Calgary restaurant told to cease use of trademarked ‘Taco Tuesday’ phrase

Diners at Blanco Cantina enjoyed what will likely be the restaurant's final 'Taco Tuesday' special after the owners received a cease and desist order regarding the trademarked phrase

The owners of Blanco Cantina, an eatery on 17 Avenue Southwest, say they were dumbfounded after receiving a cease and desist order from Taco Time’s legal team over their use of ‘Taco Tuesday’.

“Our reaction was complete shock,” said Kate Mitchell, events and marketing for Blanco Cantina. “We thought maybe it was a joke.”

According to the letter dated February 8, 2018, Blanco Cantina must stop promoting its food and restaurant with the phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’ as the term was trademarked by MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc., the franchisor of the Taco Time Mexican food outlets, on May 21, 1997.

The legal counsel for the Taco Time franchisor indicated that, should Blanco Cantina fail to comply with the steps outlined in the order, the incorporated business may pursue legal action to ‘enforce its rights and to claim damages accordingly’.

“We’ve used (Taco Tuesdays) for years at Anejo and at Blanco since we opened in October 2015. We have half-priced tacos every Tuesday,” said Mitchell. “A lot of people use it and we didn’t realize that it was a trademarked name until receiving this cease and desist on Friday.”

“Our response is going to be to comply with it. We’re not interested in a legal battle with a billion-dollar company. We’ll comply but we’ll have some fun while we’re doing it.”

Blanco Cantina’s owners have responded to the demands by hosting an online contest requesting submissions for a new name for their taco special on Tuesdays. The winner of the contest will receive free tacos on Tuesdays for a year.