‘It’s been here forever’

In the warm afternoon sunlight, Kim Moss stood at the door of the Costa Mesa Omelette Parlor recalling the time when she brought her 3-year-old son, Nick, and his grandfather, Frank, to the beloved restaurant.

Now Nick is 30, and the place he grew up with will not longer be there.

“We are sad, we’re all sad to see the place close,” said Moss, who worked there as a waitress for years and will have to look for another job.

Vons, which owns the shopping center at 179 E. 17th St., home of the Omelette Parlor for 27 years, served the eatery with a 30-day notice to vacate, said Omelette Parlor owner Susan Adkins.

On the business’ official Facebook page, a posting was left Saturday announcing the news to customers.

It said, in part, “Bad news all Omelettarians! Vons [has] served us our 30-day notice to vacate ... We don’t have a new location yet, so get everyone you know to join our page so they can be updated as things progress.”

The parlor has about 25 employees, and each will be laid off, Moss said.

Fellow waitress Kara English grew up going to the parlor.

“It’s been here forever,” she said. “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid. It’s going to be missed. People around here that grew up here know about the parlor.”

The parlor isn’t the only place that was served a 30-day notice. The hair and nail salon next door also received the letter.

No one at the Vons store was available to speak Wednesday. The grocer plans to remodel the shopping center.

Since the announcement on Facebook, dozens have left messages, some recalling the good times they spent with family and friends at the parlor, some hoping a new one would open soon and some shocked, in disbelief.