Which is the real Taste? The owners of Taste Italian Kitchen accused Taste Bar and Grill of ripping off its name and logo in a federal lawsuit. Taste Italian Kitchen operates restaurants in Ridgeland and Starkville while Taste Bar and Grill is on North Mart Plaza in Jackson.
Culinary Innovations II, LLC owns Taste Italian Kitchen. Culinary sued Taste Bar and Grill for trademark infringement lawsuit on August 29 in U.S. District Court.
Taste Italian Kitchen opened in Starkville in June 2021 and quickly became a popular establishment. Culinary registered "Taste Italian Kitchen" in connection with restaurant services with the federal government.
The complaint claims Taste Italian Kitchen is well known throughout Mississippi. Indeed it won Mississippi Magazine's award for best Italian food in Mississippi in 2024 and 2025. Due to its popularity among Jackson area residents who dined at the restaurant, Taste Italian Kitchen announced on September 11, 2024 it would open a second location at Renaissance in Ridgeland. Earlier post with copy of press release.
Culinary Innovations accuses Taste Bar & Grill of having a soft opening on September 30, 2024, according to social media accounts. However, the defendant stated in its application for federal trademark registration it opened in April 2024.
The plaintiff claims Taste Bar and Grill's signage, restaurant appearance, and logos are ripped off from Taste Italian Kitchen.
The complaint states the two restaurants are only seven miles apart and serve the same client base. Culinary Innovations claims Taste Bar and Grill's alleged ripoff causes confusion among customers who mistakingly book reservations at one restaurant while intending to dine at the other:
25. Similar to Plaintiff, Taste Bar and Grill allows patrons to make reservations through the OpenTable website and mobile app. Taste Bar and Grill requires a credit card to secure a reservation on OpenTable. ""No-shows"" or cancellations less than 24 hours in advance of the reservation are subject to a charge of $25 per person in the reservation.
Does anyone want to guess what happened next?
For example, an appreciable number of prospective patrons of Taste Italian Kitchen have mistakenly made reservations through the OpenTable® website or mobile app to Taste Bar and Grill, when in fact the prospective patrons intended to make reservations at Taste Italian Kitchen in Ridgeland.
27. When said patrons arrived at Taste Italian. Kitchen at the date and time listed on their reservation, said patrons were notified by Taste Italian Kitchen personnel that there were unfortunately no records of their reservation in Taste Italian Kitchen's reservation system.
28. Said patrons were charged $25 per person in the reservation by Taste Bar and Grill when they did not show up to Taste Bar and Grill at the date and time listed in the reservation.
29. For example, one patron was charged a $100 dollar ""no-show"" fee by Taste Bar and Grill for a reservation of four people because the patron was confused as to the source of Defendant's restaurant and mistakenly made a reservation to Defendant's restaurant instead of Taste Italian Kitchen as the patron intended.
Culinary Innovations said it was unable to serve the misled customers because it was fully booked.
The complaint charges Taste Bar & Grill's alleged stealing of the name, appearance, and logos misleads customers. It includes counts of federal trademark infringement and unfair competition, violation of the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act, and Mississippi common law trademark infringement.
The plaintiff asks the Court the issue an injunction against Taste Bar and Grill using the Taste name and its current logo. Culinary Innovations asks for treble damages and attorney's fees.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate.
Attorneys W. Whitaker Raynarer and Hugh Warren of Jones Walker represent Culinary Innovations.
20 comments:
When I first heard of Taste Bar & Grill a few months ago, this scene from Coming To America was the first thing I thought of. "We have the Golden Arcs"
As the great writer Oscar Wilding once said:
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness:
Funny movie.
The Ridgeland Taste is NOT a public nuisance so there is that significant difference.
Fondren neighbors living nearby are also growing tired of the disrespectful loud music from both the restaurant and some of the riff raff who dine/party/club there.
it’s going to get thrown out. entirely different restaurants. too bad people confuse the two but google search is easy- taste italian ridgeland…
This leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth
9:40 - I wouldn't be so sure of that.
And tell us how many years you have practiced trademark law so that we may decide whether your opinion is worth anything.
Excellent Photo Reference!
both overpriced chit holes...imo.
Ooops!
I've owned a few trademarks, I think the Italian place has a point!
Another reminder how the film making of today has gone to hell.
9:51--this is 9:40. are you one of the people that booked the 'fondren' restaurant and then got billed 100 dollars? i don't know jack squat about trademark law, but common sense says its easy to tell the difference.
Taste Bar and Grill should change their name to "A Taste of Thuggery."
The funniest of such suits is when Radio Shack sued Auto Shack (now Auto Zone). How'd that work out......
You would think anyone seeing things like the
Cigar Bar Hookah Vibes All Night Long
would do some more looking before booking.
Can definitely see why the original folks lawyered up here.
Someone in California did a McDowell's popup for Halloween 2017!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ5gzSeGusU&t=2m39s
When you google search "taste jackson ms" the results populate a Google review page called "Fondren Taste Bar & Grill" and displays as the top result a website with a title of 'Foundren(yes spelling is correct) Taste Bar & Grill"
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