That was not a rumor. It's a fact. And whoever came up with the idea (we'll get to them in just a bit) was on to something.
Ojos Locos, a place similar to Hooters, but Mexican, is on fire. The sports bar is a beacon for Hispanic soccer fans in North Texas. It has gone from one location in 2010 to 24 in Texas and 10 in New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California.
Walk in on any weekday afternoon, past big dusty work trucks in the parking lot, and you'll see tables full of diners hunched over burgers and tacos, many wearing work boots and jeans. Some tables have towers of golden beer above them, glowing like a lighthouse. TVs line the walls, likely tuned into soccer — or other sports if there's no big tournament.
Here's one thing to know: It's cheeky in here. The servers, known as chicas, are scantily clad. High-wasted black bikinis are pulled over fishnets. They wear black bralettes with tattoos peeking from behind lace. Sometimes the attire is more sporty: short flared skirts, cropped low-cut T-shirts and tall socks. It's mostly men inside, but there are also tables of women.
Rich Hicks and Randy DeWitt, the latter of whom founded Twin Peaks, came up with the idea for a soccer-focused sports bar for Hispanics. Hicks, who has worked his entire career in restaurants, recognized the market was underserved. They did open their first restaurant just months before the 2010 World Cup. He and his management team watched the place get rowdy (in a good way) during big games. Hicks says they've been working on the 2026 World Cup for a while already and that committees have even been formed to meet the anticipated demand.
For Hispanics, it's a place to be the home team.
Hispanic Hospitality
Andrea Serrano, 22, started working at Ojos Locos in 2023 as a chica and is now a bartender. She's in college and sticks with her job here because of the community. "You don't see many other places around that offer that hospitality specifically to the Hispanic community," she says.
Such an open-arms approach can be dangerous in these times. In addition to rhetoric fueling divisiveness across the country, President Donald Trump's administration has levied new quotas on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
In Trump's "200 Days of Winning" report, the administration boasts of "deporting tens of thousands of criminal illegal immigrants," and that the U.S. is on track to see the lowest murder rate on record, drawing a link between two things that aren't statistically related. Data from the Brennan Center for Justice reports the contrary: "Numerous studies show that immigration is not linked to higher levels of crime, but rather the opposite."
According to ICE data for this year, which is widely contested as unreliable, more than 45,000 immigrant detentions have occurred in the Dallas Area of Responsibility (AOR), a geographic area set by the agency that includes North Texas, some of West Texas and all of Oklahoma. ICE also reports there have been 28,904 removals. The following data point doesn't add up, though: The same ICE database reports that of those removals, about 1,000 have been removed for criminal convictions, 483 have pending charges, and 308 are "other criminal violators." ICE offers no data about who makes up the other 26,000.
Videos of ICE agents raiding businesses or arresting people walking down the street have circulated on social media. We've reported on how many Hispanics are justifiably scared to leave their homes right now.
According to Tracreports, 71% of current detainees have no criminal convictions. However, deporting criminals was a significant pillar of Trump's campaign speeches. Not even Trump supporters are safe, as we learned when a pro-Trump and pro-deportation conservative was nabbed by ICE when he tried to renew his residency this past July. Even the owner of Trump Burger in Houston has been arrested and is awaiting deportation. The scope of immigration law is being contorted to meet quotas and campaign promises.
Servers Katia George and Ana Aguilar exit the kitchen. Ojos Locos offers a relaxed atmosphere at a tense political time.
Kathy Tran
Under Pressure
Black Box Intelligence has data relating to these real fears. The Dallas-based company tracks the restaurant industry, and while dining traffic grew in May of 2025, ZIP codes with high Mexican-origin populations underperformed, a trend that started in late 2024. Using data from the U.S. census and its extensive Restaurant Performance Network database, Black Box identified ZIP codes where more than 40% of the population identifies as having Mexican heritage. In those locations, "traffic growth weakened ahead of the 2024 U.S. presidential election and has yet to recover in line with national trends."
The traffic drops were even more pronounced in key landmark weeks, such as election week and inauguration.
“We’re seeing an early but measurable shift in how immigration policy is showing up in consumer data,” says chief insights officer at Black Box Intelligence, Victor Fernandez. “In certain communities — especially those that may be more directly affected by immigration policy — restaurant spending appears to be under pressure. And when spending slows in these areas, the industry feels it.”
When looking at just a snapshot of data, this tracks across Ojos Locos. We pulled the Texas State Comptroller's alcohol sales reports for just June over the past three years. In June 2023, Ojo's flagship restaurant near Interstate 35, which had been open for 12 years at that point, cleared almost $440,000 in booze sales, making it one of the top earners in the city.
From June 2024 to June 2025, same-store sales for three Dallas locations (which include two newer stores) are down 15% collectively. The drop could be based on inflation, tighter wallets or the fact that immigration raids are common in this country now, or, more likely, a mix of all of those things.
