Pizza Patrón to Offer Free Pizza if You Order in Spanish

Pizza Patrón, a Dallas-based pizza chain with about 100 locations in seven states, is offering a free large pepperoni pizza to anyone who calls between 5:00 to 8:00 PM on June 5 and orders in Spanish. It doesn't have to be good Spanish, mind you — you can literally say "Pizza, por favor" and they will give you a pizza for zero dollars. (Or pesos. Pizza Patrón accepts those, too, as their customer base is 70% Hispanic.) And everyone loves free pizza, right?

Of course not. Conservative groups that advocate English as the nation's exclusive spoken language are pissed. Peter Thomas, chairman of the Conservative Caucus, tells USA Today, "[The deal] seems to punish people who can't speak Spanish, and I resent that." Yes, let's go back to punishing people who can't speak English as soon as humanly possible. Anyway, when Pizza Patrón started accepting pesos in 2007 executives received death threats, yet they continue accepting them to this day. So probably the Spanish-speaking deal is safe from cranky nutjobs.

· Pizza Patron's Free Deal For Spanish Orders Raises Eyebrows [USA Today]
· All Pizza Patron Coverage on Eater [-E-]