BROOMFIELD, Colo. (KDVR) — Broomfield is the first city in the Front Range to get to inch toward Level Yellow, a milestone that businesses say they have worked very hard to get to.

“We are a small, locally owned brunch restaurant,” Brittany Bartlett, EAT! Food and Drink manager said. Just seven days ago, all of their inside tables were empty.

“COVID has been a big change for us from doing only to-go’s and deliveries to only doing outdoor dining and now being allowed to do 25% capacity,” Bartlett said.

Since the first of the year, they have gone from Level Red rules to orange and tomorrow the COVID dial will change again.

“We are very proud to say we are one of the first businesses approved to be in Level Yellow, so starting Monday, we are going to be allowed to do 50% capacity and be Level Yellow, which is super exciting to have more guests in the building,” Bartlett said.

While 50% capacity is halfway back to normal, business is not as usual.

“This is our COVID prevention book which is going to be our manual and our binder that has mitigation strategies, health and prevention and everything that we need to keep our staff safe,” Bartlett said.

This is one of a handful of restaurants that qualified for Broomfield’s 5-star variance. It requires them to follow much more strict guidelines to be able to let more customers in.

“We sanitize everything with two sanitizers, soap, and water,” Bartlett said. Certified 5-star businesses are required to have special air filters, keep tables 10 feet apart instead of six, do daily health screenings of all staff and there’s a change for customers too.

“They scan the QR code and it goes into a form which they fill out in case there would be an incident or COVID case, we can contact that guest and let them know,” Bartlett said.

They say the changes are all worth it to keep business open, staff at work and everyone safe.