Practical logo guides by trade
Restaurant Logos: Examples by Type of Cuisine and Venue
A restaurant logo should tell at a glance what kind of table you run. The examples below are real logos from our gallery, made for fictional venues and sorted by type of place: for each one, what the symbol, the typeface and the colours say about the food. To create yours, the restaurant logo maker page explains the process, free to start.
By Sofiane Kassim · Published · 5 min read
How to read these examples
Each example is a PNG preview produced by BrandMotion Lab for a fictional venue in our gallery: they are not customers, and these are not the delivered vector files. The type of cuisine given is the one suggested by the name and the visual.
Look at them with three questions in mind, the ones a passer-by asks in front of your shopfront:
- What kind of place? Do the symbol and the tone make it easy to guess?
- What price level? Do the typeface and the palette place the venue?
- Is it legible? Does the name stay clear at small sizes, on a menu or a delivery app?
Seaside bistro: rooted in a place
The name already places the venue; the symbol confirms it. The minimalist version boils the idea down to a boat on the water, legible at small sizes on a menu or a stamp. The illustrated version tells more, wine, cutlery, sailboat, but will need a simplified version for small formats.
Takeaway: a symbol drawn from the place (harbour, market, square) ages better than a specific dish, because the menu changes and the place stays.
Friendly brasserie: a universal symbol, a bold typeface
The serving cloche and the cutlery are universal signs: they say nothing about the speciality but clearly announce a place to eat. A bold red and a heavy typeface give a generous, approachable tone, suited to a brasserie or a neighbourhood restaurant.
The risk with such a common symbol is looking like others: here the name, a first name, carries the personality. Keep it clearly legible.
Chef’s cuisine: the toque as a promise of craft
The toque puts the cook forward. In thin burgundy lines, it suggests careful cooking without show; inside a crest with utensils, it takes a more artisanal, almost cooking-school tone.
For fine dining, restraint often works better than accumulation: few elements, plenty of space, a thin typeface that stays legible on the wine list as well as on the window.
Retro atmosphere: the monogram and the period name
When the name already evokes an era, the logo does not need to draw it. A compact monogram works like a signature: it serves as a social media avatar, a mark on napkins or a stamp on takeaway boxes.
Check that the monogram makes sense on its own: if it only reads next to the name, it will not do its job as an icon.
Seasonal cuisine or garden restaurant: going green
Foliage, a gate, a wreath: greenery announces produce-led, seasonal cooking, a calm place, often with a terrace. The minimalist version holds in one colour and will work as embroidery on an apron; the detailed illustrated version suits the menu and the website better.
Always plan a simplified version of a very detailed logo: on a delivery app, the icon shows up very small.
Bakery and café: wheat, bread, warmth
Wheat ear, loaf, baguette: everyone knows the codes of a bakery, which makes the tone all the more important. A thin black line looks like an artisan workshop; a warm orange recalls the crust and the oven; an old-fashioned name such as “Pain d’Antan” embraces tradition.
For a bakery-café, think about bags, labels and stamps: a logo that works in one colour will save you printing costs.
Creating your restaurant logo from these cues
These examples share one rule: a symbol that tells the type of place, a typeface that tells the price level, a short palette. The restaurant logo maker page explains how to generate your own concepts, what is free to start and what the final logo contains.
To go further for your type of venue: pizzeria logo, smash burger and fast-food logo, food truck logo, and the method in the 5 elements of a good restaurant logo. The scenario extending a restaurant’s visual identity shows how to move from the logo to menus and the shopfront.
Frequently asked questions
- Do these restaurant logos belong to real venues?
- No. They are real logos from our gallery, created by BrandMotion Lab for fictional venues. They are examples, not customer references.
- Which symbol should a restaurant logo use?
- Start from the type of place rather than a dish: a location, a utensil, greenery or a monogram ages better than a dish that may leave the menu.
- Do I need a simplified version of the logo?
- Yes, especially if the logo is detailed: a delivery app icon, a stamp or embroidery need a one-colour version without small details.
- Can I create a restaurant logo for free?
- To start, yes: the restaurant logo maker page details the free trial and what the final logo contains, with no amount in this guide.