Want to name a restaurant? Columbus owner seeks your help after cease-and-desist order
A Columbus barbecue restaurant is looking to change its name. And the owner is asking for the community’s help.
Scott Marshall, owner of Moonswiners BBQ, 547 Veterans Parkway, announced on Facebook his restaurant has received a cease-and-desist order. The order came from a restaurant named Moonswiners Bar-B-Q in Fort Pierce, Florida.
“While we respectfully understand trademark protections exist for good reasons, this means we need to find a new name for the BBQ joint you’ve come to know and love,” Marshall wrote in the post. “Here’s the good news: WE’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE. Same pitmasters, same recipes, same ‘cue you crave. We’re just getting a new name.”
Moonswiners Bar-B-Q in Fort Pierce has a trademark on the name “Moonswiners” for restaurants, sauces and merchandise, according to the cease-and-desist order. The order requires Marshall to change the name of his restaurant by Dec. 1.
Marshall told the Ledger-Enquirer this isn’t the first time he has heard from the other restaurant. The owner contacted Marshall when he started his food truck business.
“It wasn’t a cease-and-desist order,” Marshall said. “It was just a letter stating that you can’t use Moonswiners barbecue.”
Why the restaurant’s name is Moonswiners BBQ
Marshall picked his restaurant’s name because he loves home-brewing and barbecuing. He said he had no idea about the other restaurant until he received the owner’s letter.
In response, Marshall added the phrase “and catering” to his food truck, Moonswiners BBQ. The other restaurant did not reach out after that change.
Receiving the cease-and-desist order, Marshall said, was frustrating.
“A FedEx guy brought it in. We were trying to get a catering order out the door for 11 a.m., which is right as we open,” Marshall said. “I read the first bit, finished the catering and then came back and read the other six pages. I was like, ‘It’s legal. There’s nothing I can do.’ I made a few calls to talk to an attorney, and he said, ‘There’s nothing you can do. Just change your name.’”
How to help decide new name for Moonswiners BBQ
Marshall is asking for the community’s help to decide a new name for his restaurant.
“We’re trying to take a good spin on it,” he said. “I’m actually having fun with it.”
Marshall doesn’t have any guidelines or rules for suggestions, but he prefers the new restaurant’s name to be fit for franchise opportunities and a menu expansion beyond a typical barbecue restaurant.
“I’ve talked with my son, and I think we’re at a crossroads now, where, with a name change, people won’t expect just barbecue,” Marshall said. “When the name goes through, it’ll be [the new name and] ‘and grill’ or ‘and more.’ We’re going to add something to it to where, if I’m serving a fish sandwich today, it doesn’t look so odd coming from just a straight barbecue house. It’ll give us more options in our menu to display our talents in the kitchen.”
Over 100 customers have submitted their name ideas during the past week on the restaurant’s Facebook page. Marshall said some of the submissions are amusing, such as one customer suggesting to name his restaurant “Hoochie Cue.”
“I’m not gonna name my restaurant that,” he said.
Dave Nahley suggested “Pig and Still” or “Hickory and Hooch.” Jennifer Harden suggested “Rise & Swine BBQ.”
Customers can submit name ideas by commenting on the cease-and-desist announcement post on the Moonswiners BBQ Facebook page until Nov. 24. With the suggestions, Marshall will set up a poll running on his Facebook page and the Ledger-Enquirer website to let customers decide the final name.
The poll will run until Nov. 28. The winner of the poll will be announced on the Moonswiners BBQ Facebook page.