2 days ago
'A complete disaster': Cafe Hollander Wauwatosa will be closed for six weeks after flooding
On the evening of Aug. 9, the kitchen at Café Hollander 7677 W. State St., Wauwatosa, was buzzing with fired-up ovens, cooks prepping dishes and servers running up trays during the Saturday-night dinnertime rush.
Hours later, it was submerged in four feet of water.
It was the result of the two-day, 1,000-year flood that caused the Menomonee River, which flows directly alongside Café Hollander's Wauwatosa location, to rise from just under two feet to more than fives times that height in two hours.
On Aug. 11, the restaurant and bar, in the heart of the Tosa Village, announced on social media that it would be temporarily closed for an 'unexpected remodel.'
The cost of that 'remodel' could approach $1 million and six weeks of business closure.
That's according to Eric Wagner, founder and CEO of the Lowlands Group, which owns Café Hollander and its four other locations, as well as Milwaukee-area restaurants Buckatabon Tavern & Supper Club, Café Benelux and Centraal Grand Café & Tappery.
He got his first call at around 6:30 a.m. Aug. 10, when early-morning employees showed up to the restaurant.
Water had already started coming into the kitchen, which is located on the restaurant's lower level. Over the next three or four hours, he and his employees watched it swell to four feet deep.
Outside, the Menomonee River splashed over the pedestrian bridge that leads to the restaurant's outdoor patio. The water crested about four feet above Café Hollander's kitchen.
The entire lower level is almost a total loss, including cooking equipment, walk-in coolers, the manager's office, the stereo system and all the food stored in the kitchen.
'When there's pressure from the river, the water starts getting into the drywall. There was equipment floating everywhere and the electrical got all burned out,' Wagner said. 'It was a complete disaster.'
That's when we started to realize that it was going to be more of a construction project than just the cleaning project.'
The first flooding of its kind at Café Hollander
When Café Hollander opened in the Tosa Village in 2009, its proximity to the Menomonee River provided one of the area's most picturesque waterfront views.
Wagner never expected that the restaurant would see this amount of water damage. It's the first time the space has flooded in its 16 years.
'With all the investments that have been made in the retention ponds and systems here, we assumed that those issues wouldn't be there anymore,' Wagner said.
What's left now is the clean-up effort, led by Milwaukee's Sid Grinker Restoration, with plenty of help from employees and volunteers from the community.
"Even on Sunday, when we were moving furniture around, I looked up and there were just people in the community that had been down here picking up tables and umbrellas and moving chairs without being asked,' Wagner said. 'It was really cool to see.'
Hourly employees of Café Hollander's Wauwatosa location have been placed at other restaurants within the Lowland Group, with managers continuing at other locations or overseeing the cleanup.
'Our people should not be impacted much at all,' Wagner said.
Buckatabon Tavern & Supper Club will open for weekday breakfast
For those who'd like to support the business, Wagner encouraged customers to dine at any of the Lowlands Group restaurants, which all remain open.
He also hopes the community will support neighboring businesses in any way they can. That includes donating to the Wauwatosa BID's fundraiser supporting small businesses impacted by the flood. To donate, visit
'In the village or any of these other areas that got hit, I think every single one of these business owners would really appreciate people coming by to say 'hello,'' Wagner said.
And for those who will miss their weekday breakfasts at Café Hollander, sister restaurant Buckatabon Tavern & Supper Club, located next to Hollander in the Village, will extend its hours to offer breakfast beginning Aug. 15. In addition to its standard weekend brunch, Buckatabon will serve breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. Monday to Friday while Hollander is closed.
When will Cafe Hollander Wauwatosa reopen after flooding?
Café Hollander Wauwatosa will be closed for about six weeks, Wagner said, aiming for a potential reopen date of Sept. 28.
There is a possibility that its bar could reopen sooner. Wagner is working with the city of Wauwatosa to open its bar, without food service, in time for TosaFest, the annual community festival that kicks off in the village on Sept. 5.
But the time in between will be spent rebuilding, restocking and bolstering a community that's been rocked by this unprecedented flooding.
"Of course, it's an incredible business impact. But our hearts really go out to the residents and homeowners. What's happened in their basements and what they're going through has got to be incredibly challenging,' Wagner said. "We see this happen all over the country, but seeing it firsthand and the power of it was pretty scary.'
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Cafe Hollander Wauwatosa to be closed for 6 weeks due to flood damage
