Coronavirus: Customers pack Colorado restaurant on Mother’s Day against state orders

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced the suspension in a press conference Monday.

Original Story:  Customers crowded a Colorado restaurant that had opened dine-in service defying a state order limiting restaurants to only takeout and delivery options.

Gov. Jared Polis' office decried the conduct by C&C Coffee and Kitchen in Castle Rock, calling it illegal and dangerous, The Denver Post reported.

“These restaurants are not only breaking the law, they are endangering the lives of their staff, customers, and community,” Shelby Wieman, Polis’ deputy press secretary, said in a statement. “Under Safer at Home, restaurants, food courts, cafes, coffeehouses and other similar places of public accommodation offering food or beverage for on-premises consumption are still closed. Delivery and drive-up service is available. Coloradans can contact their local public health department if they believe someone is violating Safer at Home.”

Customers who arrived to pick up their orders were surprised to see the dining room filled with people.

"I wasn't even going to eat the food even if I had gotten it," customer Nick Whitehill, who posted images of the restaurant on social media, told the Post. "I walked in, took the picture and turned right around."

April Arellano, owner of C&C Coffee and Kitchen, did not comment to the Post. She did make several posts on social media saying she reopened, “for America, small businesses, the Constitution and against the overreach of our governor in Colorado!”

She also posted a video showing the crowded restaurant.

“So much for some of those people saying nobody would show up,” she said in the video. “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the support, guys. I got to get back to work.”

There are 19,595 confirmed cases and 969 deaths from the coronavirus in Colorado, according to The New York Times.