Rudy’s of the Cape, a Cape Elizabeth restaurant that has been feeding diners on Route 77 for 50 years, is changing its name to Bird Dog Roadhouse.

Rudy’s, located at 517 Ocean House Road, went through a major transformation in 2015, four years after Paul Woods bought the restaurant. He replaced the old building with one considerably more upscale, and he updated the menu. Now it feels as if the name Rudy’s is “less relevant,” Woods said, and has “run its course.”

The team at the Bird Dog Roadhouse, formerly known as Rudy's of the Cape, shows off its new sign. Photo courtesy of Bird Dog Roadhouse

“We’re very gratified by how people embraced the new restaurant,” he said. “This is just an identity change for us, something that really captures some of the great things we’re doing and separates us from the old.”

Might & Main, a Portland design firm, worked with Woods on the new name and re-branding. Woods chose the name Bird Dog after he read it somewhere and liked it. The restaurant’s new logo features a retriever with wings and the phrase “We’ve earned our wings!” Woods and operations manager Alli Welch selected “roadhouse” because they felt it conveyed the spirit of the place, a restaurant that “invites everyone in from the main road for great food, drink and service.”

Woods will launch the new name officially on Friday during lunch. The restaurant will feature specials all weekend, and raise money for the Pond Cove Parents Association, which, in turn, raises money for Pond Cove Elementary School in Cape Elizabeth.

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