Why not Japanese, Vietnamese, Portuguese or French? Because the illegal alien population from Mexico is growing so quickly, they feel compelled to meet the needs of a population of which 50% are illegal. I personally won't ever eat at Bennigan's again.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... 11560.html

10:46 PM CDT on Monday, July 14, 2008

By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News

krobinson@dallasnews

Plano-based Bennigan's Grill & Tavern has started making Spanish-language menus available to its diners nationwide.

The new menus, which were placed in the chain's 310 restaurants last month and are available upon request, have been well-received, a company executive said Monday.

"Hispanics purchase a meal outside of their home as many as four times a week, and we don't want language to be a barrier," Jennifer Gamble, Bennigan's director of marketing, said in a statement. "This Spanish menu gives our servers that option when they need it."

The Spanish-language menu is available alongside the English-language menu and includes the same items.

The menus are part of an effort throughout the restaurant industry to draw in more Hispanic customers. By offering Spanish-theme menu items and launching promotions, restaurateurs are hoping to boost their appeal to one of the fastest-growing consumer groups in the nation.

Chili's Grill & Bar, owned by Brinker International Inc. of Dallas, provides menus in Spanish nationwide to any customer who wants one, spokeswoman Stacey Sullivan said in e-mail. The menus are kept on hand at 645 locations, about half of the chain's restaurants, she said.

Carrollton-based TGI Friday's tried offering Spanish-language menus two years ago in California and Arizona. The menus were dropped because customers never asked for them, a spokeswoman said.

The Sonic Drive-In chain, which counts Texas as its largest market, posts its menu in Spanish online and makes Spanish menus available in markets where operators request it, spokeswoman Christi Woodworth said.

Such moves sometimes drag the food companies into the national debate on illegal immigration.

In January 2007, the tiny Dallas-based chain Pizza Patrón became caught up in the controversy when it began accepting pesos. Executives at the company, which caters heavily to Latinos, even received death threats. But the chain held firm and turned the temporary gambit into a permanent part of its business model.

Bennigan's officials have "not received any complaints and don't expect that we will," Ms. Gamble said.