Okay, so maybe I was halfway wrong for calling Pizza Patrón a nincompoop the other day. Clearly the company is a marketing mastermind for offering free pizzas to anybody who ordered in Spanish between 5 and 8 p.m. yesterday. I traveled to the East Dallas Pizza Patrón on Ross at the start of the pizza madness, and lo and behold, there was a horrendously long line that extended across several storefronts and out onto Ross Street. Traffic was backed up for at least four or five blocks. Most of the people in line looked like they could already speak Spanish fluently, and many were first-timers who’d been waiting in line for an hour before Pizza Patrón’s doors opened. D Magazine intern Caitlin Giddens hit up the Pizza Patron on Oak Lawn to check out the after scene.
Pizza Patrón delivered on its promotion of free pizza for those who order in Spanish last night. The Dallas-based restaurants welcomed lines of customers looking for their free 15-inch pepperoni pizza. Fernano Basquez, assistant manager at the Oak Cliff location, said his restaurant gave away more than 300 pizzas from 5-8 pm.
“They also received a coupon for discounts on breadsticks and churros,” Basquez said. “Those are redeemable anytime until the end of this month.” Pizza Patrón’s promotion has raised controversy among those who believe English should be the country’s primary language. But Basquez said they didn’t turn anyone away from their free pizza. “We gladly helped those who didn’t know Spanish,” he said. “Then they would do it and get their free pepperoni pizza.” Similar to the company’s last promotion of accepting pesos, Pizza Patrón hopes to cater to their neighborhood. “Since we are based in a Hispanic community I think it was a good turn out,” Basquez said. “We’ve been talking about this and preparing for a while. A lot of the companies who bring our food donated some product for the promotion.”
