Russell Ybarra, owner of Jimmy Changas and Gringo’s Mexican Kitchen, is rallying Houston diners to eat at El Tiempo Cantina amidst its still-swirling political controversy. As El Tiempo fends off backlash after co-owner Dominic Laurenzo posed for a selfie with (and served dinner to) U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Ybarra used Twitter to encourage supporters of the restaurant to meet him at El Tiempo’s location on Navigation. To sweeten the pot, Ybarra promised supporters that lunch would be on him, and offered the potential for their own selfie with Laurenzo. Scope out his invitation below: If you would like to join me today at El Tiempo - Navigation be there at NOON. It will be my treat. You may even get a picture with Domenic Laurenzo. @MichaelBerrySho #supporteltiempo — Russell Ybarra (@russellybarra) August 14, 2018 Houston’s restaurant owners have stayed largely silent on the controversy, which began when Sessions visited El Tiempo over the weekend, with one key exception. Montrose Tex-Mex institution El Real used its prominent outdoor marquee to display a cheeky, not-so-subtle criticism of El Tiempo’s decision to welcome Sessions with open arms despite his anti-LGBT views and involvement in the Trump administration’s family separation policy. Stay tuned for more details on how many Houstonians took Ybarra up on his offer.<doc-sep>HOUSTON – The social media accounts of a popular Houston Tex-Mex restaurant have been shut down due to extreme backlash over a controversial picture. The decision to shut down the social media accounts came after the El Tiempo posted a photo of executive chef Domenic Laurenzo with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The social media backlash was instant, with some even calling for a boycott of the restaurant. Those speaking out against the photo say Sessions' stance on immigration is the issue. Laurenzo said the photo was taken and sent to the person who handles the restaurant's social media, who posted it without consulting with management. He said he never meant to offend anyone. "The last thing I ever wanted to do was to upset everybody. It didn't dawn on me until after that everyone was associating me with approving of the politics of Mr. Sessions and by no means is that the case. It's been a big misunderstanding," Laurenzo said. Ad The social media attack continued, so the restaurant pulled the post on Friday night, then Saturday shut down their social media altogether. But for community activist Cesar Espinosa, the apology isn't good enough.<doc-sep>On Friday evening, El Tiempo Cantina co-owner Dominic Laurenzo posted a photo of himself smiling alongside Attorney General Jeff Sessions to Facebook, and social media chaos ensued. Shortly after Laurenzo posted the photo to El Tiempo Cantina’s Facebook page, Eater’s tipline was flooded with screenshots of the post and the enraged comments that followed. In his post, Laurenzo said that he was “honored” to serve Sessions in his restaurant, and many residents of the country’s most diverse city were furious that Laurenzo welcomed the man who oversaw the Trump administration’s family separation policy into his establishment. Scope out a screenshot of Laurenzo’s now-deleted photo, and a snapshot of the backlash, below: El Tiempo Cantina in Houston today showed their true #nopaludos colors. They got so many negative remarks within a matter of hours forcing them to delete their post. Unfortunately screenshots never disappear from the interwebs.#nopaludos #boycotteltiempo pic.twitter.com/D0ABxjssjf — Pedro Valencia (@vote4pedrov) August 11, 2018 The Houston LGBTQ community has supported El Tiempo for years. Not no. No more. — Meghan Stabler (@MeghanStabler) August 11, 2018 El Tiempo is the most over rated spot in Houston and I knew they supported this administration when they served me Mexican rice with bow tie noodles in it — wow, that blew up, heres my soundcloud (@ManVsParty) August 11, 2018 In response to the controversy, El Tiempo Cantina issued an apology and deleted its social media accounts. In a statement posted to social media after the photo of Laurenzo and Sessions was deleted, Laurenzo family patriarch Roland Laurenzo said that he does not support the Trump administration’s family separation policy. “The man came to dinner and he was served without us even thinking about the political situations,” Laurenzo wrote. “We were preoccupied with the secret service and catering to their wants and needs.” The restaurant declined to provide further comment to Eater. Laurenzo’s response didn’t satisfy furious Houstonians, though, who took to Yelp and Twitter to voice their anger at the restaurant. “They support baby jails. Also the food is dry and inauthentic,” reads one one-star Yelp review. “Much better food at El Real, or any of the hundreds of authentic places around town.” Many commenters also noted that Laurenzo was a Trump supporter during the 2016 election