No, Cinco de Mayo is not a Mexican holiday, but go on and celebrate our food and heritage

As the co-founder of the local Mexican restaurant brand Las Palmas for more than 30 years, I am uniquely aware of how Mexican culture can be Americanized over time.

And what may surprise you is that it doesn’t bother me one bit.

I see this Americanization as more of a blending of Mexican and American cultures, just like the Day of the Dead Mural at our West End Avenue location, but I wanted to share a few key differences between the two that my co-founders and I have seen over the years as we celebrate this Cinco de Mayo on May 5.

Starting with Cinco de Mayo. It’s not a Mexican holiday, not celebrated in Mexico or even listed as a federal holiday, but celebrating Cinco de Mayo is not offensive. The holiday was “created by and for Latino communities in the United States. And the celebration of Cinco de Mayo is more about U.S. Latino history and culture than Mexican history.”

Caricatures of Mexican culture are what can make the holiday take a negative turn, but showing up and supporting your local Mexican restaurant on this holiday will not.

Here’s how some Mexican cuisine has been Americanized

We love that Americans and other countries enjoy celebrating Cinco de Mayo. It fills our patios and allows us to celebrate an unbelievable Mexican military victory.

Another thing that you might be surprised to hear is genuinely more American than Mexican is the beloved queso/cheese dip.

While the white American cheese in many recipes could have given this one away, it’s a staple at our restaurants and many Mexican restaurants in the U.S. And hey, we think it’s pretty tasty ourselves!

In Mexican culture, you’ll find more vegetable-based sauces like mole and enchilada sauces, which we also serve at our restaurants. What’s great is that queso and these sauces also mix incredibly well, just like Mexican and American cultures.

Speaking of foods, you’ll also find a diverse array of Mexican cuisines throughout our country. As with many regions in the U.S., our local foods and signature dishes differ depending on the geography and availability of certain proteins and vegetables.

Celebrate Mexicans’ and Americans’ authentic friendship

Mexico has seven distinct culinary regions; from the heavily Spanish-influenced Yucatán to Baja California, there’s a wide variety of types and variations of Mexican foods and dishes.

We try to reflect this by sharing a variety of Americanized and Mexican-influenced dishes on our menu.

While Cinco de Mayo may not be a large celebration in Mexico, we see it as a cause to celebrate our unique Mexican-American relationship, and for us, that’s always a reason to party!

One thing to add to any authentically Mexican celebration is a margarita; we can all agree that those are shared and beloved by most!

José Ayala is president of Las Palmas and co-founded the locally owned Las Palmas restaurants alongside his brother José Luis Ayala and brother-in-law Quirino Oñate in 1990.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Cinco de Mayo: It's not a Mexican holiday, but you can still celebrate