MIDLAND, Texas — "Oh yeah like every year people come and enjoy beer and margaritas. You know it’s typically people like to come and drink on Cinco de Mayo. They love margaritas,” Monserrath Saucedo, manager of Chito's said.
It's not like people couldn't go out and celebrate this year because of COVID-19. They could still enjoy a cold drink inside their favorite restaurant. It just looked different than in past years.
"We only have a limit of 25% of customers to come in. We'll only count the people. We try to do things like social distancing, and we try our best just to keep our 25% inside. After that we explain it to [others] that they can’t come in and we are already have the 25% inside and they understand,” Saucedo said.
Because of the lack of business operations, a huge dent has been put in Chito's profits these past few months.
"It’s been not that good, not that great. We’ve been losing around 80% of our business, but still we’re here for them no matter what, we’re gonna be here," Saucedo said.
Just as other businesses are doing during times like this, Chito's will take whatever business they can get while following the rules set by Governor Abbott.
"We try to follow the rules, and we try to be safe. Our employees are the first priority for us, to keep the employees healthy so they can be keep the people coming back, keep the people coming and enjoy it. It’s kind of hard times for everybody I think, but everything‘s gonna be better soon," Saucedo said.
And while Chito's may have been operating at 25 percent capacity today, the restaurant was still pretty busy during dinner hours. Around 6:30 p.m. a line began to form outside the restaurant as people waited to enjoy dine-in service.
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