Images from “The Story of Little Black Sambo,” an 1899 children’s book by Helen Bannerman in which an Indian boy outsmarts a pair of tigers and turns them into butter for pancakes, covered the inside of the eatery. I want to be part of the solution,” Stevens said, adding that there had recently been threats made of property damage to his restaurant. “I didn’t want to be part of the problem. Organizer Rashelle Monet wrote in the petition that “Sambo” was commonly used as “an archetypal degrading character in literature and minstrel shows.” So today we stand in solidarity with those seeking change and doing our part as best we can,” Stevens said in a June 4 post announcing the name change on the brunch spot’s Facebook page.īy the time the restaurant changed its name, a petition calling for the switch had received nearly 3,000 signatures. “Our family has looked into our hearts and realized that we must be sensitive when others whom we respect make a strong appeal. The Santa Barbara restaurant is Sambo’s, and “sambo” has been used as a racial slur for centuries.Ĭhad Stevens, whose grandfather founded the breakfast and lunch diner in 1957 and whose uncle oversaw the chain’s expansion to more than 1,100 franchises, owns the restaurant, which sits at the original location on West Cabrillo Boulevard. As America reckons with racism, the lone remaining restaurant of a chain that once stretched across the country is giving up its controversial name.
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