Located in the center of Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, the Coffee Table Restaurant will serve its customers for the last time on Sunday. A Facebook post and a note taped to the door on Nov. 6 notified customers that the restaurant will close at the end of the week.
"I just found out twenty minute ago and I'm shocked," Karen Guzelian, a frequent customer, said. "It came out of nowhere. The area is definitely changing and a lot of stores have been affected."
For 20 years, the eatery has served breakfast, lunch and dinner on mosaic coffee tables to the local community. Michael Blanchard, a employee of the restaurant for 13 years, points to gentrification and increasing rent prices in northeast Los Angeles as a reason for their closure.
"The landlord has been raising the rents consistently every year because he knows he can get it," Blanchard said. "It's been a constant increase in cost, and now that there are so many restaurants in Eagle Rock, there's a lot of competition."
In the last few days of the restaurant's service, the Coffee Table has seen an increase of customers. Several people in line said they were sad to see their favorite coffee shop close, and they were stopping in one last time to order their favorite menu items. After 3 p.m. on Sunday, the restaurant will be selling its decorative mosaic tables and giving the funds to the employees.
Recently, the closing of popular local restaurants due to raising rent prices is a common occurrence in Eagle Rock. Residents in the area have noticed renovations and improvements to the area over time as it shifts into more of a middle-class region. The current median income is $67,253, a number which is about average for Los Angeles County, but is on the higher end for Los Angeles city.
Occidental College, located in Eagle Rock, recently purchased and restored several stores along York Boulevard to offer its students different options close to campus.
"They've been trying to gentrify Eagle Rock," Maziar Golestanehzadeh, Eagle Rock resident, said. "There are always some forces pushing back against change, but this past year I've seen a wave of gentrification coming on and it seems to stick."
The neighborhood of Eagle Rock is home to over 34,000 residents, and it was first established in 1880 as a farming community. Originally inhabited by the Tongva Native Americans, Eagle Rock's population is currently about 40 percent Latino, 29 percent white and 23 percent Asian, according to the LA Times. Aside from changing demographics, many residents of Eagle Rock have seen alterations in the landscape over the years.
"I've lived here for 60 years and it's really different than when I first moved here," Richard Chung, Eagle Rock resident, said. "The property values have gone up like crazy around here."
Although the Coffee Table could no longer afford to pay the increasing rent prices, employees expect a new restaurant to take it's place very quickly. Blanchard will be able to watch the latest owners move in from his new job at the restaurant Oinkster across the street.