cycle, appearing at rallies in support of his candidacy for president. The backlash has also affected La Mexicana, where Sessions also dined in Houston, though to a lesser extent. Negative Yelp reviews of the restaurant are still being published, but Laurenzo seems to have inspired most of the city’s anger. That could have something to do with La Mexicana’s claim that they didn’t know that it would be Sessions dining in the restaurant, only that representatives from the Secret Service had reached out to ensure that the facility was secure. There also weren’t any photos of La Mexicana employees smiling alongside Sessions. It is, perhaps, not surprising that welcoming Sessions into a Houston restaurant would inspire rage. Residents of Houston overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016. This is a city that is home to more than a million immigrants from countries all over the world, including those targeted by Trump’s family separation policy and anti-Muslim travel ban. As it has risen into the national spotlight, thanks in no small part to Space City’s remarkable restaurant industry, Houston’s diversity is recognized as an important factor in making it the “next great American city.” In many ways, Jeff Sessions stands in direct opposition to the people who make Houston great. Just after he enjoyed breakfast at La Mexicana, Sessions “railed” against immigrants in a speech at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston. In that speech, Sessions specifically called out Houston’s more than 500,000 undocumented immigrants and praised the city’s law enforcement agencies for helping deport “criminals” who are not in the country legally. Houston restaurants have demonstrated that they are not afraid to enter the political fray, it’s just that generally, they’re on the side of supporting other human beings. Earlier this year, Benjy’s in the Village raised funds and collected donations for families who had been separated at the U.S. border as a direct consequence of policies enforced by Sessions. A group of the city’s best chefs formed an organization called I’ll Have What She’s Having in response to attacks on reproductive healthcare in Texas and beyond. In 2017, Pi Pizza stood up to gun activists who threatened to boycott the restaurant due to its opposition of the open carrying of weapons in restaurants. Houstonians are vocal, and many have made clear that the kind of policies Sessions has supported as a member of the Trump administration are not welcome here. Some have even gone so far as to call Laurenzo’s selfie a “slap in the face” to Houstonians who are proud of their city’s diversity. “I’m fine with you serving him but by that post you have shown us who you are,” reads one Yelp review. “I won’t take my guests to a place that is happy to advertise that they support destruction of families.” Only time will tell whether or not this photo and the online backlash that followed it will have a major impact on the long-term success of El Tiempo Cantina and La Mexicana. More than likely, it will blow over like any other frenzy fueled by social media. But what is clear is that El Tiempo Cantina has lost at least some of its customers in the chaos, and those diners have plenty of options for killer enchiladas and fajitas served in excellent restaurants that aren’t owned by Trump supporters, and don’t make them feel conflicted about their values.<doc-sep>
On Monday the debate remained: had El Tiempo erred in serving Attorney General Jeff Sessions and then posting to Facebook about it? The decision over the weekend had drawn ire from both sides. Some called for a boycott of the restaurant, a favorite Tex-Mex spot of many. Others said El Tiempo should not apologize but stand strong. And then, amid the noise, a rival Tex-Mex restaurant threw itself into the fray, perhaps seizing an opportunity to poke fun at -- and perhaps drum up some business from -- the establishment down the road. GOOD ONE: Houston restaurant gets Texas-wide attention for hilarious sign Along busy Westheimer Road in Montrose on Monday evening, the marquee on El Real Tex Mex Cafe blazed in bright red letters: "BRUNCH SESSIONS AT EL REAL ARE ALWAYS CAGE FREE AND FULL OF RAINBOWS." El Tiempo wasn't the only place visited by Sessions, who was in Houston Friday to speak about ways to reduce gang violence. "This should be obvious: if we want to reduce violent crime we should reduce illegal immigrant crime," Sessions said. He spoke the words after visiting La Mexicana for breakfast.. But it was the El Tiempo debate that drew attention from near and far, as the controversy spread on the radio, in offices and on personal social media accounts. (The restaurant's social media platforms are now dark .) People also took to Yelp, which Monday had an alert saying it was in the process of clearing out posts related to the news event. A protest was planned at another of the El Tiempo locations for Monday night.