The owner of La Baguette, a Venezuelan restaurant in Katy has seen a 30% drop in business. She worries it could get much worse.
HOUSTON — It’s been more than two months since President Trump signed executive orders cracking down on immigration leading to enhanced ICE operations across the country. That fear of ICE raids having a direct impact on once thriving businesses, now struggling to keep the doors open.
Inside La Baguette Bistro and Bakery in Katy, owner Maira Mayorga has been chatting up customers for nearly a decade.
“I know them by their name, they know me, I treat them as more my family,” said Mayorga. “They have become my family.”
But lately the small, cozy restaurant, once bustling, is quieter.
“This is very slow, like scary slow,” said Mayorga.
There are no wait times, noticeably empty tables and growing concern. Mayorga says things have gotten worse since January. The Trump administration’s beefed up deportation efforts are fueling fear among Latinos.
“People don’t want to go out,” said Percy Pelaez, President of Houston’s Central American Chamber of Commerce.
Once busy Latino-owned businesses look more like ghost towns.
“It’s all due to fear,” said Pelaez.
Pelaez says it reminds him of COVID. Out in the suburbs, Mayorga is seeing it up close.
“A lot of them from what I hear is, they’re afraid of exposing themselves out there,” said Mayorga. “It’s so sad they have to be hiding and not living their lives the way they’re supposed to.”
Her restaurant is known for tasty Venezuelan recipes, caters to a diverse, largely Latino customer base. Business has dropped by at least 30 percent.
“We have employees we have to pay, we have rent we have to pay,” said Mayorga. “We depend a lot on our customers and all the people that cross our door. There are a lot of faces I don’t see anymore.”
It’s an uncertain time that doesn’t go unnoticed by the most loyal customers.
“In the past few years, we would be waiting by the couch waiting for a table,” said longtime customer Pria Estevez. “Now I see less and less people coming here and that’s really sad.”
Fear threatens to finish off small businesses for good, Pelaez says.
“We can’t wait months,” said Pelaez. “We need to recover the lost customers.”
Mayorga and her team can only keep cooking and offering the food and service they’ve always prided themselves in. But for how long, if nothing changes, is anybody’s guess.
“I worry about it,” said Mayorga. [Closing] It has crossed my mind several times.”
