I hated this name from the minute I heard it. Even more, I was in shock. But was it just me? So I checked with some others.. not broadly.. and not a proper research job... but most thought the same as me. Some even said they were thinking of latrine before they got to the word bistro or restaurant.

Really Safeway, going into the restaurant business is one thing. And yes we know it is harder to find good names nowadays and to get them through all the management levels (not to mention the lawyers). But that is still no excuse for using one of the most uncomfortable words in the English language. Especially for a restaurant!

A month later this name still sounds like it is from sit latrine to me. And another common reference point is that real or artificial citrine fragrances are used to kill (or at least clear) bad odors. So strong it even keeps the mosquitos away - which is what all campers know.

The only reason we didn't give this name a big zero is the fact that the trademark is free (no surprise there) and the name is properly registered, by this mysterious company called SRG. If Safeway wanted to hide their restaurant group behind initials, why didn't they just call the new chain Surge instead?

Congratulations, however, are in order, for the logo and image designers for dealing with a difficult name and including a consistent tagline from the outset. Their visual branding is pushed to the limit to recover from this verbal branding error and it is nice to see such a good website early in the process too.

I am still trying to get up my courage to visit one of the first stores, but in the meantime, your mouth might water at www.citrinebistro.com.