Owner of Chile & Chili’s, Marco Tenorio shares how his workers being detained has impacted him and his business during an “ICE Out: Let Us Live” rally held at the West Tennessee Street location of Chile & Chili’s, which has recently closed after workers were detained by ICE, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026.
Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democr
USA TODAY Network, Reuters
Surveillance footage originally posted to Facebook this week revealed law enforcement officers chasing workers outside Chile & Chili’s Taqueria West Tennessee Street location on Sept. 25. What was originally a traffic stop turned into an immigration raid at the beloved local restaurant, three people were detained.
Shortly after, the three remaining staff quit for fear that the same would happen to them. The owners, Shannon and Marco Tenorio, had no choice but to close the food truck location.
The spot is well-known for authentic Mexican street tacos and first opened in 2018. Although its Governor Square Mall location remains open, the sudden closure of the West Tennessee Street location has left workers and families uncertain and sparked concerns throughout Tallahassee.
Restaurant closure sparks safety concerns in community
For Florida State University Spanish professor Delia Poey, the closure equates to a loss of a cultural community space. She told the FSView that businesses like Chile & Chili’s can serve as places where different cultures are represented and shared with the broader Tallahassee community.
Its closure, she said, leaves one less place for residents and students to experience that sense of cultural connection.
“I loved that place, and it really offered a sense of diverse community in Tallahassee, not just for Latinos,” Poey said to the FSView. “The food was amazing and the staff were always welcoming. It is a real loss. These actions don’t make us feel safe.”
Isabel Ruano, co-coordinator of Tallahassee Community Area Response Equipo (TCARE) spoke with the FSView after the closure was announced. She is concerned with the fear people are experiencing across Tallahassee.
“This is not just about enforcing power. This is about abusing power to oppress a group of people,” Ruano said to the FSView.
Brandon Beckett, vice president of the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance, also considers the impact news of the Tallahassee restaurant raid may have on workers and their families across the city.
“They’ve already had to go to work every day scared because ICE is regularly around the area,” Beckett said. “There are many families in disarray because of this.”
A ripple effect in students
For students in Tallahassee, the news of this closure also means the loss of a familiar place near campus.
The restaurant became a space to go to when missing home for students living away from home for the first time, like Miami native and FSView Spanish Editor Valeria Marquez.
“When I would go to the taco truck, I loved it because it kind of felt like home,” Marquez said to the FSView. “The people running the truck were Mexican, and they were sharing their food from their home country to us, and they were always so welcoming.”
This closure does not mean the Tallahassee community has completely lost the restaurant. Chile & Chiles continues to operate another Tallahassee location, giving longtime customers another place to find many of the same dishes.
Some students are already planning to follow the restaurant there.
FSU nursing major Gabriella Wloszek told the FSView that the West Tennessee Street location is part of a significant place.
“I will definitely be visiting the mall location, but I know it won’t be the same. I will miss the outside atmosphere greatly, and how welcoming everyone was. That was definitely peak,” Wloszek said to the FSView.
Tallahassee speaks up
With reflections on what Chile & Chili’s meant to them, community members held an event on Sept. 30. Organized by various advocacy partners, they gathered at the West Tennessee Street location to rally support for the business and raise awareness of their opposition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Attendees gathered, holding banners reading “ICE out” and flags from various Latin American countries. Chants of “All power to the people, no human is illegal,” and “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state,” rang out through the crowd.
The hope, for many, is that the support shown at the event will continue as Tallahassee’s immigrant community advocates for change, including easier-to-access pathways to citizenship.
“If you give these people the pathway to apply for citizenship, they will,” Ruano told the FSView. “They have the money, they have the intent, all they need is the pathway for it.”
Organizers of the event and Tallahassee community members who know and love Chile & Chili’s are committed to coming to the aid of the restaurant owners and fighting back.
“Whenever one of our communities are attacked, we will come out, stand up, and fight back,” Beckett said.
ICE unrest across Florida
On Sept. 24, Amnesty International called for the abolition of ICE, citing recent fatal shootings, mistreatment of protesters, and inhumane detention centers in a 168-page report detailing various abuses.
Ruano sees the raid and closure of the Chile & Chili’s as part of a broader trend of fear and uncertainty felt across the state amid the nationwide status of ICE operations.
“Businesses are closing – I don’t know how Florida can prosper like this,” Ruano said. “And on top of that, people don’t call the police anymore. People are afraid to reach out to law enforcement.”
Ruano said that this fear is reaching people regardless of their immigration status.
“Everybody feels unsafe right now. Everybody feels like we have the potential of being stopped or being accused of things, even people who are citizens,” she said. “This needs to be changed at the state level. People are fleeing Florida.”
Carolina Rodriguez is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU and Tallahassee communities. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.
This article originally appeared on FSU News: Chile & Chili’s immigration raid unites Tallahassee community
Reporting by Carolina Rodriguez, Staff Writer, FSView / FSU News
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Street tacos served at Mexican food truck Chile & Chili’s Taqueria. Provided by Chile & Chili’s Taqu USA TODAY Network, Reuters 
An activist holds a sign that reads “protect immigrants” during an “ICE Out: Let Us Live” rally held at the West Tennessee Street location of Chile & Chili’s, which has recently closed after workers were detained by ICE, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democr USA TODAY Network, Reuters
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This story was originally published October 2, 2026 at 9:01 AM.