Dallas Family-Owned Pizza Parlor Forced To Change Name Or Be Sued
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Terry Jones turned an idea into a neighborhood institution.
"We had schools, churches, but no pizza place over here," he said, while slicing through a just-baked veggie pizza from his oven.
The "here" was the biggest boulevard in South Dallas, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
In 1990, Jones opened Blackjack Pizza. "
"The name came after I catered a party with a card game theme," he said.
For almost three decades now, the name Blackjack Pizza in south Dallas is tied to Jones' idea, and his mother Dorothy's leadership.
"Everybody knows us," Mrs. Jones said while a crowd of supporters surrounded her inside the small eatery. "We'll just have to come up with something else."
The Joneses received a letter last month from a Colorado-based corporation. The company owns the name "Blackjack Pizza."
The company operates 45 pizza restaurants in four states.
The letter is a cease and desist request to halt the use of the Blackjack name.
"We've been Blackjack for 30 years. I guess we'll have to do something else. We don't need to pay lawyers," Jones said.
The restaurant is now using the situation to promote it's brand.
They're asking customers to rename the eateries.
The winner will receive free pizza for one year.
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