The milkshake machine whizzes quietly in the background as I take the two steps up into Leo's Non-Smoking Coffee Shop, and back in time.

Fluorescent lighting illuminates the small diner, quietly snuggled in the corner storefront of the Medical Dental building on Southwest 11th and Taylor. The diner looks like a picture of the 1950s, with teal-colored pleather booths lining the window and swinging seats around a horseshoe bar.

"Hi! Good morning! How are you? I be right with you. Right away. Right away."

Peter Chan, who owns Leo's with his wife, Jane, is the host, waiter, conversationalist and principal milkshake-maker of the diner. Jane, his quiet contemporary and "the boss," as Peter calls her, does the cooking.

They opened Leo's Coffee Shop (it garnered the addition of non-smoking in 1992) in 1984 after the birth of their son, and have been serving up American diner classics ever since.

Peter greets each guest with a newspaper, either a USA Today, The Oregonian or sometimes both, and a glass of water filled to the brim.

"Hiiiii, how are you?" he asks, placing the paper and the water in front of me.

The menu has largely stayed the same, with prices increasing a couple dollars here and there. The breakfast special, which hangs on the wall above the order window is always French toast with two pieces of bacon and coffee or tea, because Peter says he's not tall enough to change it.

He can reach high enough to change the soup of the day, though, which today happens to be chicken with rice.

Leo's is open at 6:30 a.m., serving breakfast in the mornings and lunch in the afternoons until 3:30. If it's quiet in the afternoon, Jane will make breakfast, too.

"Ready to order? I can make breakfast, too."

I order the breakfast special and a chocolate malt.

"Thank you very much. I bring right away, right away."

He walks over to the window and says to his wife, "Order, please."

***

On Friday, Feb. 28, Peter and Jane will close Leo's after 30 years of business. They are going to retire, saying that it's time and that they've been lucky to have been in business for so long.

"I hope after I retire I don't get too bored and come back," Peter says, laughing.

"Nobody keeps job for 30 years."

Peter hopes the building will take care of his restaurant, which has played host to clientele from every background over the decades. Another owner is already in talks with the building to open another "diner." It's speculated that they will be offering similar fare -- soups and sandwiches -- at slightly more upscale than Leo's.

Regulars are already expressing their well-wishes, congratulations and thanks to Peter and his wife for everything they've done over the years.

"Oh, you give me too much," Peter says about a tip a customer leaves on the counter.

"I haven't given you nearly enough, Peter," the man says in response.

***

Jane emerges from the kitchen to bring food to tables. She drops the french toast in front of me, gives me a quick smile and heads back into the kitchen. Peter comes by with a container of syrup he's been warming in hot water.

After dropping off the syrup, he goes back to making the chocolate malt. He's methodical and careful, letting the milk and ice cream blend until there's hardly a chunk of ice left. After five minutes in the blender, he stops the machine and walks over with two to-go cups and the mixing cup because Peter's milkshakes don't fit into one.

"Your right hand can share with your left hand!" he says to me.

It's common knowledge amongst Leo's regulars that Peter will never let you have the last word when saying goodbye. As each table gets up to leave, there's a chorus of thank you's and goodbyes from him.

I walk up to the register to pay my bill. Peter meets me there and begins to thank me for coming in. I say thank you again, turn around and begin walking out the door.

"Bye, bye! Thank you! Have a nice day! Thank you!" Peter calls behind me, waving from behind the register

He repeats his gratitudes to every customer until the door closes behind them.

I can even hear a muffled "Have a nice day" through the glass after I've left.

Leo's Non-Smoking Coffee Shop is located at 837 S.W. 11th Avenue.

-- Samantha Bakall