As expected, we’ve gotten this question many times since the inception of the concept. So I’d like to take a moment to shed some light on the ever popular question, “Who is this ‘Punk’ character?”
Jeff grew up in Houston, Texas where he spent many summer afternoons at cookouts hosted by his uncle Punk — a warm and neighborly person who loved cooking on the grill and feeding friends and family. Punk got his nickname because of his red hair — evidently, the nickname comes from the stick (conveniently called a “punk”) used to light fireworks.
In the restaurant, “Punk” is the presiding spirit of an inviting, neighborly host who makes guests feel at home and feeds them well. We intentionally kept from giving Punk a physical description (in a logo or illustration), because we believe that we can all have our own images of this person.
I should also note that on a very practical level, “Punk’s Backyard Grill” gets more attention than “Dave’s Backyard Grill” (no offense to all the Daves of the world.) And also, the name was protectable according to our friends at the US Patent and Trademark Office.
So rest assured, “Punk” is not a reference to neighborhood bullies, street criminals, or anti-establishment sentiment. And although attending a cookout hosted by Joey Ramone and Sid Vicious would certainly be an experience, we’ll stick to Jeff’s uncle Punk for now.
