Okie Foodie

So this one time…in hot and steamy OKC in August…there existed a restaurant called Iguana Grill.  They had been holding weekly taco nights called “taco Tuesday” for over a year now.  This “taco Tuesday” was a large hit with the OKC crowd because of the yumminess and crafting of great tacos and the fact that it allowed you to eat great while still stay on budget.  And then…out of the clear blue sky… a corporate jerk in the fashion of Taco Johns (their slogan is the “fresh taste of west mex”….wtf is west mex…) swoops in and attempts to rain on Iguana’s Parade by letting them know that “taco Tuesday” has been trademarked by them and demanded that Iguana change the name of their Tuesday evening festivities.  Little did Taco John’s know that OKC loves our local businesses and does not appreciate corporations which are not even in Oklahoma butting in and telling us what we can or cannot do.  Needless to say, a Twitter firestorm has been brewing the last couple of days and this week’s Taco Tuesday (or Taco Day After Monday…same DAMN thing) was a roaring success.

I, of course, in the excitement of the evening forgot to take pictures of the food, but I assure you, it was fabulous.  The specials tonight (doing this off the top of my head..hope I don’t screw up!) were Wild Mushroom, Roasted Vegetable, Quail with peach chutney, and Pork.  I, being the Okie Preggie, just chose to stick with the vegetable and a couple of beef tacos.  They were of course delicious.  The rest of my table ventured out with the rest and all had great things to say about all of the food.

All of this reminds me of another story involving an Oklahoma small business and a large corporation.  As many of you know, I hail from the sprawling metropolis of Marlow, OK (population 4500).  There was a clothing boutique there that was a very small, family owned business called Coco’s.  Well a few years back, some way somehow, Chanel got wind of this business and wrote a letter stating that the name “CoCo” was trademarked and they were not allowed to use this name for their business.  Now forgive me if I am wrong, but this small clothing boutique would NEVER infringe on any of Chanel’s clientele.  Most Marlowites have never even heard of Chanel and certainly will never be able to afford it.  It reminds me very much of tonight’s debacle.

The story to take away from the evening is not necessarily the awesomeness of the food/company/atmosphere/etc., but that we Oklahomans band together when someone steps in and shakes their corporate finger at us.  We are proud of our local businesses and all this has done is made us support Iguana THAT much more.  So, Thanks Taco Johns for helping boost our Oklahoma economy.  We Taco Tuesday attendees will still continue calling it that even though it will not be the official name of every Tuesday night at Iguana and now have an army of angry, hungry Oklahomans behind us supporting the cause too.