Aussie music legends The Smith Street Band have come to the aid of beloved Melbourne venue The Reverence Hotel, which has found itself at the centre of a spat over the use of the phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’.

The Smith Street Band’s drummer Matt Bodiam took over Footscray’s Reverence Hotel in 2012 with his partner Melanie, and since then, they’ve served up live music and good food. However Mexican food chain Salsas Fresh Mex have now taken issue with the venue’s use of the phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’.

As The Age notes, The Rev recently received a letter from Salsas Holdings marketing manager Rebecca Woods requesting that they “immediately cease” using the phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’.

“We assume that you are unaware that Salsas is the owner of the registered trade mark TACO TUESDAY in respect to the provision of Mexican-style food and restaurant services,” the letter reads.

“The Mexican-style food offered by Salsas under that trademark has become extremely well and favourably known among members of the public in Australia, and as a result is associated with Salsas.”

While Bodiam initially thought the whole thing was a bit of a laugh, he realised he should probably look into a bit further. “I can’t believe someone can trademark ‘Taco Tuesday’,” he remarked. “It would be like trademarking ‘Happy Hour’ or ‘Tight-Arse Tuesday’, although perhaps someone has trademarked those as well.”

“It’s not the kind of letter you want to receive about something you have been doing for the past six years, someone saying you can’t do it any more,” he explained.

“’Taco Tuesday’ is something we all had in our childhood; it’s like fish and chip Friday – it belongs to everyone.”

However, a spokesperson for Salsas Fresh Mex has confirmed that this whole situation is indeed serious, and inferred that legal action could ensue if The Rev doesn’t stop using the phrase.

“The term ‘Taco Tuesday’ was trademarked by Salsas Fresh Mex in 2011 and has since been used extensively across the brand’s marketing and promotional efforts,” they said.

“Legally we must defend this against companies both big and small. We believe it is our responsibility to inform all businesses of our trademark ownership to best protect the interests of our small business owners.”

The corporates at Salsas Fresh Mex are not satisfied with having some of the crappiest food of any Mexican chain and have now decided they’ll also have the crappiest ideas and are threatening The Rev with legal action over use of the phrase “Taco Tuesday”.

— The Smith St Band (@smithstband) June 14, 2018

The Rev is a cultural hub and has been bringing great food and bands to Footscray for the last 5 years. They do $3 tacos and beers every Tuesday and lemme tell you, it’s a fucking fun and delicious time. Salsa’s must be jealous. Long live The Rev.

— The Smith St Band (@smithstband) June 14, 2018

Now, Matt Bodiam’s bandmates in The Smith Street Band have let their feelings be known, taking to Twitter to outline their thoughts on the matter.

“The corporates at Salsas Fresh Mex are not satisfied with having some of the crappiest food of any Mexican chain and have now decided they’ll also have the crappiest ideas and are threatening The Rev with legal action over use of the phrase “Taco Tuesday”,” they wrote.

“The Rev is a cultural hub and has been bringing great food and bands to Footscray for the last 5 years. They do $3 tacos and beers every Tuesday and lemme tell you, it’s a fucking fun and delicious time. Salsa’s must be jealous.”

“Long live The Rev.”

While The Age points out that the spokesperson for Salsas didn’t note whether or not other establishments that make use of the phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’ have been targeted, we’re just hoping that common sense will prevail and The Rev can get back to serving up their delicious $3 tacos on a Tuesday.

Check out Taco’s ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’:

The article was originally published on Tone Deaf