There are so many different Ray’s Pizzas in New York, it can get a little confusing. You got your Ray’s, your Original Ray’s, your Famous Ray’s, your Famous Original Ray’s, and seemingly on and on. They are so ubiquitous that there is actually a pizza place in Brooklyn that is called Not Ray’s Pizza.

It’s been so ridiculous for so many years that the problem actually got a mention on a Seinfeld episode in which a lost Kramer calls Jerry:

Kramer: I’m looking at Ray’s Pizza. You know where that is?

Jerry: Is it Famous Ray’s?

Kramer: No, it’s Original Ray’s.

When you have confusion like that between businesses, lawsuits are bound to follow. And indeed they have.Continue reading...

Restaurant name disputes aren’t new, and in the New York metro area they can be as tumultuous as Yankees/Mets debates, such as the fight over the Patsy’s Pizza name that continues to rage despite a jury trial and court order.

More recently, a federal judge has ruled that a Long Island restaurant can call itself the Original Vincent’s Clam Bar even though the (small-o) original Vincent’s, which was established in Manhattan’s Little Italy in 1904, still exists. 

For older restaurant brands, the year of establishment is part of its appeal. The most popular steakhouse in New York, Peter Luger, promotes its legacy with “Est. 1887” in its logo. McSorely’s Old Ale House claims to be the oldest bar in New York, but a 1995 New York Times article disputed not only its date of establishment, but also whether it’s even the oldest bar in the city.Continue reading...