Lakita Evans, a 2005 graduate of Waco High School, worked night shifts at a nearby Walmart in the produce department while studying culinary arts at a community college before she decided to open her own restaurant, which opened last Tuesday on March 22. Apparently, she went for shock value instead of atmosphere and food quality since the walls inside still depicts a mariachi band, from it's time spent as a taqueria previously and the sign outside the restaurant is a plain white banner with the name in big red font. She decided to name the restaurant Fat Ho Burgers, and stated that it came to her while watching the film Phat Girlz.
“It’s not calling people a ho. It’s just like they say, ‘Oooh that ho is big,’ or, ‘That ho is tight!’” said Lakita Evans, the restaurant’s owner.
“Look what’s going on in Japan. It’s like clear this world is not gonna get any better. Why cry and be depressed? The economy is bad. Somebody gotta keep a sense of humor around here,” Evans said.
While most may not agree that the economy is bad, and that the tragic events in Japan are worse, it's like clear that like naming a children's menu section "Tiny Ho meals" is an epic failure to society as a whole. While humor is one thing, small children ordering a Tiny Ho Hotdog is quite another. Quoting lines from the movie Love & Basketball such as, "Why she gotta be a ho? 'Cuz she wanna get with me?" among friends, and stating that you consumed a "Sloppy Ho the other day" may be something to laugh about, but surely all it will take is a little boy at an elementary school calling the girl at his table a ho (not the garden tool) for those in Waco, which is part of the bible belt, to see the complications this will eventually cause. It is undeniable that naming menu items as well as a restaurant after a misogynist derogatory phrase used to describe women is eventually going to backfire. There is just not a lot to say.
Waco would become chaotic if someone named a drive thru Slut Slurpees featuring sizes such as Big Slut, Little Slut, and low cal Skinny Slut. Also, one must wonder how it is considered humorous to refer to the employees at Fat Ho as the "hoes", yet when Don Imus and Bernard McGuirk referred to the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "hos" all hell broke loose, understandably. If society is firing individuals for making remarks such as these about women on air, why is it okay for a restaurant to? Regardless of race or gender, it is time we all agree that the use of such derogatory terms must stop in order for them to be seen for what they truly are...offensive. These happenings are not consistent and while it is admirable for a person to start their own business from the ground up, it is not admirable to rely on pure shock value to cash in, despite of the implications.
According to one customer, who admittingly was simply intrigued by the name, he waited in a line that wrapped around the outside of the building from the door for over an hour to try the Supa Fly Ho with Cheese. Unfortunately, the not so subtle name is deceiving, because the burger was charred. Hopefully for Evans, the name will continue to bring in customers, but one must wonder what will happen after the shock value fizzles like the charred patties, since the wait time is not worth the quality of the food.
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