logo
Protest curfews wallop downtown restaurants: ‘Just stay open, make money where we can.'

Protest curfews wallop downtown restaurants: ‘Just stay open, make money where we can.'

The Mermaid hasn't turned a profit since Saturday.
The aquatic-themed Little Tokyo bar is typically open daily and a hub for regulars, community events and off-duty workers of the hospitality industry, all bathed in soft blue lighting meant to replicate the ocean's waves. But these fixtures hadn't been found there for days, because the Mermaid — like many restaurants and bars spread through downtown's hot zones for anti-ICE protests and an 8 p.m. curfew — is closing, pivoting to other business models and trying new hours of operation to weather fallout from ongoing unrest spurred by widespread immigration raids.
'It's devastating,' said co-owner Arlene Roldan. 'It's ultimately going to impact us dramatically. With all the work that we've already put into this, it's like a whole new bar at this point, and a whole new marketing strategy that we're going to have to come up with.'
Little Tokyo, she said, is often the epicenter of community activism and marches. After seeing how many protesters were gathering downtown on Sunday, she and her business partner, Katie Kildow, decided not to open that evening.
They tried to reopen their bar on Monday but only made it an hour before the protests pushed almost to their door, which is located three blocks from the Metropolitan Detention Center. LAPD then closed nearby streets, and no one could access the cocktail bar. On Tuesday night Roldan heard a rumor that Mayor Karen Bass could issue a curfew, and told her staff to stay home until further notice. About an hour later, the order came. The Mermaid remained closed.
On Wednesday, the team tried something different: Reopen at noon, and close at 7 p.m. in accordance with the curfew. Now they're trying to reach an entirely new demographic of those able to stop by for a drink during the daytime, while also communicating to regulars that the bar will only be open through 7 p.m. until the curfew lifts.
Roldan said that as an owner-operator, she feels fortunate to be in a position to make business decisions that can help staff and keep the doors open, even if it means taking on bartending shifts herself. It's been consolation during a trying week.
'Little Tokyo was definitely hit very hard on Monday with opportunists that were looting,' Roldan said. 'Some of this graffiti is a little daunting, and here people today are now boarding up their businesses. So it's just becoming a little bit more and more bleak each day.'
Roldan is still standing with the protests, personally participating in marches during the day and offering drinks to customers who might need an escape from the disarray beyond the Mermaid's doors.
'It seems like we're always part of the path [of protests], so we're offering water and a place for people to recharge and to revive,' she said. 'We're also offering a welcome drink to anyone who just needs to calm their nerves as well, because it is a very intense environment out here.'
Sampa, a nearby restaurant in the Arts District, is also toying with new daytime hours to offset business losses from the evening curfew.
Since Friday, its owners saw reservations canceled first in a trickle, then by roughly 20%. On Sunday, the modern Filipino restaurant lost at least 50% of its business, with reservations canceled. Brunch walk-ins slowed to a halt.
'I think most of our diners travel to us and they get spooked,' said co-owner Jenny Valles. 'They get really scared like, 'Well, I don't know if I'm going to get caught up in the protests or the street closures, so we're just going to stay away.' While 99% of L.A. is doing fine and living their lives, people don't realize that 1% is greatly affected by this. We are one square mile where the curfew is, and it's really difficult.'
On Tuesday evening when Valles and her business partners — husband Peter Rosenberg and chef Josh Espinosa — learned of downtown's 8 p.m. curfew, they canceled most of the night's reservations and closed early to allow staff to return home safely. Now they're pivoting their business hours, hoping that running the weekend brunch menu on weekdays and starting dinner at 3 p.m. can help them sustain.
