Smack in the middle of the Texas Bible Belt, specifically in densely churched Waco, where it is heavily value-laden and highly conservative, academic, and Baptist, Baylor University has born a family-run eatery called ” Fat Ho Burgers.” “It’s also interesting that the founder of Fat Ho Burgers was born and raised right there in Waco, Central Texas, in a state where bibles don’t even have sales tax. Plus, 23-year-old African-American Lakita Evans doesn’t is an eccentric school dropout. She’s the only one of five siblings to graduate from college. And she took a chance: she sold her laptop, car, and TV, among other things, to invest in the restaurant. Controversial advertising tends to pay off. The name of the restaurant, the setting in an unlikely social environment, and the name of the young owner have attracted a lot of attention.Business is booming within days of the restaurant’s beginnings in late March 2011. Naturally, many have fun, many are irritated.
Lakita Evans should cheer up. Yovie Yancey, an African American pioneer, founded “Fatburger” in Los Angeles in 1952 and the chain now includes around 100 restaurants within North America and beyond. Despite the restaurant’s name reminiscent of New Orleans people who believe eating a wide variety of fried and greasy foods is their birthright, Yovie Yancey died (in 2008) at the impressive age of 96. Less impressive was the short-lived “Mo Better Meaty Burgers” restaurant that had a facility on the southern edge of West Los Angeles’ Little Ethiopia. At the time of the founding of “Mo Better Burgers”, it was common for black American slang innovators to substitute the words “better than” with “more better”. This jargon ran out of steam, as did the burger stand. Will the “Fat Ho Burgers” be kept? Stay tuned. We must wait and see.
The “ho” spelling probably originated in the black ghetto, although I suspect it may have originated in bucolic white society. What you believe may depend on where you lived or grew up [sic]. The term “fat ho” is not that new and is subject to various interpretations and applications. For owner Lakita Evans, the “hos” are the burgers themselves, and the menu includes “Supa Fly Ho Wit Cheese,” “Sloppy Ho Brisket,” “Fat Chicken Ho”; and even Tiny Ho Meals for the kids.