Manchester San Carlo restaurant forced to temporarily close after storm drama
Sunday night's torrential rain storm in Manchester has forced the temporary closure of one of Manchester's most famous restaurants.
San Carlo on King Street was hit by a flood from the ceiling on Sunday night when the dramatic storm tore across Manchester.
Diners were still in the Italian restaurant when the flood waters first began to pour into the back of the San Carlo venue, and bosses took the decision to close early. On Monday, an announcement was put out on social media that they would not be open today "due to an unforeseen maintenance issue".
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But now bosses have begun a clean up operation on the site, and are aiming to reopen half of the restaurant to diners by 5pm on Monday. They will be erecting a temporary "wall" around the flood-affected side at the back right side of the venue while repairs are completed.
Works on the clean up are expected to take a week. But the unaffected half of the restaurant will still be able to open to guests, according to San Carlo's MD Marcello Distefano.
He told the MEN: "The water all came in through the ceiling at the back of the restaurant, there was a lot of damage. We understand there was a blocked drain in the roof which has caused it.
"We had to close a little earlier than normal on Sunday, and we're now putting a temporary wall in around the affected area while we fix the damage for the next few days. But we will be open again at 5pm on Monday."
The King Street restaurant opens 365 days a year, including Christmas Day. So it's a rare event for the restaurant to ever be forced to close - the last time it happened was during the Manchester riots in 2011.
There was widespread disruption on Sunday night as a massive storm broke in Manchester. There was chaos at Manchester Airport when a roof began to leak at Terminal One, while at Old Trafford torrential rain sparked a rush of rain from a leaking roof.