'We're a small business, we can't afford to close,' Valles said. 'Our strategy is just: stay open, make money where we can, make sure we keep our lights on, make sure we keep our staff on.'
Espinosa estimates that the restaurant makes 80% of its revenue between the hours of 6 and 10 p.m.; with a multi-day curfew in place, they're concerned that they cannot afford to close for even one hour between brunch and dinner service.
'We're dealt cards and it's on us to make the most of it and make the best of it,' Espinosa said.
Valles said that restaurateurs she knows also carry 'emotional stress' concerning the well-being of immigrant staff.
'It's really emotionally difficult,' she said. 'They are the ones that wash the dishes, they are the ones that cook, they are the ones that put food on our plates across L.A.'
Nearer to City Hall, Indian mainstay Badmaash closed due to street closures, the curfew and fallout from protests.
'We're taking it day by day,' co-owner Nakul Mahendro said in an email. 'Our main concern is the safety and well being of our staff.'
'No one wants to come downtown,' he added. 'We don't have any reservations…The business impact is tough, especially after all we've been through, but we're encouraging guests to visit our Fairfax location instead.'
Camélia, one of the L.A. Times' 101 best restaurants in Los Angeles, is closed tonight.
It barely began its dinner service on Tuesday before receiving word of the curfew, whose square-mile zone also included the French-Japanese bistro's corner of the Arts District.
'It was a huge scramble and very stressful for the staff to try to figure out what to do in the moment,' said co-owner Courney Kaplan. 'We decided today, let's just take a day, regroup and get a sense of what our next steps are going to be.'
Via a large group text between the restaurant's owners, chefs and managers, the team solidified their game plan. They will pivot to a new lunch service and happy hour while under curfew, operating from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m. and offering a streamlined menu of some of their most popular items: a croque Madame, the dry-aged burger, salads and beyond, with nightly happy hour specials that could include oysters and sparkling drinks.
They toyed with the idea of selling bottled cocktails or flipping part of the space to a wine shop. To Kaplan and her business partner, chef-owner Charles Namba — who also own and operate Echo Park restaurants Tsubaki and Ototo — these pivots are all too familiar.
'I'm having kind of intense flashbacks to March 2020, where we just need to try it and be flexible,' Kaplan said, 'and if we need to then pivot to something else, making sure that we're able to do that as well.'
Kaplan and Namba began to see business drop off at Camélia as soon as the protests began, with guests canceling reservations and calling with questions about how to access the restaurant with road closures.
Over the weekend, Kaplan estimates that Camélia lost roughly 40% of its revenue. As the week began the figure jumped to as much as 60%.
After facing years of financial and operational setbacks marked by slow pandemic recovery, the city's economic fallout from entertainment-industry strikes, inflation and increases to minimum wage, the restaurant industry is seeing an onslaught of closures. In early 2025, the Altadena and Palisades fires wrought more fiscal trouble to restaurants throughout the city.
'The amount of stress that's brought on all of our coworkers and everybody on the team is almost unprecedented,' Kaplan said, adding, '[The industry] has just taken such a beating over the past few years that I really do hope people will come back and support small businesses,' she said. 'I'm just hoping for the best for our city and our community right now.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Man Married to US Citizen Held in Alligator Alcatraz After Traffic Stop
Man Married to US Citizen Held in Alligator Alcatraz After Traffic Stop

