Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar has permanently closed and now has a “For Sale” sign on the front door after serving Grand Junction since 2013.
Tepanyaki was the closest thing we had in Grand Junction to a Benihana, a restaurant where cooking was a performance as chefs combined knife skills, showmanship and fire with humor while grilling up delicious Japanese specialties directly in front of guests.
In comments on Facebook, people told of their love for the place and talked about how they would go to Tepanyaki for special occasions like birthdays. They largely expressed sadness at its closing.
Explanations for the closure from friends of the owners, former employees and spouses of employees who posted on social media reveal that many of the restaurant’s employees were from far-flung parts of the world like Bali and Indonesia, and came here on work permits. Despite having those permits, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raided the restaurant detained many of its employees. The owner was reportedly working with an attorney to gather the necessary documentation to show that everything was in order so their employees could be released.
One person wrote,
“ICE arrested everyone folks. Everyone was sent to Denver, including workers with valid work visas. [T]here was no problem with visas. The Indonesian workers had valid work visas. ICE raided, arrested everyone, sent them to Denver overnight. I know one family had to pay $1,000 to get their husband released and then they left, went to CA to their embassy there for safe passage back to Bali, rather than risk being shipped off to Somalia or somewhere else in the globe. These were hard working people with families, NOT murderers and rapists folks. GET THE FACTS.”
In a comment on Facebook, a woman said that she is married to Tepanyaki’s sushi chef and that ICE detained him for two weeks with no explanation. “We have our social security and work permits and pay taxes,” she wrote. She added that her husband decided to voluntarily self-deport and is now back in Bali. In a separate post on another page, she added, “The ridiculous part was, when they released my husband at the airport (because my husband choose to
voluntarily [depart] and my husband ask[ed] them why they detained him, their answer was ‘just come to the UNITED STATES legally next time’ and then my husband showed his visa and then they said ‘Oh then I don’t know, I just follow the instructions.'”
The Facebook account for Conchita’s Mexican Tamales wrote,
“We are very good friends with the owner, and it’s heartbreaking to see what he and his restaurant are going through. Unfortunately, several of his employees were here in the United States with work permits, and with everything currently happening with immigration enforcement, their sushi chef and a few other employees were detained. “The owner was working hard trying to help get everything resolved, and unfortunately, he was also detained. “We personally watched him build this restaurant into what it is today after taking it over. We saw the time, hard work, and dedication he put into making it successful. It’s incredibly sad to see someone who has worked so hard for his business, his employees, and his community going through something like this. “Our thoughts are with him, his family, his employees, and everyone affected. We truly hope everything gets resolved soon and that we get to see him back at the restaurant he worked so hard to build.”
Where are Colorado’s senators and our local representative?
Maybe Jeff Hurd can help?