Kitchens Close to Avoid ICE at Steve Smith’s Broadway Bars

Conservative bar owner lost prime weekend service at Honky Tonk Central, The Diner and Kid Rock’s because of heavy ICE presence

By Eli Motycka

Downtown kitchens shuttered over the weekend to avoid immigration agents in at least three locations owned by conservative restaurateur Steve Smith.

Smith, the wealthy owner of Broadway establishments including Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and Rippy’s, has been a public conservative presence in Nashville, notably mounting local opposition to COVID-related restrictions on public gatherings. He’s also a Trump supporter and donor. Recent panic at his restaurants indicates that his own Broadway empire — and the wealth it has generated — relies directly on employing immigrants not authorized to work in the United States.

At the instruction of managers, restaurant employees without legal citizenship status left the premises at The Diner, Honky Tonk Central and Kid Rock’s Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N’ Roll Steakhouse during a primetime rush on Saturday night to avoid detention by ICE agents. Locations, already struggling to provide full service, suffered through at least Sunday due to fears from employees who did not want to risk arrest by returning to work.

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