Yessica Perez is the chief people officer (human resources) at Ojos Locos. When the new administration came into office, she said they knew there would be an effect.
"We were flooded with calls," Perez says. "So we put some ICE protocols in place, just essentially saying these are your employee rights. We've had ICE visit our establishment for sure — three that come to mind, I think, also a fourth. But we just told the employees and the managers, this is how you respond. If they have a warrant, we have to cooperate. But they can't come up to you and say, 'Are you legal or are you not legal?'"
When ICE agents arrive at the establishment, managers are told to call HR so they can speak to them directly on the phone.
"I think right now a lot of [customers] do fear everything that has happening. So it has impacted business a little bit, but I think eventually we'll get there," Perez says of a slump in business.
Chica Andrea Serrano says she knows her customers have a lot of fear about everything that is happening, but that's why they're there. "They know this is a house for them, where they feel welcome."
Latina Empowerment
While also providing a gathering spot for Hispanics, Ojos has become a place for Latina empowerment. Fabiola "Fabi" Estrada was hired in 2010 as a hostess at the flagship Dallas location and quickly climbed through the ranks from chica to bartender and manager before becoming the company's first female general manager.
When she first applied at Ojos, she had two young children and felt she couldn't afford college. "So I knew I had to find something that would give me the opportunity to grow," she says.
She is now a regional vice president.
Guadalupe Cardona was looking for a part-time job while attending college. She started as a chica and then moved to bartending. She got laid off during COVID, but Estrada hired her as a manager when the restaurant reopened. She is now the training director and in charge of all the chicas.
A big moment for her was when management sent her to Arizona to open a new store.
"And I remember Yessica was coaching me, and I was very nervous," Cardona says. "But she told me I'd be fine. And I did it on my own. I fell in love with it. I fell in love with talking in front of people, with sharing my experience, especially because I've been in every single position."
When COVID hit in 2019, Perez found another job outside the restaurant industry.
"I made sure all the protocols were set, I wrote them all, then I left," Perez says with a lighthearted laugh. She took another job for a while, but quickly came back.
"Usually when you go back to something, it's always for a little higher pay," Perez says. "But the reason I came back was the people. The people here at Ojos Locos give so much opportunity. We have people who are great students, they're hungry to learn, they want to learn. And it's always very different when you're teaching somebody who wants to learn. They have the hunger, and you have that here with the people."
Perez says they have a 54% internal promotion rate and that many new employees who walk through their doors don't have the skills needed, but that's not a problem.
"Are you hardworking? Do you have grit, or do you have a positive attitude? It doesn't matter if you don't have the skills or experience we're going to teach you," Perez says.
Co-founder Rich Hicks says it's all by design.
"I love female leadership, not only in this space, but I just really have always enjoyed female leadership," Hicks says. "And it's particularly important at Ojos because our team is largely female. So the females have a way of leading females."
Case in point: he hired Estrada two weeks before they opened their first restaurant.
"And she's running half of the company now," Hicks says.
He paired that leadership focus with what he saw as an authentic experience for hardworking Hispanics who have effectively built the restaurant business.
"You would be hard-pressed to walk into a kitchen in Texas and for it not to be primarily Spanish-speaking Hispanics that are driving our food quality," Hicks says. "That was the inspiration to create a place for them."
Hicks recalls working in a kitchen early in his career. After his shift, he and a Mexican co-worker would have a few beers in the back of the kitchen.
"We didn't have a place to go. And so that was the inspiration to create a place for them where they would walk in and really feel like it was home. It was an authentic, genuine place for them," Hicks says.
Goals
And now, he's mapping out the next big thing to hit the Hispanic community in North Texas: The 2026 World Cup."The 2010 World Cup was the magic point that we looked at each other and said, 'We have a really underserved consumer.' (...) And that's when it all started," Hicks says.
Customers — not just males, but entire families — pack into Ojos Locos for big soccer games. Every TV (which there are many) is tuned into soccer with the sound up.
Hicks says they have committees preparing for the World Cup experiences. He wants Ojos to be where people want to go and watch their team on the field. Sure, the Cowboys and Rangers get TV time as well, but Hicks recognizes Hispanics live for soccer.
"It's culture. They were born playing soccer," he says.
But Hicks is also seeing the stress that the Hispanic communities are facing now. They're seeing pressure in pockets, but not across the whole system. He adds that there is pressure on inflation and pressure from the current administration.
"It has been felt, but at different levels in different markets," he says, but he also says he hasn't been able to draw any real links.
"But that goes back to the experience," he says. "That's what we do when people come in. We want to greet them with a big smile and welcome them in. ... That's all we can do."
At a turning point in our culture with immigration policy, that might be all anyone can do. When the Trump Burger guy isn't safe, who is? For now, Ojos Locos will provide that hospitality for Hispanics who may otherwise feel out of place in their own communities. Perhaps the kindest thing you can offer someone is a cold beer and a bar stool where they feel welcome.
