Cinco de Mayo celebrations back in Colorado Springs
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO)- Around this time last year, most local restaurants were on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but with restaurants slowly going back to normality and being granted full capacity, things will look very different this Cinco de Mayo.
Cinco de Mayo means Fifth of May in Spanish and it commemorates the Mexican Army's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla.
Many celebrations are expected throughout Southern Colorado, including Colorado Springs.
Downtown Colorado Springs is expected to be busy Wednesday night. Restaurants say they plan on bringing in the fun, running around, and stocking up on tequila and food for the big bash.
"We're making a Cinco de Mayo kit, it is going to have salsa, cucumber salad, margarita," said Lexy Sostheim the general manager at Dos Santos in Colorado Springs.
After last year's less than ideal celebration, this year they are expecting a crowd.
"We are expecting a really big outcome because it is the first year coming in after the pandemic so we are prepping, we are doing a lot of to-go kits too," said Sostheim.
Preparing for their in-house celebration and for those who chose to celebrate at home hoping their sales this year skyrocket.
"I definitely think that a lot of people are in that mentality of ready to live life and I do think we are going to see a positive outcome for sales as well," said Sostheim.
For Jose Muldoons, also located downtown, it has been a long year.
"It has been a long hard year with minimal capacity and going through the two shutdowns we had, so we are excited to see the first bigger holiday for us," said Eric Janssen, the general manager at Jose Muldoons.
They're even expecting more traffic this Cinco de Mayo than they've seen in the last couple of years.
"People have just been cooped up for a long time and are just ready to be out and they have not been out for any major holidays so I think people are just ready," said Janssen.
While both of these restaurants are expecting big crowds they look to do their best to celebrate safely.
"We are requiring masks, following CDC guidelines, sanitizing, employees wearing masks, sticking with current standards," said Sostheim.
