C&C Restaurant Owners Close Colorado Springs Location, Criticize COVID Restrictions
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) – Months after closing their Castle Rock restaurant, C&C Breakfast and Korean Kitchen announced the closure of their Colorado Springs location. In a Facebook post on Thursday night, the restaurant owners criticized restrictions imposed on businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"At what point in America did safety become more important than freedom?" owners Jesse and April Arellano stated in a Facebook post. "I don't deny the virus exists, but I don't believe it's a pandemic. We have been lied to, scared, and hurt in the name of safety."
The restaurant was embroiled in a battle with Gov. Jared Polis over the right to stay open during the pandemic. In May, video of a packed dining room at the Castle Rock location went viral.
Gov. Jared Polis ordered the restaurant to close for at least 30 days. Polis said the restaurant caused an immediate health hazard — and he was "extremely disappointed."
"I joined most Coloradans in in our frustration watching videos of people illegally packed into restaurants and thinking about all the moms and grandmothers and aunts and everyone who was put at increased risk of dying from this horrible virus," Polis stated.
Customers taped cash to the window of the business in a show of solidarity.
In July, the Arellanos closed the Castle Rock location, citing staffing restrictions and a decline in sales.
"I am sad to say that we are having issues just like many other small businesses," the Arellanos said in a Facebook post. "Not only are sales hurting because of all the restrictions, but staffing too. Unemployment is giving $600/week on top of regular unemployment, which incentivizes some people to not work, so we are short on staff."
The Colorado Springs location will close on Sunday.