Chez Restaurant: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"You can't ban me from your bistro! It's my ''chez'' away from ''chez''!"''|'''Frasier''', ''[[Frasier]]''}}
|'''Frasier'''|''[[Frasier]]''}}
 
Want to make your restaurant sound like a high-class establishment serving gourmet French cuisine? Call it "Chez ''X''" (French for "''X's'' Place" or "''X's'' Home" or "At ''X's''". It's pronounced something like "shay"; the "z" is ''not'' pronounced.) Bonus points if ''X'' is either a French name or a French-sounding real or nonsense word. This naming scheme is used [[Truth in Television|in real life]] also, although it's not clear whether the fictional trope or the [[Real Life]] convention came first.
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See also [[French Cuisine Is Haughty]].
 
{{examples}}
== [[Film]] ==
 
* "Chez Gusteau" in ''[[Ratatouille (Animation)|Ratatouille]]'', though this is justified since the movie takes place in Paris.
== Card Games ==
* In ''[[The Aristocats (Disney)|The Aristocats]]'' Uncle Waldo got chased out of "Le Petit Café" for biting a chef's finger during his introductory scene.
* The card game ''[[Chez Geek]]'' isn't about a restaurant, but "Geek's Place" does describe it well.
* ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Film)|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]'': The French restaurant that Ferris Bueller and company crash is "Chez Quis", which is a pun on [http://www.shakeys.com/ "ShakeysShakey's", the pizza chain].
 
 
== Comic Strips ==
* ''[[Dilbert (Comic Strip)|Dilbert]]'':
** Dilbert and Dogbert once went to a restaurant called "Chez De Whales", which had a very odd dress code.
** When two office thieves went to raid Dilbert's snack stash, one said, "Shall we head over to Chez Dilbert?"
* "Chez Stadium" (see real life below) has shown up in the comic strip ''[[Shoe (Comic Strip)|Shoe]]'' as well.
 
 
== Films -- Animation ==
* "Chez Gusteau" in ''[[Ratatouille (Animation)|Ratatouille]]'', though this is justified since the movie takes place in Paris.
* In ''[[The Aristocats (Disney)|The Aristocats]]'' Uncle Waldo got chased out of "Le Petit Café" for biting a chef's finger during his introductory scene.
 
 
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Film)|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]'': The French restaurant that Ferris Bueller and company crash is "Chez Quis", which is a pun on [http://www.shakeys.com/ "Shakeys", the pizza chain].
* In ''[[The Blues Brothers]]'', Mr. Fabulous is working as maître d' at Chez Paul (a former [[Real Life]] Chicago restaurant) when Jake and Elwood pay him a visit.
* In ''[[Gentlemen Prefer Blondes]]'', Lorelei and Dorothy start dancing at a Parisian club called Chez Louis after getting kicked out of their hotel and running out of money. The act includes the famous "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" number.
* In ''[[Love and Death on Long Island]]'' the restaurant in the Long Island town D'Eath is staying in is called "Chez D'Irv" (after the owner, Irv).
 
 
== [[Literature]] ==
* Calvin Trillin called this type of restaurant "La Maison de la Casa House."
* ''[[The BabysittersBaby Sitters Club]]'': The fancy French restaurant in Stoneybrook is called Chez Maurice.
 
== Films -- [[Live-Action TV]] ==
 
== Live-Action TV ==
* "Chez Whitey" from ''[[In Living Color]]''
* ''[[Frasier]]'' actually has "[[Repetitive Name|Chez Chez]]". As well as "Chez Henri" and "Chez Quelque Chose" ("chez something").
* ''[[Under the Umbrella Tree]]'' has one episode where Iggy gets grand ideas and starts up his own "restaurant", "Chez Iggy"... and the only thing he serves, he's embarrassed to admit, is ''grilled cheese sandwiches.''
* "Chez Ray" is the fanciest restaurant in Raytown on ''[[Mama's Family (TV)|Mamas Family]]''.
* ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' had a "Chez Naomi" in one episode.
* "Chez Klutz" is the name of the restaurant run by klutzy people who constantly break things and injure customers in ''[[The Amanda Show]]''.
* In a fantasy sequence on ''[[Saved Byby the Bell]]'', Kelly buys The Max (where she works as a server) and renames it "Chez Kelly".
* A "Kevin & James" segment of ''Just for Laughs'' poked fun at Quebec language laws when Kevin cited the "Chez James" sign on James's hotel room door as violating those laws. A Montreal police officer (the recurring actor who always played the third man in their segments) told them that it was fine (proper names don't need to be translated, for one) and then ragged on Kevin for being an idiot.
 
== Web[[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* ''[[Dilbert (Comic Strip)|Dilbert]]'':
** Dilbert and Dogbert once went to a restaurant called "Chez De Whales", which had a very odd dress code.
** When two office thieves went to raid Dilbert's snack stash, one said, "Shall we head over to Chez Dilbert?"
* "Chez Stadium" (see real life below) has shown up in the comic strip ''[[Shoe (Comic Strip)|Shoe]]'' as well.
 
