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Throwing a pun into your restaurant name is a time-honoured tradition.
But one French-Vietnamese establishment in Keene, New Hampshire, has irked authorities who think its name has stepped over the line.
The soon-to-open Pho Keene Great (pho is meant to be pronounced "fuh") is in hot water with City Hall, who wanted the restaurant's temporary sign — featuring its name — taken down.
As per the Associated Press, city manager Elizabeth Dragon said the restaurant's name was intentionally meant to sound profane.
The space Pho Keene Great has leased is in the same building as City Hall, and the restaurant needed to get permission from the city to put any signs up, which it didn't.
"It's just that we have to strike a balance because it is a public building," Dragon told New Hampshire Public Radio.
The restaurant's owner, Isabelle Jolie, explained in a statement online that yes, the name is a double entendre.
"We wanted it to be all the things that a business would need to engage its audience: catchy, memorable, creative, fun and to make it a conversation piece about Vietnam’s most famous comfort food, pho," the statement reads.
For now, Jolie has taken down the temporary sign. Pho Keene Great is still set to open on Mar. 1, however, and the restaurant is still aiming to have a permanent outdoor sign installed, if city authorities end up being OK with it.
"We do not have any plans on changing our business name. We have spent many thousands of dollars investing in this venture because we believed in every aspect of our concept and that includes the branding and marketing of our business name," the statement added.
It'd certainly be a Pho Keene shame if the city got its way.
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