Local restaurants overwhelmed by Cinco de Mayo crowds, law enforcement reinforces social distancing directions

CAPITAL REGION, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Cinco de Mayo and Taco Tuesday all rolled into one this year and Mexican restaurants across the Capital Region were absolutely swamped with customers. NEWS10 observed long lines and some customers overcrowding in front of Margarita City and La Fiesta around the dinner-time rush.

“It was a little overwhelming. Yesterday so many people came at once, and it was a shock to us,” explains Leah Duell, head of PR and marketing for Margarita City.

The family-owned local staple had been planning for the holiday rush during the health crisis for weeks.

“Our main focus wasn’t on how many people we could get in at once, it was about having everyone be able to celebrate a day that’s so important in the Latino Mexican community,” explains Duell to NEWS10’s Mikhaela Singleton.

Duell says all the best laid plans for social distancing and takeout started to crack when the floods of customers crashed their online ordering system.

“No matter how much we thought we prepared, it was like the universe sent us a curve ball,” she says.

Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says although neither his office nor local police are in the business of punishing people for not following social distancing orders, they were out trying to spread the word and spread people out.

“As our patrols are still out there, if we see a gathering, if they are not masked, we try to stop them, educate them, hand out masks and ask them to please follow and adhere to the social distancing guidelines,” Sheriff Apple says.

He also reminds restaurants it’s their responsibility to come up with their own plans to follow health department directions.

“You need to be able to monitor the social distancing and make sure that your patrons that are coming in are monitoring it. You know, there’s crowds getting into restaurants. There’s no reason for more than a few people at a time to be in the restaurant. The rest can be out in their cars,” he suggests.

Margarita City staff are working on reminding their customers of their coronavirus response plans so that everyone can come back and feel safe doing so.

“With this whole crisis kind of going on, we want people to know that we are there for them, we are there as a family. Their concerns and their needs are understood and we hear them,” Duell says.