This is…sort of the bottom of the barrel when it comes to positive reviews, but at least the owner is being honest with us. Of course, we expect the owner to want to eat where he works – a man or woman must have pride in his or her work, artistic or otherwise. But, we wonder if the approval goes any deeper.
Is the owner happy with the food being served? Does he/she think it could be improved? Is he/she worried about the quality of the food compared to the cost and speed of preparing and serving it? Let’s hear more.
Those Halcyon Days
Back when you could look someone in the eye and not have them look back at their screen. Back when if you were out eating and the phone rang, too bad. Back when a coffee shop was a place for conversation, congregation, and nice, regular black coffee.
This enterprising store has brought those days back, and we are buying what they're selling. 1995 is a bit far back – WiFi didn't get started until midway through the two-thousands – but perhaps they mean to return to when the internet was just a gleam in a bunch of nerds' eyes.
We Wonder if Chameleons Eat Here
Here is another sign that seems to think that a threat is a good way to bring in the bucks. There are no menus? You will be served what you deserve? What could they possibly know about me? You do not know me! You do not know what I have done! Or...have not done!
But the sign is a lie – we are not going to be served what we deserve, we are going to be served what the people working here think we deserve. At the end of the day though, going to a peaceful place to eat is ideal.
Now We're Talking
This is the kind of sign that ticks all the boxes and is interesting to read. First off, we know right away what kind of food this restaurant is selling – meat. Second, we know they're actually interested in advertising their food and advertising it hard. Third, it's got humor in it.
Every ending of this flowchart gives us something punchy, and always pushes the reader to try out the food being offered. We live in a time when eating meat is such a polarizing topic - so this restaurant decided to try and help make the decision easier for you.
The Title of this Sign is "Trying Too Hard"
El Arroyo has put up some zingers, but this one doesn't pass the test. Yeah, the pun is there – the mean of a set of numbers is a synonym for an average – but it's so obvious, any eighth grader can see the punchline coming from a worksheet away.
It will get a laugh from kids who think they're privy to some kind of FORBIDDEN KNOWLEDGE about math, most people will just roll their eyes and walk past the El Arroyo sign, which we're starting to think is something that happens a lot more than the restaurant would care to admit.