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. It’s a place that’s stable. How many things are stable, that you can count on? I can count on Du-par’s.”

She came in Tuesday for a late lunch of French toast, one of Du-par’s signature dishes. Bob Kertesz, 68, of Hollywood, dropped by earlier for the same meal.

“The French toast — first of all the bread is spectacular,” he enthused. “I think they make it themselves. And they dip it in eggs and there’s the real maple syrup. The whole experience is just very visceral.”

Michelle Mellon serves customers at Du-par’s in Studio City on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Du-par’s, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. "A piece of me is dying,"; says Mellon, who usually works the graveyard shift, about the closure and says she could write a book on what takes place at night at the restaurant. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Jonny Ackles and his wife Carson Weed have lunch at Du-par';s in Studio City on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017 to find out if it was really closing. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

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Du-par's in Studio City, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Michelle Mellon serves customers at Du-par's in Studio City on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. "A piece of me is dying," says Mellon, who usually works the graveyard shift, about the closure and says she could write a book on what takes place at night at the restaurant. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)



Isabel Gutierrez, who has worked 15 years at Du-par's, rings up a customer at the Studio City restaurant on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Actor John Wesley waits outside of Du-par's in Studio City for a car service after a meeting with producer Gerry Pass on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017, at the restaurant. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Bob Wilt and his wife Marsha Sandusky, of Sun City West, Arizona, enter Du-par’s in Studio City on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. "We use to date here until I made a bad decision to break up with her" says Wilt. "She gave me a second chance 16 years ago. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Bob Wilt and his wife Marsha Sandusky, of Sun City West, Arizona, enter Du-par's in Studio City on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. “We use to date here…until I made a bad decision to break up with her,” says Wilt. “She gave me a second chance 16 years ago.” (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

"I count on Du-par's. I can have my comfort food and count on it being open," says Dori Boudreau, a social scientist, about the Studio City restaurant closing as waitress Michelle Mellon passes. “We’re talking about money and greed. It’s very sad." Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)



David Sparks, whose folks took him to Du-par's every Sunday for breakfast as a teen, laments the upcoming closure of the restaurant's Studio City location on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Frank Demartini, Candance Camper and Andrew Reeder have lunch at Du-par's in Studio City on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2017. Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. Demartini and Camper both plan to run for Congresswoman Maxine Waters seat. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Du-par's, opened since 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing their lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

Du-par's, which opened in 1948 at the Valley location, is closing on Jan. 2, 2018 after losing its lease. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

He didn’t realize the Studio City Du-par’s would soon close until a reporter broke the news.

“You’ve cut me to the quick,” he admitted.

The location will reopen as a Sephora cosmetics store after a complete renovation. Former owner W.W. “Biff” Naylor, who serves as a consultant to the current owners, said the restaurant was thriving, but management couldn’t work out a new lease agreement with the building’s landlords.

“It was not our decision,” he acknowledged. “The landlords decided to go with Sephora… I don’t fault them. Disappointed? Yes. Very disappointed. More so for the crew, from dishwashers and busboys to waitresses and cooks and management and ownership. It’s just been an unbelievable array of very talented people over a long period of time that allowed it to survive.”

“Oh, thank god. We need another one of those. We can always eat the lipstick.” — Du-par’s customer Bob Kertesz on news the longtime diner would be replaced by a cosmetics shop

The decision to close saddened waitress Michelle Mellon, who said she’s worked at the Studio City restaurant for seven years.

“I feel like part of me is dying,” Mellon said. “I’m very emotional.”

Hostess Taniya Stephenson fielded a call from a customer distraught over the closure, admitting she had “done the crying thing” earlier.

“It’s like I’m leaving friends,” she said, but added there’s an upside. “Honestly, I could do with a break. I’m not lying. I would take three months.”

Naylor said the owners are trying to find a location nearby for a new Du-par’s. He said current employees will be offered jobs at the new venue if and when it opens. The two other Los Angeles-area Du-par’s — at the Farmer’s Market on West 3rd Street and in Pasadena — will remain open, offering breakfast, lunch and dinner around the clock (the Du-par’s name is licensed to an additional location at the Suncoast Casino in Las Vegas).

The Studio City locale has been attracting patron Matt McFadden, 60, of Eagle Rock, since 1979. He came in Tuesday for coffee and a slice of chocolate cream pie.

“Their strawberry cream pie is the best but they didn’t have that today. It’s a little out of season,” he explained. “I’ve always had good feelings about this place. Whenever I can I come here.”

That sentiment was shared by Jonny Ackles, 45 and Carson Weed, 46, regulars to Du-par’s who live in Hollywood.

“They treat you like real people and you don’t get that often,” Ackles said of the restaurant staff.

“Even if they just call you ‘hon,’” Weed added. “I’m so sad. It’s sad.”

Boudreau, a regular since 2000, called the closing of the Du-par’s a sign of the times for Studio City.

“They’ve already gentrified the area. Now they’re super-doing it,” she observed. “How many affordable places to eat do we have left in Studio City? It’s crazy.”

She said part of the appeal of the restaurant was its celebrity clientele. “The Price Is Right” host Drew Carey stopped by for lunch on Tuesday.

“About a year ago, (Jerry) Seinfeld was here,” Boudreaux shared. “You never know who’s going to walk in the door. There’s always a suspense. Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be Mark Harmon? He’s a babe.”

Kertesz sighed over the prospect of a Sephora taking over the Du-par’s spot.

“Oh, thank god. We need another one of those,” he said, dripping irony. “We can always eat the lipstick. That’s fantastic.”

Kertesz said he’ll be keeping an eye open for that possible new Du-par’s in Studio City.

“I’ll be there. Wherever they open up I will follow them,” he promised. “It’s been here a long time and it’s just sad to see stuff like that go.”