The owners of a popular Toronto hamburger joint have taken two items off their menu after facing a slew of complaints that the burgers were given derogatory names.

The “Half-Breed” burger and “The Dirty Drunken Half-Breed” burger had been staples on the menu at Holy Chuck Burgers for about seven months. Last week, after one customer’s objection swelled into a larger protest, the shop was inundated with phone calls and online criticisms.

Co-owner Bill Koutroubis told the Star on Wednesday that he never intended to offend anyone, and neither he nor his partner realized the term is considered a racial slur.

“To racially slur an ethnicity in a multicultural society, it’s the totally wrong thing to do,” said Koutroubis, clearly upset. He added that his background is Greek and that he would never knowingly insult another cultural group.

“We apologized on Twitter and again I reiterate the apology . . . It was never meant to be malicious; it was just an innocent play on words on our part.”

Back in December, local Geoff King flagged Holy Chuck’s Twitter account about the offensive nature of the term. The restaurant responded by saying that wasn’t how they saw it, and Koutroubis said Wednesday they didn’t look up the word afterwards.

“The term ‘half-breed,’ if you look it up in just about any dictionary, is really a negative, disparaging and offensive term used to describe people of mixed ancestry, specifically people of mixed indigenous and non-indigenous ancestry,” explained Ryerson University professor Pamela Palmater.

“Now add dirty and drunken to the term half-breed and it takes it to a much higher level in terms of the level of insult that you’re talking about.”

Palmater, who holds a Ryerson chair in indigenous government, said that when she initially saw the menu item she didn’t think it was real.

Koutroubis said the term “half-breed” was coined because the patties are mixed with two different kinds of meat — half cured bacon and half beef.

For the burger with extra toppings they chose “drunken,” because the veal cheek vino chili topping has alcohol. And, “dirty,” because it’s messy.

Holy Chuck’s menu is loaded with cheeky names like “The Farmer’s Threesome,” which boasts three different kinds of meat patties, and the “The Greek Bahahastard,” a lamb patty topped with caramelized onions and a garlic feta aioli.

Koutroubis said that his partner, John Prassoulis, hadn’t heard of the Métis people — aboriginal people who trace their roots back to a mixed European and First Nations heritage — before this, and that while he himself had heard of them, he didn’t know about the negative term.

“No one wants to bring any harm to their business,” said Koutroubis, offering another reason why he would never offend a potential customer on purpose.

“If you’re in business and your business is you serve the public, your number one job is to know who your public is,” said Palmater, adding that the December Twitter conversation “Seriously casts doubt on the sincerity of them saying, ‘We had no idea.’”

Responding to a tweet from Holy Chuck’s twitter account introducing the “Half-Breed” to its menu, twitter user Geoff King said:

“@HOLYCHUCKBURGER it may be tasty but that name is not. It’s offensive.”

“@gkingorama I respect your opinion, but to be completely honest I never once looked at it from the angle that your (sic) insinuating!” read a reply from Holy Chuck’s account.

“@HOLYCHUCKBURGER Your choice but just Google it. I bet offensive/derogatory shows up on the definitions,” King responded.

On Wednesday, Koutroubis explained that his partner, currently on vacation, was the one who tweeted. But he said that from what he remembers King didn’t mention it was a racial slur. They never looked it up, he added.

“If I had a dollar for every time someone told me that they find our logo offensive,” he said of the shop’s emblem — a cow’s head on a platter.

“Within the hour I was informed it was a racial slur, it was removed immediately,” he said.

Reached Wednesday, King said: “Frankly, I told the guy to Google it. . . Pleading ignorance doesn’t really count in this day and age.”

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Koutroubis said he’s lost sleep over the ordeal. People have called him a racist and ignorant. He said he’s learned that he’ll need to be more informed next time, and make better decisions. He wants to keep the burger’s recipe on his menu, but with a different, non-offensive, name.

Popping into the shop for some food on Wednesday, customer Don Baker said Holy Chuck makes the “best burgers ever.” The lawyer said he hadn’t noticed the controversial item, now covered in white duct tape, before.

“I know the kind of product they put out,” he said. “That would just be a boo-boo. A bad boo-boo, but a boo-boo.”

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