How ICE Aggression Has Impacted the Restaurant Industry in East Charlotte

With residents speaking more than 50 languages among them, the Central Avenue/Albemarle Road Corridor is considered the most diverse of Charlotte’s six Corridors of Opportunity.

Thanks to Central Avenue’s diverse makeup, and especially its burgeoning Latino population, the area has become a hotspot for folks in search of ethnic food options in Charlotte over the years.

However, since President Donald Trump’s first inauguration in 2017, it has also become a hotspot for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity. Carolina Migrant Network’s (CMN) ICE hotline, which allows community members to report ICE activity and get resources for detainee’s families, fielded more than 150 calls in a 10-day span in May following the high-profile arrest of a father in view of parents and students in the Charlotte Language Academy off Albemarle Road.

Though the number of calls has slowed since then, according to CMN co-founder Stefanía Arteaga, she knows from experience that ICE activity ebbs and flows. Not knowing what is coming next only adds to “the chill factor.”

“The fear still exists, the tensions are still happening,” Arteaga said.

Restaurant owners and others in the service industry are feeling the effects of ICE’s intimidation along Central Avenue and throughout Charlotte.

Immigrants found a home along Central Avenue

According to the city of Charlotte, the Central Avenue/Albemarle Road corridor contains a significant concentration of residents with Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South/Central American or Spanish culture or origin.

As of 2020, about 32.5% of the population in the corridor identified as Hispanic, nearly tripling the 11.1% seen across the broader Charlotte metro area.

CharlotteEAST, a nonprofit dedicated to developing economic and social capital in east Charlotte, received funding at the beginning of the year through the American Rescue Plan Act to work on business district development in the area.

During the two-year funding period, the organization’s goal is to create a comprehensive business ecosystem centered around Eastland Yards, the mixed-use redevelopment of the 69-acre site where Eastland Mall once served as a thriving community hub but for many years sat vacant as a sign of disinvestment in the area.

CharlotteEAST executive director Greg Asciutto told Queen City Nerve that the organization is reclaiming the greater Eastland community — bordered by Eastway Drive, East W.T. Harris Boulevard, The Plaza and East Independence Freeway — to ensure economic prosperity.

A major way the organization is achieving this is through identifying 11 commercial clusters with the highest concentration of business strips and/or standalone businesses. Beginning at the end of April, CharlotteEAST went door to door for six weeks inventorying and canvassing small businesses, asking them to complete a business needs assessment.

Read more: Advocates Speak Against Recent ICE Actions in Charlotte

Although this effort will run through Aug. 10, CharlotteEAST’s raw inventory data revealed that there are 656 businesses in all of CharlotteEAST’s footprint, 143 of which are confirmed Hispanic-owned and/or operated, Asciutto said.

The nearly 4.5-mile stretch of Central Avenue holds 83 individual storefronts, nine of which are chain businesses, five are vacant and 33 are confirmed Hispanic-owned or operated, though it’s suspected that more businesses went unaccounted because the organization was not able to connect with each of them individually.

In talking with business owners along Central Avenue and the surrounding area, Asciutto found that when there is a known ICE presence in the community, people tend to shut themselves in their home for fear of being detained.

That’s a valid fear when Central Avenue’s walkability makes the Latino community more visible and an easier target for ICE agents to nab on their way to work, Arteaga said.

When foot traffic declines because folks are afraid to leave their homes, immigrant-serving businesses lose a significant revenue generator, Asciutto said. Most of the immigrant-owned food service businesses surveyed by CharlotteEAST didn’t have robust marketing strategies or partnerships with third-party delivery services like DoorDash.

Some immigrant food truck operators have taken to running their businesses in a sort of secret fashion, hiding behind other businesses rather than risk parking in a visible location, Arteaga said.

Without delivery platforms or a marketing apparatus set up, businesses don’t have the capacity to reach folks outside of their immediate community — geographically or culturally, Asciutto said. CharlotteEAST’s next step is to help business owners and commercial property owners develop strategic plans and marketing strategies to create a more resilient business community.

How ICE activity impacts Central Avenue businesses

Abugida Ethiopian Café owner Yobite Mengesha said that, in her eight years in business, she’s never seen anything like the panic caused by ICE activity along Central Avenue.

Since ICE began detaining folks across the country earlier this year, Mengesha has lost three employees — not because they were detained but because they were too scared to come into work.

Manolo Betancur, owner of Manolo’s Bakery on Central Avenue, remembers when ICE agents came to his business and took one of his employees in the parking lot. The man they arrested turned out not to be the one they were looking for.

“ICE took the wrong guy,” he said. “Those were very bad months.”

