West Seattle restaurants: Bang Bar puts up sign, takes out word

After the weekend sign installation (we photographed the Western Neon crew on Saturday) for what is likely to be the next new restaurant to open in West Seattle, we checked in with the co-owner of Bang Bar Restaurant and Lounge (4750 California SW), Kay Fuengarom. She told WSB contributor Bill Hutchison they’ve had a change in plan for the restaurant’s focus. One hint: The word you don’t see on the sign. Details ahead:

“We’ve been thinking about the theme of Bang Bar on how we want everything to be [special], especially the food, because we don’t want to be just another Thai restaurant. We want to be different and unique,” Fuengarom explained. Turning point in the process of “working on (their) theme” was the hiring of Chef Jahn (that’s what she goes by), whose resume, shared by the Bang Bar ownership, indicates she has been working at Racha, after years on the East Coast that in turn followed a career in Thailand including ownership of her own eatery.

“After talking to her, getting to know her, and trying many of her great dishes, we know that this is the theme that we’ve been looking for. All the dishes that she created, she made them from selecting the best ingredients and put all of the attention to every little detail to create one dish. She had tons of experience that started in Thailand but then she went to many other countries in the world trying to learn new recipes. She created many menus in many restaurants in different parts of the world.”

And so, Fuengarom continued, “We decided to change the name of the place to ‘Bang Bar Restaurant and Lounge’; there is no ‘Thai’ attached to it any more, because we want to give everyone more selections and varieties not just limited to Thai. Also, customers will get to eat the best food from what our chef has learned from different parts of the world. In addition to that, we are very lucky to have Chef John Gasperetti to join us; he will be adding breakfast to Bang Bar on Saturday and Sunday. We are very excited and hoping that everything will turn out the way we wanted. We are now ready to be another great restaurant in West Seattle.”

As of last weekend, construction was about two-thirds done, and they hope to finish the renovation work by the end of the month. If you’ve missed our earlier stories, this is the former Tom Yum Koong space; that restaurant closed two months ago.

Tony April 12, 2011 (3:52 pm)

name fail.

jiggers April 12, 2011 (4:14 pm)

Love the name. Now let’s see if the food and value turns out to be good as well.

onceachef April 12, 2011 (4:32 pm)

“Bang” is pronounced “bhong”.

Jeremiah April 12, 2011 (4:33 pm)

Epic name fail. The housemate and I already joke about it.

grr April 12, 2011 (4:35 pm)

gotta agree with ya, Tony.. At least when it was being marketed as a Thai place, the ‘bang’ had some cohesive meaning…and considering their website URL will now need to be changed… Are they going to change the decor now as well? Lack of focused direction is the first thing that will kill a restaurant. I hope whoever is doing their marketing really has their stuff together.

rw April 12, 2011 (4:40 pm)

If the food is great, then the name won’t matter.

If the food is disappointing, then the name won’t matter.

I for one am optimistic and look forward to giving them the benefit of an open mind and a chance to win me over.

villagegreen April 12, 2011 (5:01 pm)

I guess Bangkok failed even more epically. No one wants to visit or eat the food in that town. Stupid.

YarnCore April 12, 2011 (5:05 pm)

I like the name. It makes it seem kind of fun, tongue in cheek-y.

JD April 12, 2011 (5:09 pm)

Thumbs up on the name– and wish them well!

sv April 12, 2011 (6:02 pm)

Phuket

Melissa April 12, 2011 (6:37 pm)

At least its something new!

JayDee April 12, 2011 (6:39 pm)

SV:

Now that would be a great name for a bar.

onceachef April 12, 2011 (6:53 pm)

ah yes, there’s nothing like cultural illiteracy. You know who you are…well, maybe.

BigRed April 12, 2011 (7:29 pm)

JayDee- There is a place called Phuket on Queen Anne….At least there used to be. Too funny

Jeremiah April 12, 2011 (8:00 pm)

Buuurn! Gosh, I don’t know if I’m intelligent enough to understand this attempt at a smack-down. Could it be that some of us don’t suffer from cultural illiteracy; we simply find the spelling humorous? Especially when placed next to the word ‘bar’? Nah. Only the culturally unrefined would ever see the letters and think of the word ‘bang’. Good on you though, my day was feeling incomplete without your dash of pretentious snobbery.

redblack April 12, 2011 (8:00 pm)

onceachef: i doubt they do. beavis and butthead weren’t known as epicures.
.
jaydee: phuket (poo-ket) is on queen anne avenue, just south of mercer.
.
“epic name fail?” really? man, this really is idiocracy.

