A San Francisco restaurant has apologized after refusing to serve three uniformed and armed city police officers on Friday. “We made a mistake and apologize for the unfortunate incident,” eatery Hilda and Jesse’s co-owners wrote in a statement posted to Instagram on Sunday afternoon. The statement acknowledged “all members of the force who work hard to keep us safe, especially during these challenging times.”

The co-owners, Kristina Compton and Rachel Sillcocks, had previously announced on Saturday that their staff had felt “uncomfortable” with the presence of weapons in the restaurant, which they called “a safe space.” The officers were “politely asked” to leave, Compton and Sillcocks said. The refusal of service was not a “political statement,” according to the pair, who added that they welcomed officers who were “off duty, out of uniform, and without their weapons.”

The initial news sparked a flurry of negative 1-star reviews and harsh criticism from social media users. San Francisco Police Chief William Scott responded to the incident on Twitter on Saturday night, calling it “discouraging and personally disappointing.”