Cristian Garcia Torres and his family never intended to have the name of their Mexican restaurant in South Scranton offend anyone.
Instead, they chose a Spanish-language word understood in Mexico and among people of Mexican descent living in the Scranton area as a harmless “running joke,” Torres testified to the city Zoning Board on Wednesday.
But the city received a complaint several months ago that the word has another interpretation as a vulgarity, city Planner Don King testified. He looked up the definition of the word and what it translates to in English and found that vulgar meanings are prevalent.
“There are some Spanish translations that are not words that I want to say in public,” King testified.
King cited the restaurant for violating a section of the city’s sign ordinance that says signs shall not have words or images that are obscene, pornographic or that an average reasonable person would find highly offensive to the public, “and we believe that sign does.”
Torres appealed the violation to the Zoning Board. He testified he and his parents moved to Scranton about 18 months ago and went into business for themselves. They opened a Mexican restaurant, deli and grocery store at 512 Cedar Ave. The name of the restaurant is emblazoned on a large sign across the facade and on a hanging sign.
“It wasn’t our intention to insult anybody in any way,” Torres testified. “We’ve worked our whole life, working for somebody else, and now that we have something that is ours, that’s even a bigger reason for us not to insult anybody. We treat everybody with respect, our guests and most importantly our community. With that being said, I don’t believe that our sign, our front door, is insulting anybody.”
Torres referenced books that give other interpretations of the word, its root and derivations, in various countries. He also said the word can be found as the name of other businesses elsewhere in the United States and throughout the world.
Zoning Board Chairman Bob Gattens asked if the word can be interpreted as a vulgarity. Torres said yes, that it all depends on the way it’s being used. Gattens said if the board were to rule in Torres’ favor, that would set a precedent.
“If I say yes to this sign, there are 22 different nationalities throughout South Scranton and (then) everyone can put a sign up with their terminology, with words like that,” Gattens said. “I just think it behooves you — you might look at just changing your sign.”
Board member Shawn Walsh agreed.
“If you do Google that word it comes up pretty negative right off the bat and there’s nothing positive about it all,” Walsh said.
Torres disagreed.
“The name draws people in, Spanish-speaking people, because they know it’s a running joke,” Torres said. “People look at it and they know it’s Mexican. They know what they’re going in for — authentic Mexican food.”
The board voted 3-0 — with Gattens, Walsh and Paul Marcks all in favor — to uphold the violation.
After the meeting, Torres said he would have to consider whether to appeal the decision to Lackawanna County Court.
The next day, he said he was considering replacing a letter or letters with symbols of some sort, so the name would no longer be an actual word.
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November 15, 2020 at 07:55AM
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Scranton: Restaurant's name has vulgar meaning that violates ordinance - Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice
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