DENVER — For many restaurants surrounding Coors Field, opening day means a lot more than the start of baseball. It’s a boost in business, morale and the beginning of a new chapter.
For Jeremy Williamson, the owner of Ballpark Vienna Beef, opening day came at just the right time.
"We’ve made more in the first five minutes than all of last week so, yeah, I’m happy man," Williamson said.
For the last year, like many businesses across Denver, it’s been a struggle to stay afloat.
"It was like a long, quiet year. It was really slow. We had a homeless encampment out here and stuff. It’s just good to be back. It kind of feels like we’re alive again," Williamson said.
Even for people who don’t plan on going inside Coors Field, it’s all about the environment and living a moment unlike anything we’ve seen in the last year.
"I think it is like turning the corner where things are going to go back to normal, and this is the first step, and summer is coming. Its just hope and just a whole new outlook on good stuff coming instead of being stuck in your home," Jill Lindgren said.
Down on Blake Street, The Cherry Cricket Ballpark is also seeing an increase in customers.
"I would say today is one of the busiest days. We’ve progressively seen an increase in sales and guest counts, and time has gone by, but today is definitely busier than it has been," said Samantha Taxin, the general manager of The Cherry Cricket Ballpark.
When it comes to people wearing masks around the stadium, its been a mixed bag. But when people walk inside The Cherry Cricket, Taxin says they’re not loosening up on any restrictions.
"There’s absolutely no loosening on any precautions. We’re still doing all the high wiping every 15 minutes and making sure services are clean with the peroxide and everything. We’re taking extra precautions," Taxin said.
Because although opening day is a great start, the goal is keep this momentum going for the long season ahead.
