Austin Eatery Sues Rival Over Cheese Dip Name

AUSTIN, TX — This stuff's made in Fort Worth, Texas?!?! The alarming find is essentially at the crux of a lawsuit by Austin-based Matt's El Rancho Tex-Mex restaurant against a Tarrant County eatery accused of trademark infringement in the naming of its queso appetizer.

Matt’s El Rancho, Inc. filed a complaint on Friday against the Horseshoe Hill Cowboy Café in Fort Worth — in addition to its owner/founder, Grady Spears, and his LLC Grady Spears BR — alleging infringement over the name of its popular “Bob Armstrong Dip," KXAN reported.

According to the suit, the Fort Worth eatery's owners have not complied with cease-and-desist orders to stop using the name. Matt's El Rancho officials contend the cheese dip was created locally in honor of Texas politician Robert Landis Armstrong, who was a regular patron in the 1970s.

The queso was an immediate hit, and has been a menu fixture for decades, according to the lawsuit. So closely tied is the cheese dip with Matt's El Rancho that it's been widely mentioned in books, news articles and television segments focused on the local eatery, according to the news report.

>>> Read the full story at KXAN.