Kid Rock loves Donald Trump — he has made this clear over the years. Now, as the president continues to crack down on immigration, the kitchen of Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse is closing to avoid ICE raids.
The Nashville establishment is owned by the Trump supporter Steve Smith, who owns many bars in the city and profits off of the labor of undocumented workers. An anonymous employee told the Scene:
We were already understaffed because of the ICE raids throughout the weekend. Then, around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, our manager came back and told anyone without legal status to go home. Events at the Ryman, Ascend, the Savannah Bananas' baseball game all let out, and it was crazy busy. But there was no one in the kitchen to cook the food.
Subsequently, at least three kitchens of Smith's locations have closed, including Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse. During the pandemic, after the mayor asked bars to close down and restaurants to reduce service to 50%, Smith refused, saying it was “unconstitutional.”
UPDATE: Kid Rock responds...
Clearly I do not have anything to do with day to day operations at my Honky Tonk - but it’s good click bait, I get it. That being said I 100% support getting illegal criminals out of our country no matter where they are. I also like President Trump want to speed up the process of getting GREAT immigrants into our country - LEGALLY!
It's that simple folks. But the below is not a juicy enough headline to get clicks and views.. in this day and age the truth often is not. 🤷♂️
Clearly I do not have anything to do with day to day operations at my Honky Tonk - but it’s good click bait, I get it. That being said I 100% support getting illegal criminals out of our country no matter where they are. I also like President Trump want to speed up the process of… https://t.co/1M0dn8rhLu
— KidRock (@KidRock) May 19, 2025
