{"id":154543,"date":"2026-02-07T01:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T01:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154543\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T01:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T01:45:14","slug":"video-claimed-d-fw-restaurant-would-give-free-food-to-ice-agents-it-wasnt-real","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/154543\/","title":{"rendered":"Video claimed D-FW restaurant would give free food to ICE agents. It wasn\u2019t real"},"content":{"rendered":"

R\u00edo Bravo, a Mexican<\/a> 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The video<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything in that video is false,\u201d said Ulises Robles, owner of R\u00edo Bravo. \u201cThe photo, the person and everything he is saying are completely false.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nightmare began Tuesday when several people sent the video to Robles.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe first thing I thought was why someone wanted to hurt my business, but I never thought it would go viral,\u201d Robles said.<\/p>\n

Several people recorded TikToks of their own in response to the phony video, criticizing the restaurant and further exacerbating the damage.<\/p>\n

\"Ulises<\/p>\n

Ulises Robles is the owner of R\u00edo Bravo Mexican Restaurant.<\/p>\n

Imelda Garc\u00eda \/ Staff writer<\/p>\n

The fake video shows an image of the restaurant that does not match the establishment\u2019s fa\u00e7ade, and a man who claims to be Ricardo Lopez identifies himself as the owner of R\u00edo 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey created it all with artificial intelligence to hurt me,\u201d Robles said. \u201cNo one knows who that supposed person in the video is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of R\u00edo Bravo\u2019s customers and employees are Hispanic, so the effect of a video like that was immediate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also an immigrant and have always been in favor of the Hispanic community,\u201d Robles said. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Robles emigrated to Dallas from his native El Salvador in 1988. His first job was as a dishwasher at Luby\u2019s cafeteria, where he worked for over a year, and then he worked at Tony Roma\u2019s for more than a decade.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Chong family went to enjoy a free dinner on Thursday, Feb. 5, at R\u00edo 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.<\/p>\n

Imelda Garc\u00eda \/ Staff writer<\/p>\n

Over time, he managed to save money for a restaurant of his own, and that\u2019s how R\u00edo 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe video has already been reported on the platform and to the FBI to see what can be done,\u201d Robles said. \u201cThey are defaming my name. They are literally discrediting my company.\u201d<\/p>\n