Up for lease? Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ in Buda might be on the market, report says

It appears Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ in Buda is up for lease. This is the latest development for the restaurant, which has faced allegations of workplace misconduct and temporarily closed less than a year after opening a brick-and-mortar location .

Multiple reports indicate that former employees allege late or missing payments, bounced checks and poor working conditions, prompting an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Austin Business Journal recently reported that a red "For lease" sign had appeared in the window of Valentina's at Buda Mill & Grain Co., 308 S. Main St. Dave Van Heuven with ISO Commercial, the real estate firm that listed the property, said he could not confirm whether the property was up for lease but that more details would be released soon.

Modesty and Miguel Vidal, the restaurant's owners, announced April 25 that they would be temporarily closing their restaurant to transition to new management. The announcement came two days before an Austin Business Journal investigation found that owners owe at least $2.3 million in debt.

"We want to thank you for your loyalty," the Vidals wrote in a Facebook post at the time. "If you have come by over the last year and didn’t have a great experience, we hope that you give us another chance. We KNOW we can do much better going forward."

More: Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ in Buda temporarily closes, says shifting to new management

The Vidals set a date of May 8 to reopen, but they missed that date. Modesty Vidal did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Valentina’s came under intense scrutiny last year when an anonymous person on Reddit accused the business of stealing workers’ tips and posted a photo of what the person said was Valentina’s policy paper regarding work and tips.  Several of the anonymous commenters on the post, which received more than 500 comments, described a mismanaged operation with bad working conditions.

When the Vidals opened the Buda restaurant, they said they had hired a group of high school students who are friends with the couple's son.

The Vidals moved to Buda from South Austin in 2020, and Modesty Vidal said when they opened the new restaurant that they were excited to be part of the growing community in the small town, which "has been behind us 1,000%." They permanently closed their trailer to focus completely on the new restaurant.

Statesman staff writer Matthew Odam contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Up for lease? Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ in Buda might be on the market, report says