Brouhaha over Boudin Pizza

Baton Rouge's Pastime Lounge and Lafayette pizza restaurant Dean-O's kicked a social media hornets' nest this week when a dispute over the name “Boudin Pizza” went viral. Dean-O's owner Tim Metcalf wasn't looking for an argument when he came up with August's pizza of the month—a pie topped with caramelized onion, green onions and of course, boudin, named after the signature ingredient. However, Metcalf soon found himself served with a cease and desist order from Pastime owner Randy Wesley, who has served Boudin Pizza at his restaurant for more than 10 years, and retains the trademark to the name. Things didn't come to a head until Metcalf made a post to Dean-O's Facebook page, soliciting new ideas for the pizza's name, along with the reason for the change. Although Metcalf didn't name Pastime in his post, Lafayette bloggers soon discovered the source of the trademark, and Wesley found himself the target of a concerted social media attack, as well as a barrage of angry calls from Dean-O's customers.

"It's a shame that this business transaction was put out in the media and on social media that turned it into a hostile back and forth,” Wesley says. “We're not bullying them.”

Metcalf agrees that the fans got out of hand, saying he didn't mind re-naming the pizza—he was just surprised the trademark existed. “I'm not bitter about it. I'm just sorry they [Pastime] got beat up in all this,” he says. Metcalf received some 600 suggestions for a new name for his pizza, and says the newly dubbed—and much talked about—"Cajun Violation" will likely become a mainstay on Dean-O's menu.

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