A restaurant in an Atlantic City casino intended to honour Martin Luther King Jr on his birthday by offering fried chicken, collard greens and macaroni and cheese, a casino official said on Tuesday.

Some Twitter users objected to what they considered stereotypical and racially offensive choices; others called the criticism political correctness run amok.

Joe Lupo, senior vice-president of the Borgata, said the Metropolitan restaurant chose menu items that were among King’s favourite foods, as documented in numerous historical sources.

“Our general manager of the restaurant is an African American female who wanted to come up with the menu to celebrate and honour Dr King,” he said. “We allow our managers to run their restaurants. She did research and came up with an authentic recipe. It’s very clear these were his favourite foods.”

A 2008 article in the Knoxville News Sentinel quotes a contemporary clergyman, Reverend GH Williams, a guide at the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site in Atlanta. Leading a tour of King’s childhood home, Williams said: “A favourite meal was the Sunday feast of fried chicken, collard greens, black-eyed peas and corn bread.”

Advertised as the Martin Luther King Jr Special, the casino’s $24 meal consisted of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato casserole, collard greens and homemade pecan pie.

Lupo says the casino’s restaurants regularly offer menus geared toward holidays, including Chinese meals at Chinese New Year, and Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo.

The Atlantic City branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People did not immediately respond to a request for comment.