Though Mengesha’s employees held work permits that allowed them legal residency, they didn’t yet have green cards and had heard the stories of ICE detaining even those people who have followed all the rules. One such employee who holds a work visa hasn’t left her house in almost two months to avoid the trauma of an ICE confrontation, she said.

“Employee-wise we’re getting affected and customer-wise … thank God I have more American customers, but my Ethiopian and foreign customers just don’t show up,” Mengesha said.

She estimates a 40% loss in sales compared to last year, attributing it to the uncertainty people feel in the current climate.

Mengesha said she knows of other Ethiopian restaurants, such as Nile Ethiopian at the corner of Sharon Amity and Albemarle roads, that are struggling.

Queen Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant & Bar operates a nightclub connected to its eatery that serves a majority-Latino population. The owner told Asciutto that business at the club side has significantly decreased since ICE activity picked up along Central Avenue.

Ownership at Cuzcatlan Restaurant, located on the corner of Rosehaven Drive and Central Avenue, sent Queen City Nerve a statement saying that ICE raids have impacted its patrons, who largely work in construction and are immigrants themselves.

“The paranoia of ICE being in our cities have made them not venture out as much as before,” the statement read. “The immigrants they’re pursuing aren’t criminals or [delinquents], they are honest and hard-working people that do not deserve the treatment they’re receiving.”

Tacos El Nevado manager Litzy Mali said the restaurant’s Central Avenue location has seen a drop in business compared to its South Boulevard location.

“Central Avenue has gotten hit the most on sales, we definitely see it,” Mali said. “We do a side-by-side comparison to our other location down on South Boulevard. It’s a drastic change … It doesn’t just affect us as a business but people that work with us. Sales have gone down so it causes us to reduce hours, reduce staffing and it’s just all a domino effect.”

Immigrant businesses aren’t going anywhere

Despite the sense of fear that is currently permeating the immigrant community, one that is affecting foot traffic and sales among local businesses, a spirit of resilience remains, explained Asciutto.

“At the same time, we’re also seeing a number of immigrant-owned businesses that are opening up that are having really good success rates,” he said.

Within CharlotteEAST’s footprint over the last three months, six new immigrant-owned businesses have opened, with the only two that have closed being replaced by other immigrant-owned businesses. It’s an interesting profile, Asciutto said. He hears anecdotally from business owners, food service workers and other professionals that business is down because folks aren’t leaving their houses as frequently.

Then, in the same community, there are new businesses that have seen exceptional success. When Legends Ice Cream & Churros opened earlier this year on Sharon Amity Road, the line was out the door for nearly three full days, Asciutto said.

El Churro del 8 and Guatelinda Resturante & Pandaría, both of which are located in the Milton Plaza shopping center on The Plaza, have also had steady business.

”I know I’m not painting a very clear picture to you, but that’s because I think the picture is not very clear,” Asciutto explained. “There are multiple things true at once.”

While the government continues on a campaign of mass deportations and intimidation, Mengesha emphasized the need for everyday people to support immigrants and their businesses and, above all, to be kind.

“Give them that comfort,” she said. “…Especially [people who don’t] speak the language or know the laws, anything will scare them quickly because this is their dream, they come here for that dream. Show them that love.”

Immigrant-owned businesses you can support now

Most of the business owners we spoke to agreed that the best way to support immigrant-owned businesses is to show up. Though there are dozens of immigrant-owned businesses along Central Avenue people can support, here are few to get you started:

Papi Ricko Latin Kitchen & Lounge located at 1226 Central Ave. Opened in January by the owner of Tacos Ricko and Ricko’s Churro Bar Ricky Ortiz, Papi Ricko’s is a Miami-inspired Latin American restaurant and lounge.

Adamary’s Restaurante y Pupuseria located at 3100 Central Ave. Specializing in the El Salvadorian comfort food pupusas, Adamary’s also serves tortas, huarache, carne asada, camarones fritos, huevo picado and more.

La Cieba Bar & Grill located at 4400 Central Ave. A family-friendly restaurant honoring Latin American cuisine.

El Molino Deli & Bakery located inside Sav/Way Foods Latin Supermarket at 4459 Central Ave. Past the produce and frozen foods section in Sav/Way is the brightly colored lunch counter serving giant chorizo tortas.

Supermercadito El Salvador located at 4729 Central Ave., next to Tacos El Nevado. The El Salvadoran grocery store doubles as a deli and panaderia (bakery).

El Pulgarcito De America located at 4816 Central Ave. The casual Salvadoran restaurant also serves Latin American and Mexican plates.

Panderia Odalys has two locations, one on North Tryon Street and another at 4908 Central Ave. The Mexican bakery serves bolillos, sweet breads, tres leches and more.

Pupuseria El Buen Sabor located at 5699 Central Ave. The Salvadoran restaurant is only open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.