Man goes on racist rant after trying to order Mexican restaurant's taco special on wrong day

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Surveillance cameras captured a man’s rant at employees over a taco special at a Mexican restaurant.

KNSD reported that a customer thought a sign outside Palapas Tacos in Anaheim, California, said fish tacos were $1.99 daily. He missed the words at the top of the banner that read, "Especial de Viernes." The words mean "Friday special" in English.

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Multiple signs list daily specials, which are advertised with the day of the week in Spanish.

Palapas Tacos owner Juan Del Rio said the man was upset because he was charged full price for the fish tacos. He ordered them on Monday.

"He saw the receipt and he saw that it was full price," Del Rio told KNSD. "That's why he gets mad."

KTLA reported that the unidentified customer berated the cashier and yelled at other waiting customers.

“That’s (expletive)! It says it in Mexican. We’re not in Mexico, we’re in America,” the man says, according to surveillance video. “This is America! Not Spanish!”

The cashier pointed out that the specials signs in the restaurant are in English and in Spanish.

"Every day we get customers (who) sometimes don't understand the specials, but we explain them," Del Rio told KTTV. "But this guy was completely mad, upset."

KCAL reported that signs listing the specials inside the restaurant are clearly visible and in English and Spanish. "So what? It's in America. It's above the border -- the border? The waterline," the customer said, turning to the two people in line behind him and back to the employees to add, "I'm an American. I don't use Spanish."

The man left the restaurant and Del Rio told KTTV he followed him to try to speak with him. Del Rio took out his cellphone and recorded the interaction. The man is seen on the video threatening to call immigration on on Del Rio, claiming the restaurateur wasn't legal.

Del Rio, who told KTLA he moved to California from Mexico when he was 14, is in the process of getting U.S. citizenship.

The man is not welcome back to the restaurant, Del Rio said.

Cox Media Group