Mexican restaurant in Iowa goes viral for sign: ‘No love, no tacos’

A Mexican restaurant in Iowa has gone viral after erecting a sign reading “No Love, No Tacos” in response to backlash over an earlier sign some customers called too political.

Alfonso Medina, owner of La Carreta Mexican Grill in Marshalltown, erected the first sign in August at the entrance to the restaurant’s parking lot. It read “We Believe Black lives matter, No human is illegal, Science is real, Women’s rights are human rights.”

Medina said he did not consider the sign political, but received angry social media comments and an anonymous letter calling him a “leftist Marxist,” according to CNN.

In posts on Facebook and Instagram, Medina wrote “just trynna change the world with good food, drinks and a few standing up for what we believe in just like Anglo owned companies do. If others have the right to be vocal, so do we. We’re sorry your burrito had to get political, but it was the only way y’all would listen.”

He ended both posts “No Love, No Tacos.” 

The final words took his social media following by storm, with several asking for a T-shirt bearing the phrase. Medina has since copyrighted the slogan and produced shirts and other memorabilia, with proceeds going to a local community college scholarship fund. He also paid for a billboard bearing the slogan near the restaurant.

“I am someone who takes something negative and tries to turn it into something 10 times more positive,” Medina told CNN. “If they don’t want us, they should align their ideals and their comments with the food they eat.”