After seven years of operation, Brocach restaurant on Monroe Street has officially closed.

The restaurant closed temporarily after Memorial Day, citing the impact of major construction on Monroe Street, and planned to open after Labor Day. Business had slowed down in March and April, said co-owner Melanie Gautreau, but when construction kicked up in May, it became a “ghost town.”

“Once May hit, it went south really fast for us,” Gautreau said.

Business contracted by over 50 percent, she said, and that’s particularly hard on front-of-house staff who make the bulk of their money on tips. There were weeks when the restaurant's sidewalk was inaccessible, she said.

“It was more expensive to open the doors then it was to close them. That’s when you know it was the right decision to make,” she said.

They planned to re-open, but the loss of revenue, plus severe rains in August, made that impossible, Gautreau said.

“It was literally like the floodgates opened in the basement,” she said.

The restaurant’s prep kitchen is in the basement, and while Brocach was trying to prepare for reopening, with each rain staff had to remove “gallons and gallons” of water and sewage.