Bars missing out on Cinco de Mayo crowds due to coronavirus pandemic

ORLANDO, Fla. - Cinco de Mayo is Tuesday and is traditionally a big holiday for bars and nightclubs, but the coronavirus pandemic has dealt those establishments another blow.

"I miss all the people that we get to hang out with, that's the biggest part," said Chris Rock, co-owner of Rockpit Brewing in Orlando.

It's now his second major celebration canceled this year, following St. Patrick's Day.

"It was a significant revenue loss," said Rock. "We had everything planned out, we were ready to just go after it hard, we had them serving food we had a food truck outside, we had a band all lined up. This place was decked out ready to go, and Monday morning we get the news,"

These holidays are some of their biggest business days of the year, but now they’re having to get creative to try to make up for all the lost revenue, like selling canned beer to go, which is a little more costly for the brewing company.

"This whole time that we've been open now, our costs have increased significantly, and our revenue's down, so it squeezes the amount of money that we have," he explains.

Rock says they were lucky enough to get the bridge loan to help pay employees.

"They rely on this for their livelihood and we're taking care of them," he added, "but all the events since March have been wiped out."

Rock says he hope they will soon be able to open and operate at full capacity.