Di Coates said she had been extremely worried about how she would survive during the coronavirus pandemic.

"It was very hard," she said.

"Especially when we could only have 10 people in here."

However, she said customers had been extremely patient and had gone out of their way to help keep the business afloat. "The support the locals have given us has been amazing," she said.

Mrs Coates said customers who usually dined in would happily instead order takeaways and the cafe's Tuesday night roast was more popular than ever.

"We were getting more than double the orders we usually would," she said.

"At one stage we did it two nights a week to keep up."

Mrs Coates said some customers even decided to purchase a gift voucher only to leave it at the cafe.

She said this was heartening. "We had a few customers who bought a gift card to support us and left it here to pay it forward to pay for someone else's coffee or order," Mrs Coates said.

She said it had been a tough time for the business.

But she was blessed to have loyal staff.

"We're starting to get busier and we can have more people inside and we're setting up a courtyard area out the back," Mrs Coates said.

"I think Warrnambool has a great community spirit.

"We're so grateful for all the support."

Mrs Coates said customers were also embracing increased outdoor dining in the CBD.

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