You'll even catch it in a blur: a silly-sounding restaurant name in Belle Plaine, Minn. begs questions about marketing a small Chinese restaurant: Where the heck do we begin?

We passed the Chinese restaurant in a blur, traveling 60 miles per hour down Highway 169 in Belle Plaine, Minn.  But the neon sign on the east side of the freeway was something a keen eye for sophomoric humor wouldn’t miss.  Couldn’t miss.  Didn’t miss.  There it was, prime real estate facing a busy highway, labeled “Mei Dong Garden.”  Another Chinese restaurant inviting more giggles than guys hungry for Moo Goo Gai Pan.

“Don’t they ask anyone if it’s a good name first?” I asked my mom, who was driving us down to see my grandmother in Fairmont, Minn.  She was too busy laughing about the name to really give me a good answer.  But it’s something we’ve always wondered.  How do the Mei Dongs of the world ever come to be without more careful consideration or consultation from a more fluent English speaker?  Or at least one who suffers from the occasional case of gutter-mind?

Thankfully, my Scandinavian, Minnesota-born mom, my brothers and I have always been nearby to prevent too much “Chinglish” from infiltrating the Red Moon.  But somehow our Wonton Soup is a gratuitous treat, labeled “wanton” soup on the dinner buffet.  I find it funny, so I’m leaving it be for now.

For the record, I believe Mei Dong Garden means something like “Beautiful Eastern Garden.”  A great little restaurant name.  Why not just call it that?

Well it’s not easy to market a little mom and pop Chinese restaurant — and obviously it starts before the doors open for the first time, when someone has to come up with the name.

We’re (and by “we” I mean the chop suey sellers of the world) all up against a lot right now:

• Corporate fast-casual entry into the Asian dining sector (Minnesota has always had Leeann Chin’s but now has Pei Wei, too)
• Innovate too much or market too fancy and you ostracize a substantial chunk of folks who know what they want (Minnesota-style chow mein, of course!)
• Advertising rates remain high enough to make you nervous while audience fragmentation is clear to any media consumer with a brain.  Is it even worth it?  We seem to be barely beyond the abacus — we’ve got to start an Excel sheet to track this “ROI-business.”  Everything is anecdotal right now: “yeah, people use that coupon a lot.”
• Hopping on the social media bandwagon with sponsored ads on sites like Yelp.com seems smart, but the rates and time commitment are a lot to swallow on a whim. (Plus, Red Moon still has no organic Yelp reviews — our local competitors have one apiece, max.)  Yelp might be exploding in Minneapolis right now.  It’s questionable whether it is a hit in Eden Prairie.

The list could go on for a long while.  But this much has been made clear to me: I’m not to spend a ton of money at this point in time.  So that means grass roots, word-of-mouth marketing for Red Moon Chinese Cafe.  Flyers, friendly smiles and things like that.  Keeping our Web site inviting to potentially new customers (Look for a re-launch of RedMoonChineseCafe.com soon!)  Maybe a little salesmanship outside the confines of the dining room.

So here goes nothing.  I’ll have been here two weeks this Wednesday.  It’s time to do this thing!  Thankfully, we have a good name to stand on.

Red Moon's Logo -- designed by my mom in conjunction with the people who made our neon sign out front.

BONUS STORY: Here’s how the “Red Moon” name came to be, interestingly.  My mom and I (and my brothers, I guess) were both leading our lives according to some rich principles of faith back in 1995-1996 (Boy, is that ever euphemistic!)  She more than I, as I was a mere 13-years-old.  Anyway.  In the Bible’s Book of Revelations, there is some reference to the moon turning blood-red during the “end times.”  I’m not about to research the particulars, but it has to do with the second-coming of Jesus.  The name was a reflection of faith.

Today, it remains a classy name with a little bit of brand-value, thanks to my dad’s good cooking and our nice base of loyal, local customers.  People also infer that the name has something to do with the Harvest Moon Festival in China (Chinese: 中秋節)  Conveniently, it works out either way you want to see it.

Thankfully, we are not fighting those ridiculous giggles.  But we are up against just about everything else those other little mom and pops are.  And I’m ready to do battle.