{"id":13781,"date":"2025-10-23T17:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/13781\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T17:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:01:10","slug":"queens-restaurant-brushes-off-controversy-over-whitexicans-name-which-woke-online-scolds-are-branding-racist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/13781\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens restaurant brushes off controversy over Whitexicans name \u2014 which woke online scolds are branding \u2018racist\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s nacho problem.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the message the owners of a new Queens restaurant are telling angry neighbors <\/a>and woke online critics who think the eatery\u2019s name \u2014 Whitexicans \u2014 is racist.<\/p>\n

Chatter had plagued the Jackson Heights joint before it officially opened earlier this month, with some keyboard warriors demanding that the establishment change its name.<\/p>\n

Manuela Mesa, left, Matteo Bermudez and Claudia Lopez are three of the four owners of restaurant Whitexicans in Jackson Heights. Katherine Donlevy<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew it would cause some disagreement, but we weren\u2019t trying to make this such a big deal \u2026 we weren\u2019t trying to get into [politics],\u201d Mateo Gomez Bermudez, one of the eatery\u2019s four owners, explained to The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people that assume Mexicans have to be brown or some sort of color so we did it as a joke. There\u2019s also white Mexicans and that\u2019s perfect. There\u2019s nothing about racial discrimination \u2014 we wanted to be an inclusive place where everyone, doesn\u2019t matter what race or nationality you are, you can come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all Whitexicans.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mexico News Daily describes<\/a> Whitexicans as an insult to the light-skinned and white upper-class society of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey attend private schools, travel abroad, speak English and have access to opportunities many Mexicans only dream of,\u201d the outlet said.<\/p>\n

The name of the eatery has whipped up fury on social media. Katherine Donlevy<\/p>\n

Even more perplexing to the neighborhood is why the owners chose a controversial term about Mexicans when three of the foursome hail from Colombia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very Ignorant to use racist terms that divide the Mexican population and promote white supremacism. It\u2019s frustrating that in this day and age people can still be so naive and blind,\u201d one person fumed on Facebook.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThis has to be a joke\u2026..is this a gentrified Taco Bell?\u201d another said on Reddit.<\/a><\/p>\n

One person simply accused the owners of being \u201cclassist and racist.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201c!e wanted to be an inclusive place where everyone, doesn\u2019t matter what race or nationality you are, you can come,\u201d said Gomez Bermudez. Katherine Donlevy<\/p>\n

Claudia Lopez is the only Mexican owner in the group and emphatically denied that it was considered an offensive term, and that the group even consulted others of Mexican descent who gave them the green light.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not insulting, not for me, not for my family, not for any Mexican,\u201d Lopez, Gomez Bermudez\u2019s wife, explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis institution is different; there\u2019s nothing bad. It\u2019s about good place, good food \u2014 enjoy the moment with different persons, whatever your gender, your culture, your color.\u201d<\/p>\n

To drive the point home, a giant sign reading \u201cAll Humans are Legal\u201d graces the entrance and the words are etched onto the back of the staff\u2019s shirts. <\/p>\n

The most expensive item on the menu is $18.<\/p>\n

Part of that inclusivity extends to the reasonable prices on the Mexican restaurant, which is decked out in the modern, white and expensive-looking decor of its more luxurious counterparts.<\/p>\n

A rice and bean bowl will run a customer up to $15, which rivals the price of a Chipotle bowl.<\/p>\n

Shockingly, the most expensive item on the menu is a sea bass, calamari and shrimp dish \u2014 and costs just $18.<\/p>\n

Whitexicans has had plenty of foot traffic since opening its doors on Oct. 9, with most customers praising the new establishment, the owners said.<\/p>\n

The \u201cAll Humans are Legal\u201d sentiment is also on the back of the staff shirts. Katherine Donlevy<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more about keyboard warriors. The people on social media don\u2019t take the time to indulge. they just say \u2018I don\u2019t like this,\u2019 and then other people say \u2018I don\u2019t like it either,\u2019 and that\u2019s not how it should be,\u201d said Gomez Bermudez.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe opened up a business in this economy and it\u2019s very hard. I think before you just start hating on a business, you should get to know the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be a part of the hate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The controversy is the second for Queens in recent months, following the grand opening of the Wolf\u2019s Lair in Astoria.<\/a><\/p>\n

The owners cried innocence over the name\u2019s ties to Hitler and his secret WWII headquarters, saying it was simply honoring an MMA training facility in the UK by the same name. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s nacho problem. That\u2019s the message the owners of a new Queens restaurant are telling angry neighbors and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[10400,57,10401,9,24,197,63,122,124,123,10402,58,10403],"class_list":["post-13781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-jackson-heights","tag-metro","tag-mexican-food","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-life","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-resturants","tag-us-news","tag-woke-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}