SAN ANGELO, TX — Downtown San Angelo celebrated its re-opening Saturday with an all-day event starting at 11 a.m. By all reports, the celebration was a success.
At Stango’s Coffee House, 221 S. Chadbourne S., the restaurant saw a steady stream of customers all day long. Steve Stango, proprietor, said this was the best day for sales since the pandemic began.
“I was actually pretty scared the first 15 days or so of the shutdown,” Stango said. He is approaching the age group where a COVID-19 infection could severely impact his health. But as the days waned on, his concern shifted from his personal health to the health of his business instead.
“We had no sales; we were shut down,” Stango lamented.
Saturday, Stango was giving away free cups of Italian gelato, “Since we don’t have any live music today,” he said.
“Here, try the coconut. It’s the best flavor,” Stango suggested.
The Chadbourne Tavern down the street at 115 S. Chadbourne St. featured the local band 3 Lock Box. Owner Fernando Fuentez positioned the band facing the street from the bar’s second story balcony. The sounds filled the street below with music like The Doobie Brothers' “Long Train Runnin.’” Inside, patrons were filing in sitting at every other table, keeping their distance.
Miss Hattie’s Restaurant Cathouse Bar and Lounge, 26 E. Concho Ave., featured Manny Campos on the keyboard and vocals. A good-sized crowd had gathered in the back bar area to visit and the drinks were flowing. We caught Mayor Brenda Gunter, proprietor, returning from the grocery store. She had gone to buy more mushrooms for her popular appetizer featuring stuffed mushrooms.
The Casual Pint was again back in business. Small crowds mingled around downstairs and upstairs drinking the wide selection of craft beers. In the back, the 1980s arcade was alive with favorite games like Pac Man and Galaga. They don’t have Defender yet, but the head of gaming promised he was looking for one.
Up and down the street, car enthusiasts drove their restored cars and hotrods. Motorcycle clubs drove into downtown, too. Passers-by were welcome to take a closer look at the vehicles.
The event was organized by Downtown San Angelo, Inc., the non-profit two-person agency that promotes downtown San Angelo. The idea for the event began nearly six weeks ago during the darkest days of the pandemic response. Director Del Velasquez wanted to make a statement like “downtown is back” to spur sales for merchants, restauranteurs, and bar owners.
“We had to wait until Gov. Abbott opened the bars, if only just a little. Nightlife is a huge part of the downtown experience,” he said.
That kept Velasquez and assistant director Monica Ramos on their toes choosing the right date. The weekend after Memorial Day was chosen based on the re-opening declarations from the state just 6 days prior.
The day was kicked off with a mass email to 11,500 San Angelo LIVE! email subscribers coupled with social media announcements early Saturday morning. At 11 a.m., Manny Diaz accompanied by Media Advantage’s Andi Markee and Chrys Forbes live on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter for a two-hour talk show that dove deep into downtown businesses with interviews. The show was sponsored by A-B Distributing with Atmos Energy, Texas Pacifico, and Food King sponsoring segments. The show reached 8,000 people. Watch it here.
Live music kicked off at 16 locations throughout downtown at 3 p.m. featuring 16 different local musicians.
Signs Now provided free “Heart of the City” fans, given away to just about everyone to keep cool. The fans were shaped like hearts with “Heart of San Angelo” logo designed by John Basquez emblazoned on them. Stemmed Designs gave away single flowers to patrons of several stores.
Activity around downtown between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. was over 2,000 people, Velasquez estimated. We visited 6 shops and restaurants and all proprietors agreed it was a pretty big day for sales.
Stango upped the ante and said this was the biggest day of 2020 for sales at his coffee shop.
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