.

42. Wendy’s – You know when it’s real.

43. White Castle – The crave is a powerful thing.

Great Slogans Need Great Restaurants!

There’s an art to saying a lot with a few words. Creating a slogan can be a tough process, and it might be stressful to put dollars behind something you’re not 100% sure of. If you’re thinking of creating a slogan for your restaurant, there’s good news — nothing is final and you’re always welcome to change it, just like many of the leading restaurant brands in the world have done.

If you spend time gaining perspective on how you want to represent your restaurant and who you’re targeting, and you use creative and descriptive language, your slogan may just stand shoulder to shoulder with McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC!

But there’s no point in having a great restaurant slogan if you can’t provide the service to back it up. Make sure your restaurant is properly equipped with the right tools and technology to create a true culinary journey for your customers, from the minute they see your slogan to the moment they wash down the last bite of your food with a cool beverage. Try Toast today to see how your restaurant can benefit from innovative tech. From point-of-sale systems that make your life so much easier to employee payroll and payment processing software, we’ve got you covered.

Related Restaurant Opening Resources

• How to Open a Pizza Shop

• How to Open a Food Truck

• How to Open a Coffee Shop

• How to Open a Bar

• How to Open a Donut Shop

• How to Open a Bakery

FAQs

What are some popular restaurant slogans?

The best, most popular restaurant slogans are easy to understand, simple, and short. They should also be specific to your cuisine or mission. Take these notable examples:

• IHOP – Come hungry, leave happy.

• Subway – Eat fresh.

• Wendy’s – Where’s the beef?

These are well-known examples of catchy restaurant slogans and work well thanks to their simplicity and memorability. 

How do I make a restaurant slogan?

If you need help creating your own restaurant slogan, you can always use a slogan generator for inspiration. You can also enlist the help of your staff, customers, and vendors to assist you in brainstorming tagline ideas for your business.

What are some good food slogans?

To create a good food slogan for your product or restaurant, you need to make sure it’s simple, original, and catchy. For example, KFC’s “Finger-lickin’ good” is instantly recognizable worldwide and uses playful and descriptive language to entice you in. Similarly, Subway’s “Eat Fresh” is straight to the point and super catchy.