A recent takeover-style robbery at a St. Paul restaurant was traumatic, but now community members want to show they’re not afraid — and how much they support the business.

People in the St. Paul Town Hall Facebook group are organizing a gathering at El Burrito Mercado for Taco Tuesday and it’s open to the community.

“We wanted to do something to help shed a light on that business because they’ve been so great for the community and to remind people it’s such a welcoming place to be,” said Amanda Karls, one of the administrators of St. Paul Town Hall.

Police said they continue to investigate the Jan. 17 evening robbery at the restaurant on Cesar Chavez and State streets. Two masked gunmen stole money from the cash registers, along with wallets and cell phones of customers.

El Burrito Mercado had a trauma counselor come in to help employees, who are “physically fine, but dealing with the trauma of what happened,” said Analita Silva, an owner of the popular restaurant. They also had a meeting with other business owners in the area, along with city and community leaders, and police to talk about “what can we do to prevent things like this from happening,” Silva said.

Community in unity! Today Saint Paul Police Department Boca Chica Restaurante y Cantina Milly's Bakery Rodriguez Auto… Posted by EL BURRITO MERCADO on Friday, January 24, 2020

“The meeting ended on a positive note: DON’T MESS WITH THE WESTSIDE!,” the restaurant posted on its Facebook page.

Police put up a mobile surveillance camera near El Burrito Mercado after the robbery “as a deterrent and to provide a sense of security to people living, working and visiting the area,” said Sgt. Mike Ernster, a St. Paul police spokesman.

Business at the restaurant has been good, with people saying they want to come out to support them, Silva said.

Mayor Melvin Carter, who regularly dines at El Burrito Mercado, went there for lunch in the days after the robbery and talked with one of the owners, according to his communications director.

Lindsay Ferris Martin, who is helping spread the word about Tuesday’s “Gather4Good” event at El Burrito Mercado, said fellow West Side residents have been concerned about the robbery and other recent cases in the area, including a shooting that wounded a 14-year-old girl at Cesar Chavez and Robert streets on Jan. 26; a 14-year-old boy is charged with assault.

Two days before El Burrito Mercado was robbed, there was an armed robbery at a Holiday gas station about two miles away on Dodd Road, near Smith Avenue.

Based on initial information, the gunman doesn’t appear to match the suspects from the restaurant robbery, said West St. Paul Police Lt. Matt Swenke.

A case that was initially dispatched as a robbery in the parking lot at the Holiday station at Plato Boulevard and Wabasha Street on Jan. 19 turned out to be a theft from someone’s vehicle by a person whom the victim knows, Ernster said.

“People are feeling afraid and hopeless, and they’re craving anything that might propel us away from that,” Ferris Martin said. “One thing we can do is the opposite of what the bad guys want — we can get out of our houses and gather together. This is our community coming together to take back our community and support our local businesses that we need.”