At the Bathhouse on Queenstown Bay owners Karen Brown and Dave Ness had erected a "gang plank" for its customers to access the historic building and were taking the flood in their stride.
"We're still here and people are supporting us.
"We're calling for new names - the Boathouse, Titanic 2 or the Flood Room [have been suggested].
"We'll go down with the ship - when the band's playing, we're all still here partying and drinking wine," Mr Ness said.
The building was badly affected in the 1999 floods and was later lifted 500mm.
"If it hadn't been lifted, we would be flooded right now."
Even though water was surrounding the restaurant - up to about calf-height in the reserve between The Bathhouse and the Novotel Queenstown Lakeside - and had begun to flood its underground cellar, staff remained optimistic.
"I think we've seen the worst of it."
Steamer Wharf's Pub on Wharf manager Chris Buckley said all the furniture was moved out of the premises on Thursday night but some was moved back yesterday morning so the restaurant and bar could trade.
Minami Jujisei Japanese restaurant owner Koji Honda said he was going to try to stay open as much as possible. He had removed furniture and sandbagged the doorways in case of flooding on Thursday night but was moving some back in order to reopen yesterday.
Beach St camera shop Positive Image owner Trudi McKay said staff cleared most of the stock out of the shop on Wednesday, and the entrance was well sandbagged. Some heavy equipment was kept in the shop but wrapped in plastic and put on pallets to try to keep it dry in the event of flooding.
Some staff had been brought in to work in her other Camp St store, while others occupied their time moving stock and cleaning.
David Anderson, owner of Anderson Outfitters, on Beach St, said he had moved all his stock up to the second floor of the shop.
"We moved here last year and made sure our shelves were modular so it would be simple to get out quickly. I had a feeling a 100-year flood was going to come quicker than 100 years."
