Employees of the restaurant Los Chilaquiles in Houston’s Heights neighborhood held up protest signs Tuesday morning in front of the restaurant at 702 E 11th St. Workers told Chron that the restaurant’s owner had not paid them in weeks, giving the public a stark look at some of the tension bubbling up nationwide across the food-and-beverage industry.
“We were supposed to get paid every week,” said employee Krista Chavez. “I’ve only been waiting for one Friday. There are people who haven’t been paid in three weeks.”
Others at the protest spoke about their grievances with the restaurant’s owner, Tony Sanchez, including allegations of mistreatment and off-the-cuff terminations.
A video shared with Chron shows Sanchez arrived to the restaurant that same morning and spoke with the protesters before heading back to a residence at the corner of East 10th Street and Beverly, just a few steps away from Los Chilaquiles.
Sanchez, who was sitting on the front porch of the residence, dismissed the protesters Tuesday. He told Chron that some of the protesters have never worked for him, and that those who worked at Los Chilaquiles found it difficult to understand that the “guest was the boss.”
Workers protest in front of Los Chilaquiles in the Heights neighborhood of Houston, Texas, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025. (John-Henry Perera/Chron)
He did admit to being late on payments, adding that the person who handled payroll for Los Chilaquiles was pregnant at the time and had gone into labor. Since then, Sanchez said he hired an accountant and others to distribute the missing backpay. “The issue is not the payment,” he claimed. “The funds are there. Many of them just didn’t come. I am here.”
Sanchez also accused the protesters of being aggressive. “They tried to hit me and said bad words to me,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think they want to make a real negotiation with me. I think they just want to hit me.”
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According to Sanchez, Los Chilaquiles opened its first location in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2004. The chain added another location in Guadalajara before expanding to the U.S.-by way of the Heights-on Nov. 1. Sanchez said the restaurant is a “gastronomic embassy” of his hometown San Miguel de Culiacán, Mexico.
Back outside the restaurant, Chavez was coordinating aggrieved staff and other media outlets. She said some of the protesters had begun receiving checks, but the process was slow going. She added the cameras would stay on, and so would the protest until everything was squared away.
“For them to be doing it to us is horrible,” Chavez said. “They’re making the Heights look horrible.”
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This article originally published at Houston restaurant workers protest management over alleged unpaid wages.