An East Vancouver restaurant is facing backlash from the city’s Colombian community over a name many say goes too far.
The Fraser Street eatery, called Escobar, is facing accusations of cultural insensitivity for the name it shares with notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Escobar led Colombia’s cocaine cartels in a bloody drug war, and has found recent cultural cachet in programs like Netflix’ Narcos.
Members of the city’s Latin American community have pledged protests, and some — according to the restaurant’s executive chef — have threatened to be “aggressive” and “violent.”
“I think we’re pretty shocked by it, to be honest,” said chef Sarah Kashani on CKNW’s The Lynda Steele Show.
“It was never our intention to upset people and we deeply regret that this name has invoked an emotional response that is so aggressive against what we see simply as just a restaurant, and a name that’s very common in Latin culture.”
Kashani said the name was meant to be a play on words, with an emphasis on the “bar” aspect, adding that theirs is the third restaurant to use the name in Canada, but the first to face such backlash.
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She added that the restaurant is pan-Latin American, not Colombian, and said Pablo Esobar’s full name and likeness appear nowhere on the menu or branding.
“We have to take into consideration that we did not name this place Pablo Escobar, we named it Escobar.”
At the same time, she admitted the restaurateurs took the name’s edginess into consideration.
She said while the restaurant by no means condones the actions of criminals, there’s no question that people are intrigued by their lives, pointing to Al Capone as an example.
“To be frank, it’s also about name recognition, let’s be honest. When you’re doing something marketing-wise, you want to do something that’s smart.”
But for many in the Colombian community, there’s nothing smart about the name at all.
“Would you like to take your kids to a restaurant called Hitler or Bin Laden?” asked Paola Murillo.
Murillo is the executive director of the Latincouver Cultural and Business Society, and an immigrant to Canada from Colombia. She said just saying the word “Escobar” is enough to upset many people who lived through his era.
“It brings lots of memories, painful memories. It brings the history of our country,” she told CKNW’s Simi Sara Show.
Paola brushed off the assertion that the restaurant is not actually named after the drug lord, saying it is not a common name and that the restaurant has made its intentions clear.
“When they started publicity in different media, it was related to Pablo Escobar and the life of Pablo Escobar,” she said.
“I think the owners don’t understand really what it means. It was just to be cool or fun. And I know they say, ‘Oh, we don’t have anything Colombian, but he doesn’t represent Colombia, he represents Latin America, and they are selling Latin American food.”
Paola said she supports Canadian businesses that play with Latin American concepts, and that she wants the restaurant to succeed — just not with that name.
She believes the owners could create a win-win situation by changing the name, both benefiting from the controversy along with showing sensitivity to the issue at hand.
Paola said she has been trying to set up a meeting with Escobar’s owners to share her concerns and to try and convince them to change course.
That may be a hard sell.
“All I can say is everyone is welcome, we are all inclusive, we respect everyone in the community, we wish everyone well,” said Kashani.
Escobar is slated to open May 11.
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