== Video[[Tabletop Games]] ==
* The card game ''[[Chez Geek]]'' isn't about a restaurant, but "Geek's Place" does describe it well.
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing (Video Game)|Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has [[It Is Pronounced Tro PAY|"Chez Snootée"]]
 
* ''[[River City Ransom (Video Game)|River City Ransom]]'' has a "Chez Walle's".
== [[Theatre]] ==
* More than a few have shown up over the years in the original productions of the [[Princeton Triangle Club]], but one of the more entertaining is "Chez Chez Chez"<ref>A pun on the then-contemporary Michael Jackson-Paul McCartney collaboration "Say Say Say"</ref> , the setting for the [[Thriller (song)|"Thriller"]] parody "Spiller" from the 1984 revue ''Revel Without A Pause''.
 
== Card[[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing (Video Game)|Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has [[It Is Pronounced "Tro -PAY"|"Chez Snootée"]]
* ''[[River City Ransom (Video Game)|River City Ransom]]'' has a "Chez Walle's".
* The [[Interactive Fiction]] game ''Kissing the Buddha's Feet'' has a restaurant called "Chez Merde". ''Merde'' is a French word that isn't too pleasant. {{spoiler|[[Don't Explain the Joke|It means "shit".]]}}
* The last restaurant in the Wii game ''Order Up!'' is called [[Bilingual Bonus|"Chez Haute"]]. It's not exactly a French restaurant, but the food you cook and serve is typically high quality.
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* And of course, in ''[[Diner Dash]]'' itself, the penultimate stage in the first game was a fancy-type restaurant called "Chez Flo".
 
== Films --[[Web Animation]] ==
 
* ''[[Homestar Runner (Web Animation)|Homestar Runner]]''
== Web Animation ==
* ''[[Homestar Runner (Web Animation)|Homestar Runner]]''
** Similarly: The diner "Marshmallow's Last Stand" becomes "Marshmallow's ''L'est'' Stand" for fancy occasions.
** Also, in "Date Nite", Homestar refers to a certain "Chez Perez", pronouncing "chez" as "chazz".
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
 
== Web Comics ==
* "Chez Elmo's" from ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'': "Frogs and Snails -- We Deliver!"
 
== Web[[Western Animation]] ==
 
* "Chez Pierre's" from ''[[Daria (Animation)|Daria]]''.
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Hey Arnold (Animation)|Hey Arnold!]]'' has two restaurants across the road from each other -- theother—the more affordable "Chez Pierre", and the very expensive "Chez Paris". This has lead to confusion in one episode when Helga won a free dinner at one but accidentally went to the other.
* "Chez Pierre's" from ''[[Daria (Animation)|Daria]]''.
* ''[[Hey Arnold (Animation)|Hey Arnold]]'' has two restaurants across the road from each other -- the more affordable "Chez Pierre", and the very expensive "Chez Paris". This has lead to confusion in one episode when Helga won a free dinner at one but accidentally went to the other.
* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' has "Chez Ron" and "Chez Couteau" as two restaurants, the former only existing in the episode "Two to Tutor", while the latter is shown several times.
* [[Doug]] and his fellows would occasionally dine at "Chez Honque", with all the tribulations associated. Of course, earlier in the show, "Chez Honque" was a casual diner called "The Honkerburger", which Mr. Honk sold to whoever owns "Chez Honque".
* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]''
** Lampshaded with a restaurant aptly named "Chez Guevara". They started off selling Argentinean cuisine, but switched to Cuban in the mid-1980s.
** There's also the episode in which Marge takes up bowling. One of her dinner suggestions is the "Chez Pierre", but this suggestion is rebuffed by Patty and Selma, who insist on going somewhere "fun" -- the—the Singing Sirloin.
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb (Animation)|Phineas and Ferb]]'' uses this trope in the aptly-named episode "Chez Platypus", where they build said restaurant.
* On ''[[Cat DogCatDog]]'', Cat once took a date to "Chez Pastrami".
* On ''[[Dan Vs.]]'', Dan and Elise plot to take down "Chez Puree" for different reasons. Dan wants revenge because Chez Puree closed down his favorite sandwich shop while Elise wants to take down the restaurant for its expensive and meager portions. Chris has no grief against the restaurant but is caught up Dan and Elise's plan.
* While not a restaurant, ''[[Ed, Edd and'n' Eddy]]'' gives us "Chez la Sweat".
 
== [[Real Life]] ==
 
* Many a New Yorker has joked about sampling the fine cuisine at "Chez Stadium" ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|get it?]]).<ref>For those unfamiliar with New York and/or baseball: [[wikipedia:Shea Stadium|Shea Stadium]], former home of [[Useful Notes/Baseball|Major League Baseball]]'s [[Butt Monkey/Sports|New York Mets]].</ref>
== Real Life ==
* Many a New Yorker has joked about sampling the fine cuisine at "Chez Stadium" ([[Incredibly Lame Pun|get it?]]).<ref>For those unfamiliar with New York and/or baseball: [[wikipedia:Shea Stadium|Shea Stadium]], former home of [[Useful Notes/Baseball|Major League Baseball]]'s [[Butt Monkey/Sports|New York Mets]].</ref>
* Applies, of course, to countless restaurants in France, but is somewhat subverted in that these are often simple, "family" restaurants. This naming technique also applies to many bars, often with a "beauf", low-class name such as "Chez Ginette", "Chez Bébert".
* Alice Waters' world-famous "Chez Panisse".
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Trope Names From the French{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Settings]]
[[Category:Food Tropes]]
[[Category:Chez RestaurantSettings]]
[[Category:Trope Names From the French]]