Many remember 4Kids as either the gateway to anime or the gateway to butchered anime series. Looking back on it now, it’s crazy to think how completely different a show like Yu-Gi-Oh! is when wasn’t edited or the script changed to suit a younger audience. But as we all know, 4Kids doesn’t really exist today.

Well, except for being listed in Mexican restaurant menus.

A post in a subreddit by Mocha_bean mentioning a restaurant that used the 4Kids logo made me curious about it. When I reached out however, I learned Mexico Tipico in Prattville, Alabama is not the only restaurant using the design:

It’s hard to know when exactly it started, but people into anime began discovering some Mexican restaurants had this listed in their menus in 2015, and well, it makes you wonder a few things:

  1. Poor 4Kids
  2. Who exactly is outsourcing this design?
  3. Do these restaurants know that used to be a design for an anime company?
  4. Have people going to their restaurants told them this?

While the last one is unlikely, it’s pretty hilarious what has actually happened with the 4Kids logo. After all, the edits 4Kids made were terrible, but they were for a reason — they were appealing to a younger audience. So airing a TV show you want for kids to watch early in the morning meant hiding the fact that guns pointed at you are very bad… so just point fingers instead! I’m pretty sure 9, 10-year-old (?) me was confused but didn’t care.

That said, with the logo being put in Mexican menus, it actually stays on brand with 4Kids — but now they’re appealing to kids that are younger than 9 and just need a balanced meal to enjoy the day.

You can totally bet 17-year-old me didn’t see that coming in 2006, much less older me today.