Restaurant named 'Yellow Fever' sparks outrage online

  • 6 years ago
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA — A Whole Foods in Long Beach has partnered up with a controversially-named Asian restaurant that has most people on social media shookt.

According to Dallas News, 'Yellow Fever' sells rice and noodle bowls and is supposedly like an Asian Chipotle — though you really wouldn't know it from the name.

Netizens went nuclear on Wednesday after Whole Foods 365 announced the opening on Twitter, hurling accusations that its name is both racist and unappetizing.

The term has been used to describe a white person with an Asian fetish, but scientifically, it refers to a deadly mosquito-borne disease that causes jaundice or yellowing of the skin and eyes.

Owner Kelly Kim didn't want her restaurant to have a stereotypical Asian name, nixing anything that included bamboo, lotus, or dragon. When 'Yellow Fever' came to mind, she thought it was cheeky enough to be memorable.

She also says it's a way for her to reclaim the term and reinterpret it positively, but not everyone is buying it.

Kim says she's sticking to the name though. And as to whether it's racist — we'll let you decide."

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