Vic Ryckaert

vic.ryckaert@indystar.com

A Mexican restaurant in Northern Indiana is buckling after a backlash to its billboard messages making light of a controversial plan to build a wall on the U.S. border.

Hacienda Restaurant's new billboard in South Bend reads: "The best Mexican food this side of the wall."

"We don't intend to upset anybody," Executive Vice President Jeff Leslie told WSBT-TV (Channel 22). "But, we do use humor. When you use humor, there's going to be some groups that are particularly sensitive to certain things."

The billboard is an apparent reference to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's proposal to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexican border.

The director of a South Bend nonprofit that assists the Hispanic community called the message offensive and demeaning.

"There's a difference between funny and being offensive," Sam Centellas, director of La Casa de Amistad, told WSBT. "I think they really need to think about how can you just be a little more fun without having to be degrading or demeaning."

As the criticism intensified, Leslie told the Elkhart Truth on Tuesday night that the chain would take down all 26 of the offending billboards by Friday.

"I'm not a believer in all publicity is good publicity," Leslie said. "This is not accomplishing what we wanted to accomplish. We made a mistake with these boards."

At least twice in the past, the Hacienda's edgy billboard messages have been accused of crossing the line into bad taste.

In 2011, the Hacienda removed billboards that made fun of the 1978 Jonestown massacre with the message: "We're like a cult with better Kool-Aid."

In 2006, critics blasted a Hacienda billboard that showed a small man wearing a sombrero and a caption reading "Take home a little Mexican."

Call IndyStar reporter Vic Ryckaert at (317) 444-2701. Follow him on Twitter: @vicryc.

Can Donald Trump build a border wall with Mexico? He'd have to tackle this