Natasha Leggero Makes Fun of Rockford in New Comedy Special [PHOTO]

Rockford native and comedienne, Nathasha Leggero, loves to remind the Forest City of it's hysterical relationship with Taco Bell.

I'm a pretty big fan of Natasha Leggero; you might remember her for her small role in He's Just Not That Into You, Neighbors and Let's Be Cops. She just seems like the kind of person I'd love to hang out with; she's my kind of crazy. At least I imagine she is, if she's anything like the characters she plays on the big screen.

I was really excited when l learned that she was from Rockford; I was even more excited to hear that she mentioned the Forest City in her recent Comedy Central special "Live at Bimbos" this past weekend. Too bad the joke wasn't 100% accurate.

If you've lived in Rockford for most of your life, or have been here for at least the last 10 years, you might remember a billboard for Taco Bell that read, "Voted Rockford's #1 Mexican Restaurant" (of course I got a chuckle out of this). You might also remember that the billboard hasn't been up for about nine years. Leggero, who has a penchant for mocking her hometown in her comedy routine, says, "I’m from a place called Rockford, Illinois, has anyone heard of this place? They just erected a billboard in my hometown as you enter the city congratulating the No. 1 Mexican restaurant in the city: It’s called Taco Bell.” Just erected?

Being that I'm still new to the area, I had to do a little research as to what this was all about. How did Taco Bell become Rockford's number one Mexican restaurant? Kevin Haas from the Rockford Register Star did a great write up on the subject and I love how he came to Rockford's defense as to how this all happened in the first place. To sum it up, Taco Bell was named "Rockford's #1 Mexican Restaurant" back in 2006 after receiving the most votes during the "What Rocks" reader's poll. Taco Bell was so excited about the win that they bought the billboard to celebrate their victory.

Haas recalled calling some of the people who voted for Taco Bell and interestingly enough, the one person he was able to reach wasn't even from Rockford; she was from Janesville.

Do you remember this billboard? How did you feel every time you passed it on State Street?