Chicken Fight: Roscoe's vs. Rosscoe's

There's room in this country, nay, this world, for only one Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles, got that Rosscoe's? After some serious clucking from Roscoe's, a Chicago judge has ordered Rosscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles to change its name. The restaurant opened only a month ago, but Herb Hudson, owner of the original, the one-and-only Roscoe's, took the doppelganger to court, and it wasn't just for that extra "s":

· Both restaurants' logos feature a cartoon chicken standing in front of a waffle.

· Both include a drink called the "Sun Rise"—orange juice and lemonade. Both have drinks called "Sunset."

· Both feature like-sounding menu items. At Roscoe's: Carol C. Special, Natalie's Special, The Stubby. At Rosscoe's: Carol's Treat, Ed Hale Special, The Saint.

Blasphemy! But it gets trickier. Rosscoe's (double "s") owner Darnell Johnson once approached Hudson to open a Roscoe's (one "s") in New York, but the deal never came together. Johnson opened Rosscoe's East in Brooklyn anyway; Hudson said he didn't care because he never planned to hit the New York market himself. Plus it failed: Johnson closed Rosscoe's closed after eight years. Bu Chicago is another story. Hudson tells the Chicago Tribune that he has plans to open a Roscoe's in the Windy City by 2009, and he's not screwing around with any one "s"/two "s" business: "We'll be suing them to the hilt."
· Chicago owner agrees to change restaurant's name [Chicago Tribune]