What’s in a name? The owners reopening a restaurant on Dearborn’s east side will soon find out.

In the same building that started the La Shish restaurant chain in 1989 and helped popularize Middle Eastern cuisine in metro Detroit will soon reopen under the same name, or so a sign hanging outside the restaurant suggests.

The restaurant chain – all 11 stores – went out of business following bad publicity involving its fugitive owner, Talal Chahine, who federal prosecutors linked to terrorism, along with other charges, including evading $6.9 million in federal income taxes.

We do not yet know who is reopening the restaurant — “The New La Shish” — (at the corner of Michigan and Oakman) but the name selection could be a double-edged sword.

While the La Shish name has baggage because of its fugitive creator, it also has brand awareness. Say the name to nearly anyone and it is instantly associated with good Middle Eastern cuisine.

Building a brand, no matter the business, takes time and money . . . and then a lot more of both before you can breakthrough the clutter in a city like Dearborn that is crowded with plenty of good Middle Eastern restaurants.

The La Shish name for a restaurant certainly has recognition. The question is what do potential customers associate the name with these days.

Time will tell . . .