Some bars, coffee shops and restaurants in Pueblo had sparse attendance over the weekend early Monday as the uphill battle against the COVID-19 pandemic prevented regular customers from coming in.

The desertion started hitting the Steel City hard Friday after Pueblo County’s first case of the virus was confirmed and after President Donald Trump declared a national emergency.

And to make matters worse, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Monday suspended dine-in service at restaurants and they now must use take-out only.

Trump issued a guideline calling for Americans to avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people and limit discretionary travel.

"I really started noticing this last week. Especially Friday. And this morning it is definitely slow," said Mark Mares, whose family owns the Mill Stop Cafe, a popular eatery for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The small cafe sits in the shadows of the defunct towering smoke stacks that once operated at the historic CF&I Steel mill in Pueblo’s Bessemer neighborhood at 317 Baystate Ave. The place is usually jampacked.

Mares said although business was slow inside the restaurant, several patrons took advantage of the cafe’s take-out capabilities.

"We want to sell food however we can. It’s not what we are used to, but now we have to do take-out only" Mares said.

Mares said he is nervous.

"Two weeks ago, I did not know how to take it. I thought – like everybody else – that people were over-reacting and blowing it out of proportion," he said.

That’s until he started seeing that local school districts, churches and other agencies and concerts and other large gatherings were closing down.

"I am really worried about my employees," Mares said minutes after hearing the news of Polis’decision to ban dining in at restaurants.

Mares said he’s also starting to feel the pinch of people flocking to grocery stores and buying out the stock.

"My brother could not find hamburger at Sam’s Club today. Things like that get you nervous," Mares said.

"I was anticipating take-out only so I went to Sam’s again after my brother did to get take-out boxes and they are all out."

"I worry about my staff. I want to take care of them as much as I can, but there is only so much you can do."

The owner of Gypsy Javas, 119 Broadway Ave., said the weekend was fairly average in regard to customers, but Monday morning was a different story.

"We also saw a dip on Thursday and Friday when the first case was announced in Pueblo County and when the president announced a national emergency," John Collins.

"A lot of people were going to the grocery store on Friday to stock up on food and the hysteria had started then."

Angelo’s Pizza Parlor on the Pueblo Riverwalk also saw a lack of attendance over the weekend.

"It’s been slow," said Jada Massey, a manager at the popular Pueblo eatery.

Massey explained that the establishment has its own online delivery system and patrons also can use GrubHub, Delivery.com and Door Dash.

"We’ve actually had a lot of people using this. Some are asking that we leave the food at the door and to let them know that we are there," Massey said.

Collins said it will be difficult to recover, but that the community can help local businesses in that sense.

"We want people to know that they can come into the store. We can offer to run food out to them. We don’t have a drive-through, but we can go curb-side," Collins said.

"We also are going to suggest that people are certainly welcome to buy gift cards to help support our business… We have a good community that surrounds the coffee shop. This can give them a chance to come in at a later date."

Joette Ucar-Dhamo, owner of the Bistoro, 109 Central Plaza, said her business has made changes as well.

"We rely a lot on the things that happen Downtown and Memorial Hall and as they announced they were canceling performances, we started receiving cancellations in our dining room," Ucar-Dhmao said.

"We make up all of our loss on Fridays. This immediately made it real."

Before Polis’ action Monday the business had already been shifting from a full-service restaurant to utilizing carry-out and GrubHub delivery. Its servers will be running to the curb to hand off customer orders and deliveries.

"We are making limited menus and offering one-price meals. We encourage patrons who come for a unique dining experience to purchase an e-gift card, online, for themselves to use in the future," Ucar-Dhmao said.

She said she has accepted the challenge this pandemic is placing on her business.

"We must evolve quickly, and we ask you our customers, patrons, and friends to join us in tackling this problem," Ucar-Dhmao said.

Collins said he is fairly well stocked with supplies.

Collins, whose business was down 44% sales Monday, said he hopes the situation is short-lived.

"We’d like to get back to some normalcy fairly soon. I think part of the problem is that people don’t have all the information of what is going on. This is causing the hysteria right now," Collins said.

"Better and more information will help ease this."

amestas@chieftain.com

Twitter: @mestas3517