Río Bravo, a Mexican restaurant in Arlington, found itself embroiled in controversy after a video appeared on social media in which the alleged owner of the business said he would give free food to ICE agents.
The video, made with artificial intelligence, went viral on social media platform TikTok in a matter of hours, and hundreds of comments poured in criticizing the establishment.
“Everything in that video is false,” said Ulises Robles, owner of Río Bravo. “The photo, the person and everything he is saying are completely false.”
The nightmare began Tuesday when several people sent the video to Robles.
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“The first thing I thought was why someone wanted to hurt my business, but I never thought it would go viral,” Robles said.
Several people recorded TikToks of their own in response to the phony video, criticizing the restaurant and further exacerbating the damage.
Ulises Robles is the owner of Río Bravo Mexican Restaurant.
Imelda García / Staff writer
The fake video shows an image of the restaurant that does not match the establishment’s façade, and a man who claims to be Ricardo Lopez identifies himself as the owner of Río Bravo in Dallas. An image then appears of him giving food to two alleged ICE agents. The person then says his parents taught him to respect those who defend their country.
“They created it all with artificial intelligence to hurt me,” Robles said. “No one knows who that supposed person in the video is.”
Most of Río Bravo’s customers and employees are Hispanic, so the effect of a video like that was immediate.
“I am also an immigrant and have always been in favor of the Hispanic community,” Robles said.
Robles decided one way to mitigate the damage would be to give away food to everyone who came to his restaurant for dinner Thursday. Around 200 people showed up at the restaurant, which can seat more than 900.
Robles emigrated to Dallas from his native El Salvador in 1988. His first job was as a dishwasher at Luby’s cafeteria, where he worked for over a year, and then he worked at Tony Roma’s for more than a decade.
The Chong family went to enjoy a free dinner on Thursday, Feb. 5, at Río Bravo Mexican Restaurant. The owner, Ulises Robles, gave away food between 7 and 10 p.m. to regain his customers’ trust after a AI-generated video surfaced claiming his restaurant would give away food to ICE agents.
Imelda García / Staff writer
Over time, he managed to save money for a restaurant of his own, and that’s how Río Bravo was born 22 years ago. At one time, the restaurant had seven locations. Today, it has four: two in Fort Worth, one in Richardson and one in Arlington.
Although Robles hopes the video will not have such a strong effect on his clientele, he said he will take legal action against whoever made the content because it affected his image and that of his business.
“The video has already been reported on the platform and to the FBI to see what can be done,” Robles said. “They are defaming my name. They are literally discrediting my company.”