Newsweek

time27 minutes ago

  • Newsweek

Man Married to US Citizen Held in Alligator Alcatraz After Traffic Stop

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Oscar Alejandro, a Mexican national married to a U.S. citizen, and his brother, Carlos Martin Gonzalez, who was traveling on a tourist visa, were arrested during a traffic stop in Orlando, Florida, and taken into custody at the "Alligator Alcatraz" detention center, according to multiple local media reports. Newsweek has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Florida Highway Patrol, and the Consulate of Mexico in both Orlando and Miami for comment via email on Friday. Newsweek has filled out a contact form for comment with Reyes Legal, who are representing the brothers. Why It Matters In recent weeks, human rights advocates have raised concerns about a new Florida detention center, dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," which was quickly created on Everglades land and holds an estimated 1,000 beds currently. The center is part of the Trump administration's effort to crackdown on illegal immigration. President Donald Trump has vowed to carry out the largest mass deportation in U.S. history, an initiative that has seen an intensification of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and arrests across the country, including people with valid visas and documentation. The administration has deported thousands of people to their countries of origin, as well as a smaller percentage to third countries with U.S. agreements. It has also encouraged individuals without proper documentation to self-deport. What To Know On July 7, Carlos, 26, was stopped by Florida Highway Patrol in Orlando over tinted windows and a Mexican license plate, the local news outlet WSVN reported. The trooper found no proper registration for the vehicle. Carlos said his brother had the registration materials, which Oscar, 30, reportedly brought. However, the registration was not in the brothers' names, and Carlos was arrested for operating an unregistered vehicle. The brothers were first held in Orange County Jail before being transferred to the detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz. Newsweek could not confirm either brother's location in the ICE detainee database. Their father, Don Martin Gonzalez, told local news outlet WSVN his sons are "both in Alligator Alcatraz, but they are not together." He said his sons were on vacation in the Florida city following the death of their mother. Carlos was originally in the states on a tourist visa and Oscar is married to a U.S. citizen and has an expired residency permit, according to El Pais. Oscar has been living in the U.S. for eight months. President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee,... President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and others, tour "Alligator Alcatraz," a new migrant detention facility at Dade-Collier Training and Transition facility, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, in Ochopee, Fla. More AP Photo/Evan Vucci What People Are Saying Juan Sabines Guerrero, Consul of Mexico in Orlando, Florida, said in Spanish in an X post on July 21: "Today I received Mr. Martín González, father of two young Mexicans detained in Orlando and transferred to the prison known as #AlligatorAlcatraz. His son Carlos was on vacation with a valid tourist visa following the passing of his mother; Alejandro is married to a U.S. a call, the attorney warned us about possible violations of the civil rights of both nationals, as the prison where they are held is not under federal government (ICE) jurisdiction but rather under the state of Florida, so they still lack an 'alien' number or case number, preventing them from accessing adequate defense and a fair trial." Don Martin Gonzalez, the brother's father, told WSVN: "They are in something like cages. They're like chicken coops. That's what they're telling me, so one is in one, and the other is in another. With, I think, like 36 people, or something like that, or more, per cage. This is a very harsh prison. Very harsh It's not a prison; it's a detention center. It's very difficult to be there. You're not allowed to bathe, only every four days. The water given to drink is dirty. You drink as little as possible so they don't get sick, while there are a lot of mosquitoes. They have them chained to the floor, hands and feet." Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Garrett J. Ripa said Friday about Alligator Alcatraz: "We've had two or three removal flights, and we'll continue to have those removal flights. Up to 100 individuals who were illegally present in the state of Florida have already been removed from the United States." What Happens Next Deportation flights from Alligator Alcatraz have commenced. Sabines Guerrero said that "following instructions from President @Claudiashein," the consul has assigned the brothers legal representation in an effort to release them from the facility. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Tuesday confirmed 14 Mexican nationals are being held at the facility and said "all arrangements are being made to ensure they are repatriated immediately."

Deportation flights from ‘Alligator Alcatraz' begin as Florida vows a ‘surge' of immigration arrests
Deportation flights from ‘Alligator Alcatraz' begin as Florida vows a ‘surge' of immigration arrests

CNN

time44 minutes ago

  • CNN

Deportation flights from ‘Alligator Alcatraz' begin as Florida vows a ‘surge' of immigration arrests

