Restaurants The restaurant will close for good on Nov. 2. Eggs benedict at Chach Restaurant in Provincetown. Chach Restaurant

Viola “Chach” Briseño and Sharon Bowes have been feeding Provincetown for 21 years, making everything from scratch.

This week, the owners announced on Facebook that Chach Restaurant will close for good on Nov. 2.

“We just decided, for us, it was time to close,” Briseño said. “We’re in our 60s and it’s a pretty brutal operation. It is just a lot of work. And we’re very busy here. It is a tremendous amount to do ourselves.”

The women, who have been together for 32 years, opened Chach Restaurant in 2005, a chef-owned take on a classic diner with upscale comfort food.

“We make everything from scratch,” Briseño said. “We have darn good food.”

Chach serves breakfast and lunch five days a week in the 52-seat restaurant on Shank Painter Road. The closing announcement triggered an outpouring of love in the form of nearly 150 customer comments.

“Very very sad news, and it’ll be an enormous loss for the authentic Provincetown culinary scene,” wrote one commenter on Facebook.

“Thank you for many years of incredible meals!” wrote another.

“I was very overwhelmed with what I saw and read,” Bowes said. “It was really heartwarming.”

The exterior of Chach Restaurant.

Chach has been named among the most popular restaurants in Provincetown, and Frommer’s describes it like this: “Breakfast options, like the French toast with blackberry crumble or the breakfast quesadilla, really are worth waking up for … Chach is off the beaten path a bit, but those in the know fill the place up early in season.”

The owners employ a staff of six, but all of the cooking is done by Briseño and Bowes, affectionally known as “Chach and Sharon.”

Provincetown, the seaside town on the northern tip of Cape Cod known as P-town, has been named among the 10 friendliest towns in America by Expedia and one of the best beach towns in America by Travel + Leisure. It is known for its restaurants, beaches, art galleries, nightlife, and LGBTQ community. Race Point Beach, one of six Cape Cod National Seashore beaches, has been named one of the best beaches in the U.S. by Tripavisor.

The interior of Chach Restaurant.

Running a restaurant in a busy vacation town has brought challenges, Bowes said.

“It’s not an easy place in the winter to keep your doors open,” said Bowes. “Sometimes you lose money. During the pandemic, we pivoted to Mexican takeout. We operated through our windows in the front. We did whatever we could for our community. We tried to help. We gave food, we made food, we donated things.”

“Staffing is difficult in Provincetown,” Briseño said. “Year round people are not really available anymore because of the housing crisis.”

But running a business in P-town is rewarding too, Briseño said, “Because the town is so small, we all know each other. And the friendships we’ve made.”

Homemade blueberry doughnuts at Chach Restaurant.

Bowes moved to Provincetown from Connecticut when she was 20 years old. She met Briseño in 1994 at Front Street restaurant where Briseño was working with Bowes’ sister. Briseño had just moved to Provincetown from California, where she was a cook at the legendary Stars restaurant in San Francisco founded by chef Jeremiah Tower.

“I had never heard of Provincetown and I thought, ‘Sure, why not,'” Briseño said about the move.

“Chach just kind of taught me everything I needed to know,” said Bowes, who was previously working in retail.

Bowes makes the hollandaise sauce every day, a crucial part of the restaurant’s most popular dish — Eggs benedict.

“We make it every day from scratch,” Briseño said. “We use just really good ingredients. We don’t skimp on anything. And I think that’s why people come in and order it.”

The specials menu is always a hit, and customers often ask immediately what the weekly specials are, Bowes said.

“Chach will make doughnuts, she’ll make different pastries,” said Bowes. “Our specials board is probably better than our regular menu. But it takes a lot to come in here and have it all ready.”

Chach Restaurant may be closing, but Briseño said she still wants to work.

“I don’t think I want to retire,” Briseño said. “We’re going to take a little time off and then figure it out and then maybe just relaunch ourselves in some way. My family is in California so I definitely want to see my family.”

The women live close to the restaurant and have no plans of moving, so they hope to see their patrons around town once they close.

“We’ll both miss the customers,” Briseño said. “I won’t miss the day to day grind.”

“It’s a hard business but it’s very gratifying,” Bowes said.

Chach Restaurant, 73 Shank Painter Road, Provincetown; open Friday to Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.