Done right, I think it could have more of a diner look than a malt shop. Whether diners and grills are close enough to BBQ, to make the connection, I’m not quite sure. In the very first post, he mentioned “grill & bbq events” — whatever that is.
This is one of those situations where, because we don’t know the details of what the logo will represent, we’re reduced to judging aesthetics rather than its appropriateness for the task at hand.
This is also one of those retro things where the age of the viewer might influence how it’s perceived. For someone like you and me, who’ve seen these kinds of things over our entire lives and know how they were perceived years ago, they immediately bring up associations with old drug store ice cream counters and roadside diners. For those in their 20s and 30s who likely have seen this kind of thing only through retro glasses, there might be a more flexible interpretation as to appropriateness.
What you are showing isn’t working, in my opinion. I don’t mind the badge direction, but I’m not crazy about the use of blue, the face chosen for “Smokie’s” or the angled stripes. There are some other issues with the execution, but I’m not going to go into those since fixing them won’t salvage what you have. I do like the use of a star since it subtly (or not so subtly) suggests Texas which is known for BBQ, and I like the use of the condensed sans type. BBQ and smoked meats are very popular right now. There are lots of resources out there for market research. I think you need to spend some time studying the market and determine what you want to convey with the logo.
GREAT COMPANY (ugh), GREAT FOOD, BBQ & GRILL, and SOCIAL EVENTS (or whatever tags end up in the perimeter), should all be the same size and track. Also, none of them are equidistant from the inner and outer circle.
My first impression is that I like it and I see fire. On further inspection I think the fire could be improved without getting too detailed. Also, it seems that such a “company” [don’t know why we’re using quotes] would best have the whole name rather than an initial.
On further reading I see that you’ve spelled out the name and abandon the letter styling show in the OP. I’d stick with the styling first shown, it good.
The Flame “S” is pretty cool but by itself on a random black BG it makes no sense. You need to show it in proper application for anyone to get a proper visual.
The badge, pretty good but the blue lined bg makes no sense here. Blue and Red can work together well on some items, but on a restaurant logo it does not make sense. The font used on the badge ring is pretty good. Not sure how I feel about the outline around the Smokies logo itself. Try adding another element behind the font too maybe something related to Grilling/BBQ … overall, not bad, but incomplete and a bit unusual