Immigration Immigration politics Aviation newsFacebookTweetLink Follow Deportation flights from the makeshift South Florida immigration detention facility dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' have begun as a 'surge' of immigration arrests is on the horizon, state officials said. 'What has been done here has been remarkable,' GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday at the controversial tent city the state built quickly to support the sweeping deportation agenda that helped propel President Donald Trump to a second term but is largely opposed by Americans. 'We've had two or three removal flights, and we'll continue to have those removal flights. Up to 100 individuals who were illegally present in the state of Florida have already been removed from the United States,' Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Garrett J. Ripa said. It is unclear where the flights from the Everglades facility ended up. 'We now have capacity for a couple of thousand. We can expand that as demand is there,' added Ripa, ICE's acting executive associate director. Asked whether ICE is operating the flights, how many have been completed and how many people were on board, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told CNN: 'Fire up the deportation planes.' For those not flown out, conditions at the detention camp are poor, its detainees have told CNN, with over 30 people held in cells made of chain-link fencing and few bathrooms available. One called the facility 'a type of torture,' while another at a news conference this week said it was being 'like a dog cage.' Detainees also have limited access to water and showers and have dealt with toilets backing up, air conditioning going out and tents letting in rain and insects, they've told CNN. Lawmakers who have toured the facility have given matching descriptions, and lawsuits aimed at its environmental impact and detainees' access to legal counsel have been filed. Pushing back, a state official Friday said the facility 'meets or exceeds' the highest standards for detention. And after 'some technology issues' related to legal counsel, 'we have now worked those things out,' with access expected to start Monday, said Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said. The deportation flights mark 'a new day,' the head of the State Board of Immigration Enforcement said: 'There will be a surge of arrests, and what you see here at 'Alligator Alcatraz' and what's to follow on detention capacity will be here to meet that surge.' Florida in recent days more than doubled its capacity to arrest undocumented people, marking an intensification of immigration enforcement operations, Larry Keefe said at Friday's news conference with the governor. The federal government has granted credentials allowing for limited immigration enforcement to over 1,200 Florida deputies and more than 650 agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with personnel from state and local agencies, he added. Florida leads the nation in the number of partnerships between state and local agencies and ICE under the federal 287(g) program. The governor on Friday lauded the deportation effort, including the flights: 'Hey, this is our moment,' DeSantis said. 'This is what we all campaigned on. Let's get it done.' The rallying cry, though, faces some fierce opposition. The ACLU of Florida on Friday pushed back on Ripa's assertion 'there is not a person here (at 'Alligator Alcatraz') that is not on a final removal order.' 'It is also absolutely not the case that everyone held at the facility has a final order of removal,' the civil rights advocacy group's spokesperson Keisha Mulfort told CNN. 'We are working with attorneys and family members of people detained in the Everglades Detention Facility who have repeatedly attested to this.' 'Significant due process concerns remain,' too, related to detainees' access to attorneys, she said: 'We will continue to challenge the unlawful and unconstitutional treatment of the people held there. Florida cannot rely on secrecy and cruelty as the foundation for its immigration policies.' Environmental groups, meanwhile, are fighting 'an Everglades catastrophe unfolding before our eyes,' said a spokesperson for Friends of the Everglades, which has sued in federal court over the impact construction and large numbers of people will have on the site. Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani, who has toured the detention facility, demanded more answers after Friday's news conference. 'We are fighting this from every direction,' she told CNN, 'whether it's accountability to the environmental concerns or the humanitarian concerns or fighting on contracts and transparency and due process.' About an hour's drive by two-lane road from Trump's Miami resort, 'Alligator Alcatraz' was built in just eight days by workers who remade the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport from one built to serve supersonic jets with an 11,000-foot runway and a few small building into a temporary tent city for house thousands. Security now includes 28,000 feet of fencing, nearly 300 security cameras, a 'trained force of over 400 securities personal, including additional 200 National Guard' personnel, Guthrie said Friday, adding it is 'surrounded by … I believe it is 39 square miles of natural buffer,' referring to the Everglades. As hurricane season's peak approaches, families of those at the site are concerned about weather threats. While the facility can withstand winds of up to Category 2 strength, it must be evacuated if a stronger hurricane threatens, Guthrie has said. 'It will depend on the path of the storm,' DeSantis said Friday. 'This ain't our first rodeo. We know in Florida anything is susceptible to have to be evacuated.' Countering complaints by some detainees' relatives of scant health resources, 'we have on this facility the ability of a full-fledge medical center,' Guthrie added. 'We have a medical doctor on site, we (have a) nurse practitioner on site, we have RN and complete medical staff on site.' CNN Priscilla Alvarez & Maxime Tamsett contributed to this report.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store