Sudden Name Change of Historic Taylor’s Refresher in St. Helena Outrages Family
Founders Elderly Daughters Say Gotts Are Unlawfully Exploiting Them
The family that founded St. Helena’s historic Taylor’s Refresher restaurant 60 years ago and still owns the rights to the name expressed outrage today at Napa Valley developers Joel and Duncan Gott for abruptly and unlawfully changing the name of the business.
“We are shocked and angered by this announcement and will fight to protect our family name and reputation”
Jean Taylor Nicholson, 83, and Virginia Taylor Toogood, 80, the daughters of Taylor’s Refresher founder Lloyd “Popsy” Taylor, said the Gotts’ exploitive actions will wipe out the good name of their father’s original drive-in and its place in St. Helena history dating back to 1949.
“We are shocked and angered by this announcement and will fight to protect our family name and reputation,” said Virginia Toogood. “Taylor’s Refresher has a long and cherished history in St. Helena that will be irreparably damaged by this. This is like changing the name of the Martini Winery, the French Laundry or any other historic business in our community without consent. It’s not right. We own the property and the name, not the Gotts.”
The Gotts announced today they are changing the name of the restaurant to Gott’s Roadside Tray Gourmet “for legal reasons,” a reference to a four-year trademark infringement case they forced upon the sisters by opening Taylor’s restaurants in San Francisco and Napa without consent, which they have admitted in legal proceedings.
The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled in 2008 that the sisters are the legal and rightful owners of the trade name and mark “Taylor’s Refresher” and that the Gotts are using the name in St. Helena under a license from the sisters. The Gotts’ appeal of the ruling against them is pending in federal court in San Francisco. The Gotts also announced they are changing the names of their San Francisco and Napa restaurants.
Generations of local residents and travelers have patronized the hamburger stand that Popsy Taylor first opened at 933 Main Street in 1949. Virginia and her late husband, Charley Toogood, took over the restaurant in 1968 and, with other family members, operated it for the next 30 years. In 1999, the sisters leased Taylor’s Refresher to the Gotts, who renovated it before reopening as both Taylor’s Refresher and Taylor’s Automatic Refresher. Over the next five years, the revitalized restaurant grew in popularity to enthusiastic crowds.
Then in 2004, Nicholson and Toogood were surprised and embarrassed to learn from friends that the Gotts were about to open a new Taylor’s Automatic Refresher at the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco. Three years later, the Gotts opened a third Taylor’s Automatic Refresher in the Oxbow Public Market on First Street in Napa.
While Nicholson and Toogood receive percentage-based lease payments from the original St. Helena restaurant, they have received nothing from the Gotts for the use of the name in San Francisco or Napa. The sisters want to protect their trademark, name and value of the St. Helena restaurant for their families and heirs.
