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El Dorado Restaurant Defying Stay-At-Home Order Sees Outpouring Of Support On First Day Back Open

EL DORADO COUNTY (CBS13) — Defying the order, an El Dorado small business has set the table for a standoff over the extended stay-at-home guidelines.

The phone was ringing off the hook at Cafe El Dorado on Friday morning.

"We are getting a lot of positive feedback," an employee said. "It could be crazy."
As word got out the restaurant was reopening, people came from near and far.

"It was pretty sad, that's why we came up here to support her," customer Steve Wyckoff said.

Steve and Diana Wycoff drove up from the Pocket area in Sacramento hungry to help.

"We think California needs to open up. Enough is enough. We are glad she put her foot down," Diana said.

Jim Scarr has also gotten his fill of the statewide shutdown. He says sales at his Sacramento business are down 70 percent.

"It is time to reopen for sure. We flattened the curve, we haven't overwhelmed the hospitals, that's what we were told in the beginning," Scarr said. "We can't crush the economy."

Outside, car after car pulled up.

"I do not usually take all my kids to breakfast, that's really not my idea of fun. But I want to support this small business," one woman with four kids said.

Some of the people who came and walked through the door on Friday said sitting down at a table to eat was like going on vacation- a vacation with old friends.

"I kinda joke we are all curmudgeons. We sit here and talk about days gone by. We are kinda like family," Dudley Dussau said.

Diana said she hopes other businesses follow suit with Cafe El Dorado and reopen.

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