WAITE PARK — When the swollen Sauk River spilled into Anton's Restaurant in April 1997, staff predicted it would be a rare event. The last time the river was higher than the 8.7-foot crest recorded in 1997 was three decades prior, when the river rose to its all-time high of 10.7 feet in 1965.
So when the restaurant reopened in 1997, staff gave away small bottles of floodwater as souvenirs to loyal patrons — a campy reminder of the historic event.
But floodwaters returned in 2001 and 2009, and flooding seems to be becoming more frequent. In 2019, a few dozen customers had be evacuated by boat during a flash flood, and the beloved eatery has had to close in each of the past two years due to flooding.
This year, the Sauk River crested at its fourth-highest recorded level of 8.13 feet on April 16. Staff closed the restaurant two days prior — scrambling to carry tables and chairs to higher ground before about 6 inches of water seeped into the 100-year-old building.
"I do think it's going to happen more often. It's a conversation that comes up daily now within our family," said Patty Gaetz, co-owner and wife of David Gaetz, who runs the restaurant with his three sisters Nancy, Betzy and Toni. "So even if the river still floods, how do we keep our building dry?"
The siblings' parents, Anton and Lorraine Gaetz, bought the iconic Waite Park restaurant in the early 1970s. It opened as a speakeasy called Bricky's during Prohibition, Gaetz said.
"Cy [Brick] built Bricky's to basically bootleg rum out of here," she said. "With the river being so close, it was a great spot."
That history gives Anton's its quaint supper club charm. Anton and Lorraine Gaetz, who both have since passed, built the main bar and dining area in the site's original cabin and the décor of covered-wagon booths and kitschy signage honors the building's history.
Patty Gaetz said they are trying to dispel the rumor the restaurant floods every year.
"In between '09 and '19, it was business as usual, and we just kept going," said Gaetz, who said they don't know why flooding is more frequent but guess it could be from wetter winters or fewer trees on the riverbanks upstream.
Gaetz said the owners do not carry flood insurance because it's too expensive and doesn't help cover loss of wages, products or business.
"So all of our cleanup is out of pocket. We have money set aside for that," she said. "Some people ask me, 'Why don't you just move?' Well, Anton's in a strip mall just wouldn't be the same."
Before Anton's could reopen Friday afternoon, the building had to undergo extensive cleaning and get the OK from health and building inspectors, which it received earlier in the week.
"Everything had to be power-washed — from the top of the ceilings to the bottom of the floors. Every dish and everything that gets touched by a customer — every fork, every coffee spoon, everything — has to be rewashed. All of our pop lines were pulled and we reattached all new lines," Gaetz said.
On midday Friday, water still saturated the grass outside the restaurant, and ducks floated in a pond covering part of the parking lot. But the atmosphere inside the restaurant was buzzing as staff started preparing for the dinner rush.
"Our staff is our family and after those couple of years [of the pandemic], I don't think they deserve to go through anything like that again," Gaetz said. "So even this two weeks has been devastating."
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