A restaurant in West Kendall is generating some unwanted attention over a certain piece of marketing material that some are calling insulting.
The Bar Louie artwork causing an uproar features a clenched fist holding a martini glass with a red star background, with the slogan "join the gastrobar revolution." One employee told NBC 6 Tuesday that the restaurant has been freshening up it's image recently with a new look and menu.
Resident and Cuban-American Rick Yabor says the new artwork is reminiscent of Fidel Castro's communist regime.
"It is insulting to have a bar here in Miami, putting up those symbols, to sell beer and burgers," Yabor said. "I know all of the stories. My mom was spit upon her face, my dad put in jail, my cousins and aunts were shot at."
The artwork is everywhere: in the restaurant, on their website, on their Instagram account.
"We apologize if we have offended....This symbol was never intended to look 'communist,'" the restaurant said in a statement Tuesday. "It was intended to symbolize Bar Louie’s commitment to revolutionize drinks and food at a great value."
Yabor says whomever is in charge of the restaurant chain's marketing may not be familiar with the image's connection to communist Cuba. But, he says, that's no excuse.
Local
"They should know better. There is ignorance, I will spot them that, but they should know," he said.
