New London – A Bank Street business owner is citing high operating costs and declining revenues as reasons why after an 18-year run he will not continue to operate the Hot Rod Café as a bar and restaurant.

In a Facebook post on Monday, cafe owner Rod Cornish said he decided to permanently close his 114 Bank St. business – at least in its current incarnation.

“Business has been rough since the pandemic…the business never recovered fully to be honest,” he wrote. “High property taxes, increasing food and operating expenses, high labor costs and crazy electricity costs … over $5k in August alone, all in an environment where downtown business is still very slow (our revenues are still down around 36% from pre-pandemic time) all were factors in my decision.”

Cornish shuttered the restaurant in September to conduct building maintenance and upgrade work. The building was listed for sale for $1.2 million on several commercial real estate websites.

Cornish, who opened the café in December 2005, said the property listing was made as part of an effort to see what the property was worth.

On Tuesday, sheets of paper covered the cafe’s windows, though ketchup bottles and salt shakers could be seen still sitting on the restaurant tables not far from the bar area.

Cornish, who also owns Charlie’s Place Restaurant at 26 W. Main St. in Niantic, said he is not “leaving downtown altogether, just repurposing the Hot Rod’s building away from a restaurant.”

“Y’all aren’t getting rid of me that easy,” he said in his social media post.

Cornish, whose Facebook page showed him in Cuba on Monday, described his decision as “bittersweet.”

“I am very proud of the fact that I kept many people working during and post pandemic, and never missed a payroll,” he wrote. “I love my team and our customers and I kept it going even after suffering significant losses, even paying holiday bonuses out of my pocket while waiting for the recovery that never came.”

On Tuesday, another popular downtown business, Muddy Waters Cafe, was still closed more than two months after a basement fire damaged the 40 Bank St. coffee shop. Owner David Preka could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

j.penney@theday.com