Sensing an acute lack of heteronormative ice cream parlors in the West Village, one Italian restaurant has positioned itself to capture the elusive demographic of those who'll have two scoops of whatever John Wayne's having (raw hamburger).

Gallo Nero is down the street from Big Gay Ice Cream's second location on Grove Street at 7th Ave.

If you pass by @galloneronyc maybe you could pop in & let em know what you think of this advertising campaign. 👍 pic.twitter.com/1QjSICy9lR — Big Gay Ice Cream (@biggayicecream) September 14, 2014

Reached by telephone, a manager at the restaurant seemed confused about the nature of our call.

"What's the issue? We can call our ice cream whatever we want," he said.

Asked if the sign was a reference to Big Gay Ice Cream, or if he could see how it may be interpreted as homophobic, the manager, who declined to provide his name, replied, "They have their own way, we have our own way."

He added, "I didn't have anything to do with—I don't know anything, no."

The woman who initially answered the phone had some kind words for her competitors: "Oh you know I love the crazy banana flavor! It is sooooo good."

Dirty Banana Soft-Serve, West Village only. Bananas, brown sugar, butter: it's the thing that you need. pic.twitter.com/WfrQHNxccO — Big Gay Ice Cream (@biggayicecream) September 2, 2014

(photo of the "Big STRAIGHT" sign courtesy Adam Hall, @offsetthefilm)