Tampa Fire Department works on a fire at Rene’s Mexican Kitchen in Tampa, Florida on Sept. 30, 2026. Credit: Tiffany Haas
Rene Valenzuela is Tampa’s own phoenix; the 55-year-old chef has risen from the ashes before, and is asking for help to do it again.
The V.M. Ybor location of Rene’s Mexican Kitchen was heavily damaged in a fire last Wednesday, Sept. 30. Valenzuela has created a GoFundMe page to support reopening efforts.
Valenzuela started Rene’s Mexican Kitchen as a food truck in 2018. The business has since grown to several trucks and the brick-and-mortar V.M. Ybor location in the shadow is El Reloj at J.C. Newman Cigar Factory, opened in 2023.
A departure from the Taco Bus chain he also founded, Rene’s focuses on traditional Mexican fare, and hosts occasional prix-fixe dinners highlighting the best of Mexican cuisine.
Chef Rene Valenzuela teaches classes or hosts ticketed dinners at different venues in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Photo via Renesmexicankitchenofficial/Facebook
Like many chefs, Valenzuela has danced with fire before.
While he was preparing to open Rene’s in 2018, Valenzuela was severely burned in a gas explosion, landing him in the hospital. After that incident, he told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that the restaurant felt like a “rebirth” from the ashes of his incident and the departure from Taco Bus.
The V.M. Ybor location went up in flames while Valenzuela and employees were in the building due to an issue with the circuit breaker. Nobody was injured in the fire, but the century-old building was built before modern fire codes. It went up quickly.
After this fire, Valenzuela’s hoping for some help from the community to pay employees and restock the inventory destroyed in the fire.
“I just need a little push,” Valenzuela’s GoFundMe reads. “If you love me a little, if you want to continue seeing us around in the community, if you want to keep eating our food, and you want to help me, and my family and my employees and their families please help out. Anything you can put in the hat.”
As of Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe for Rene’s Mexican Kitchen was not yet to half of its $20,000 goal.
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This article appears in Oct. 01 – 07, 2026.
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