TAMPA, Fla. — The owner of Rene’s Mexican Kitchen in Ybor City has asked the community for help after an electrical fire heavily damaged the restaurant last Wednesday, leaving the business temporarily closed.
“We’re looking for help because we’re trying to get back on our feet,” said Chef Rene Valenzuela. “We didn’t have fire insurance. We had liability insurance, we have worker’s comp, but whatever got burned or melted, water damage, we lost everything.”
Valenzuela said he and his staff were inside the restaurant at 2802 N. 16th St. when the fire started around 10:39 a.m. and were able to evacuate safely. The chef said the building is from the 1920’s and the fire was sparked by old wiring in the attic.
“My fire suppression system didn’t even go off because nothing that we were cooking burned,” he said. “There were no fryers that caught on fire or anything. It came from the attic… the whole roof burned.”
Tampa Fire Rescue said when crews arrived, they saw heavy smoke showing from the roof and it took about 45 minutes to get the fire under control.
“It went so quickly. You would not believe it,” said Valenzuela. “We couldn’t get back into the building. We couldn’t get anything out.”
The Ybor incident is the second time Valenzuela has lost a business to a fire. In 2018, a gas explosion in his food truck left him with life-threatening burns.
“That one, I ended up in the hospital,” he said. “Here was just a material loss.”
After Valenzuela recovered over the following year, he opened Rene’s Mexican Kitchen as a food truck in North Tampa. The business grew, and he opened his first brick-and-mortar restaurant in Ybor City in 2023.
Greg Spadaccini, owner of Spaddy’s Coffee in Seminole Heights, said Valenzuela’s breakfast burritos have been his best-selling food item.
“Somehow, someway, he’s keeping the burritos rolling,” Spadaccini said. “The people of Seminole Heights are still fed his burritos.”
Spadaccini said he’s organizing a fundraiser for Valenzuela in his courtyard with a brewery, a DJ and live music. A date has not yet been set.
“Have Rene in the back cranking out some tacos and just a… good old hangout,” he said. “Raise some money to help support his staff that have been displaced with work and, kind of just raise awareness, let people know what we’re doing for Rene and how we can get Rene back up on his feet.”
Valenzuela said he hopes to reopen Rene’s Mexican Kitchen in the same Ybor City location.
“We want to stay in the community,” he said. “Contribute and continue being part of it.”
Valenzuela said the owner of Station House BBQ, Anthony Fonseca, has allowed him to use a spare kitchen to keep his catering business going. Valenzuela also has a food truck on W. Waters Avenue in Tampa.
Before launching Rene’s Mexican Kitchen, Valenzuela was the original founder of Taco Bus.