Jeremiah April 12, 2011 (8:13 pm)

Thanks for all the pronunciation guides! Iz defuhnutly lernin’ so much tuhnite.

Monosyllabic Girl April 12, 2011 (9:27 pm)

Oh joy. A name my 13 year old nephew and his friends will all find hi-larious everytime we pass by.

datamuse April 12, 2011 (9:31 pm)

MG: but you won’t forget it!

Mookie April 12, 2011 (9:37 pm)

So they keep the Thai word “bang” but delete the “Thai.” Now it doesn’t give me a clue as to what establishment it is, other than it must serve drinks. Isn’t bar and lounge in the name now more than a little redundant?

Sandra April 12, 2011 (11:02 pm)

It’s really just a name… It might sound a little strange but I think it’s quite catchy. But all that really matters is how their restaurant looks, how their food tastes, and how superb their service is… I can’t wait until it opens!

george April 12, 2011 (11:57 pm)

Bunghole Liquors in Salem, MA. Best. Name. Ever. hehe-hehe-hehehehe.

Meghan April 13, 2011 (6:46 am)

Oh my god, people, lighten up! Some people didn’t like the name Long (Belltown), but they serve some of the best Vietnamese food in the city. I’m excited to have a new Asian restaurant in W. Seattle. I think it would be GREAT if they offered some Vietnamese dishes! There is so much Thai already (and no one does it better than Budda Ruksa), much the rest of if it mediocre. But there is no Vietnamese food in W. Seattle other than pho. If they serve good Vietnamese dishes, I will be there every week!! And I know others who will too.

wsmom April 13, 2011 (8:33 am)

now we know where to go when we want to get all “bang-ed up” hehe

Cowpie April 13, 2011 (8:48 am)

I thought it was a gay bar. That was honestly my first thought. BTW…I have nothing but good things to say about homosexuals. A friend of 29 years just came out, so don’t make it seem that I have a problem. Yes…I’ve been to Bangkok three times and Phuket once.

RJB April 13, 2011 (8:57 am)

If the food is good….I don’t care what you name the place!! Best of luck!!!

R April 13, 2011 (9:07 am)

I, for one, am looking for decent Korean food in West Seattle.

And on the name, if the food is good then the name will help it become legendary. If it isn’t, it will simply fail faster, which is probably better for the owners anyway.

Mookie April 13, 2011 (9:44 am)

“But there is no Vietnamese food in W. Seattle other than pho.” —Meghan
.
Meghan, meet Pho Aroma on Delridge Way SW.

west sea April 13, 2011 (9:54 am)

Thanks George!

Kathleen April 13, 2011 (11:15 am)

Who here is a native Seattleite? This talk of funny names reminds me of a legendary sign on Rainier Ave., now long gone. It was a print shop (factory?) called: Damm Fine Printing. Classic.

alkiguy April 13, 2011 (1:38 pm)

For Vietnamese in WS, the new Saigon Boat Cafe on Alki offers lots besides pho. Totally addicted to their sandwiches…

Junebug April 13, 2011 (2:08 pm)

This reminds me of how everyone seemed to be mocking the name of the iPad when it first came out. That’s over.
I agree that if the food is bangin’, the name won’t matter.

Enid April 13, 2011 (3:35 pm)

Wonder if they’ll be buying supplies at Hung Long Market?

marketgal April 13, 2011 (5:39 pm)

. . . or Tacoma Screw

Mike April 13, 2011 (9:28 pm)

Baang (drag out the a) could mean district. Probably what they’re going for, listen to it http://www.thai-language.com/mp3/E131465.mp3

Whatever the name, hope it’s good. Still have yet to find a Thai restaurant that’s even close to as good as home cooked at my mother-in-laws. Home cooked Thai Isan / Lao food is mmmmmm mmmm good.

WSB April 14, 2011 (1:20 am)

To Mike’s point, that was actually in our previous update. “Bang” is defined that way. Meantime, Bill has checked back with Kay and I think we have some info on the name that we will likely publish tomorrow (er, later today) as a followup. – TR

Citizen April 13, 2011 (10:06 pm)

The name is so ‘unflattering’ that I can already confirm that they won’t be getting my business. I’ll be at theTuscan Tea room!

george April 14, 2011 (10:02 am)

Regardless, they have received more free publicity than they could have hoped for! Genius marketing!

MC April 14, 2011 (10:53 am)

Dont diss it till u try it..

Its suppose to b a banging restaurant/lounge in west seattle..should have a really fun theme & food! Now west seattle could use something new & exciting!