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Though it was a Chinese restaurant, it’s known as a Jewish institution in North York.

Sea-Hi Famous Chinese Restaurant, one of Toronto’s most iconic chop suey houses, is closing after 59 years in the Bathurst St. and Hwy. 401 area. When the owners of the restaurant announced on Facebook its last day was Feb. 29, the outpouring of support from the community encouraged them to negotiate an extra week extension with their landlord.

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The restaurant is now set to close on March 8.

“Every teacher and manager in the private school that was Jewish would say they’d been going to Sea-Hi since they were a child and their grandparents took them there and that’s how they were introduced to it as a Sunday gathering spot,” said owner Stanley Chui’s daughter, Melanie.

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The closure is for a couple of reasons — the landlord wants to turn the property into a retail store and her father, now 69, is ready to retire. His five grown children all have their own careers and none are too keen to take over the time-consuming family business.