Sacramento Businesses Back, Bracing For Protests
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - No matter what happens this weekend, downtown Sacramento businesses -- many, just reopening this week -- are preparing to take a hit.
Business owners are getting ready for an unpredictable weekend.
Just as outdoor dining is back on the menu.
"We are so happy. I feel like we have the best table," said a diner.
Restaurants fear potential protests could be the main course.
"We will close immediately if we feel like we are in danger," said a restaurant worker.
While some customers are already planning to avoid downtown.
"We will just stay home, we live in midtown, avoid the hot spots, and hopefully the next weekend we will be back out," said a diner.
Polanco's at DOCO will stay open for now, trusting law enforcement to handle any violence that could arise.
"With the governor enacting the armed National Guard, I feel a lot safer. we have been a part of the protest before, we've seen it on J Street, they have come into doco before," said a restaurant worker.
Images of protest preparations with boarded-up business and fencing lining the perimeter of the capitol are a troubling sight for restaurants opening for the first time in a little over a month.
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Amadeu Goncalves, co-owner Darling Aviary said, "Our focus is getting stretched thin between one, trying to survive as a business, two trying to do that in a safe way, three now these protests."
Goncalves is contemplating closing Sunday as a precaution
"We have been considering a couple different things -- anything from hiring security to reducing capacity in order to just better manage the situation...it is so unpredictable and volatile," he said.
Other businesses are embracing inauguration week, planning special events.
"We have a brunch bag for inauguration," said Andrea Lepore, owner of Solomon's Delicatessen. "People still need to eat and still want to socialize, so we are here for the people that want to do that."
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is urging people to stay away from the capitol and surrounding areas this weekend.