Los Gallos owner explains reasoning for Monday closure

Yahoo

04-02-2025

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) — On Monday, select businesses across the country participated in 'A Day Without Immigrants,' closing their doors for the day in a show of support for immigrants. Locally, Los Gallos and El Cowboy took part in the movement, which sparked some controversy from those who didn't know the reason behind the closure.
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The businesses shared the closure notice on its social media Monday, stating it was closed 'to show support for our brother and sister Latinos.' However, not all saw this post explaining the reason for the closure, causing false rumors to spread.
First News sat down with owner Israel Zambrano to learn the reasoning behind the closure and why he felt it was the right thing to do. Zambrano said, ultimately, the closure was a way to honor heritage — not get involved in politics.
'It has nothing to do with anything political or any other things,' he said. 'I mean, it actually hurt my business not to open, but I actually did it to support the whole country — I'm Mexican, I'm Latino — and my whole crew appreciated it a lot.'
He said it's hard to go back and forth with people on social media, but the speculation he read there was disheartening.
'I was never expecting it would be offending people or anybody. I did it because I wanted to support all the Latinos and the community … to see how much we mean to the community.'
MaryAnn Gross is Zambrano's right hand, and she agrees that the move is all about heritage.
'I'm Italian and American Indian; it would be like they were doing something to support Italians and me following through and doing what they were doing to back my heritage,' Gross said. 'It's the same for American Indians … Nothing at all to do with anything except for heritage.'
Zambrano said when he first came to the United States for work at the age of 13, he didn't even know what an illegal immigrant was — or that he himself was one.
'I crossed the border to California, and I worked over there. I never knew what it was to be illegal,' he said.
It was only when he turned 16 and went to get a driver's license that he learned what it meant to be illegal. He got an employer to sponsor him in the United States, later became a permanent resident and finally took and passed his citizenship test.
'We work hard, we work really hard. I'm talking for myself and the team that I have. I'm very picky, so I always try to have the best team possible — less troubled people, because that would hurt business,' he said.
'Just about everybody in this country has [come] here as an immigrant; that's what this country is built on,' Gross said. 'And we all follow our heritage, and we're proud.'
Zambrano dismissed all rumors of any suspicious activity with the restaurants, stating, 'I would never try to protect or cover something that is not right.'
'Hopefully things get better for the hardworking people because there really are a lot of people that should not be here [U.S.] and I completely understand the government and their point about drugs, dealers and all that stuff. I agree with that, they should put a stop to that. … That has nothing to do with all of us. When I say all of us, I'm talking about all Latinos that want to work.'
'I really want to appreciate and thank the community: the ones who understand the reason I did it, and the ones that don't, I hope they understand it.'
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