It started with the uproar over Starbucks’ red Christmas cups. The CEO of a Mexican food chain decided he was fed up with the pussyfooting around mentioning Christmas in retail settings — and for that matter, Hanukkah as well. When patrons come to Berryhill Baja Grill Cantinas, they will find no ambiguity about what the restaurants are celebrating, ABC reports:

One restaurant chain in Texas is warning customers that it may offend them by being too “politically incorrect” this holiday season.

“I just got tired of all the news of everybody having to be politically correct,” Berryhill Baja Grill CEO Jeff Anon told ABC News.

The chain restaurant posted signs outside its nine Texas locations about two weeks ago that read, “Notice: This store is politically incorrect. We say ‘Merry Christmas,’ ‘God bless America.’ We salute our flag and give thanks to our troops, police officers and firefighters. If this offends you, you are welcome to leave. In God we trust. …

“There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘Merry Christmas’ in lieu of ‘Happy Holidays.’ When people say ‘Merry Christmas,’ they’re being nice,” Anon said, adding that he’s Jewish. “They’re not trying to be politically incorrect or have religious beliefs.”

Perhaps it comes from living in Minnesota, but I don’t experience a whole lot of the “happy holidays” greetings anyway. It is probably more prevalent in retail, but even there we routinely get “Merry Christmas” greetings and see plenty of Christmas references — albeit in a secular context, with lots of Santas, elves, Frosty the Snowmen, and so on. When I do hear “Happy holidays,” though, I take the greeting in the spirit intended rather than as a lecture about the separation of church and state. As Jeff Anon says above, those folks are also usually being nice, and when they’re not it’s usually pretty obvious.

Still, it’s good to see people like Anon remind us of the reason for the season, or seasons in this case. And I would certainly feel more at home in Berryhill’s for that reason, among others. I’d like to have a few Berryhills around here, and not just for the rejection of political correctness. It’s not easy to find good Tex-Mex in these parts, Christmas season or no, and maybe Anon might want to bring his brand of cuisine to an area that can desperately use it. Please?