The popular retro family friendly diner on Lake Avenue in Pasadena has shut its doors for good. We tried, said the restaurant’s emotional owner, Frances Tario. It’s very sad for staff and myself but here we are.

Du-par’s

The first Du-par’s was founded in 1938 at the Los Angeles Farmers Market by James Dunn and Edward Parsons, who combined their surnames to create the restaurant’s name. The chain was purchased in 2004 by an investor group led by W.W. Biff Naylor, the son of noted California restaurateur Tiny Naylor.

The news that Du-par’s restaurant in Studio City will be closing Jan.1, after 70 years in business on Ventura Boulevard, has hit some patrons very hard. I’m in mourning, Dori Boudreau, 63, of Studio City, told the L.A. Daily News on Tuesday. It’s like your second home.

The family sold the chain in 1987 for $33 million, then went on to open Kate Mantilini in Beverly Hills. Today, that restaurant is operated by Adam and his brother. James Lauver, a waiter who worked at the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset from 1977 until it closed, then went to work at Kate Mantalini in 2011.

This restaurant is permanently closed. Hamburger Hamlet is an upscale casual dining restaurant established in 1950 by Harry and Marilyn Lewis. The restaurants were packed every night with celebrities and a city-wide reputation for Simply marvelous food and drink was soon created.

Hamburger Hamlet will close for good at 11 p.m. on Jan.3.

Marilyn Lewis Marilyn Lewis, who founded the Hamburger Hamlet chain with her husband, Harry, has died. She was 87.