Why I almost didn’t eat at your restaurant

So there’s this place that recently opened up near my house in Blakeney Crossing. I have driven by it many times, and I saw a sign on the side of the building reading “Express Cafe.” Anything with the word cafe in it typically gets my attention, as I love coffee and I am always willing to check out anything with that kind of atmosphere.

But for some reason, I felt that I was not “supposed” to be going to this place. It took me a while to figure out why I was so turned off by it, but then I realized: The part of the building that faces the street has floor-to-second-story-ceiling windows, revealing a very colorful interior. And name of the place – Newk’s – has a logo that is written in a very childish handwritten font with multicolored letters. The result being that I thought I was driving past a day-care center or some other place of business that is catered to children.

As I don’t have children, I didn’t think this business was for me. Even if they did have a cafe while you wait for your kid to finish fingerpainting or playing Laser Tag or whatever this place was for.

In fact, as you’ll see above, the work Newk’s and the words Express Cafe are so separated that I actually wondered if it was two businesses. Which is probably the only reason I even thought maybe I’d want to visit this Express Cafe place.  But then I figured the Newk’s part was probably a kids’ play area that goes beside the Express Cafe, sorta like a McDonald’s Playland or something. Which made me think of a place overrun by playing children and screaming babies – not exactly the same coffeeshop atmosphere that draws me.

As much as I love trying out new restaurants, I had – mostly subconsciously – written this one off until Colleen recently suggested we give it a try. I agreed, and we even discussed on the drive there how odd the building seems and was it two different places and what was the deal with the one name being on one part of the building and the other name being on the other part?

So, imagine my surprise when we got to Newk’s and it was not a day-care center after all. There was no jungle gym. I’m not even sure there was a kids’ menu! It was a regular restaurant, reminiscent of a Wolfgang Puck Bistro or something similar, with good food and a sophisticated vibe inside. In fact, I’ll even give it a recommendation – if you happen to be in the area, it’s worth it to drop in.

Logos can be a very valuable thing. Make sure yours is sending the message you want it to send.