A Coco’s goes bye-bye after 40 years

Deepa Bharath

One of the city’s oldest restaurants served its last steak dinners

and cream pies on Wednesday night.

Coco’s Restaurant and Bakery on Westcliff Drive closed after 40

years of operation after its lease ran out.

“That’s simply the only reason we had to shut down that particular

restaurant,” spokesman Eric Schellhorn said. “But no jobs will be

lost.”

The 28 employees will join staff at two other Newport Beach

locations -- Bristol Street and Fashion Island.

“The one on Westcliff is one of our oldest restaurants,”

Schellhorn said.

Old-timers remember the restaurant as one of the first in the

city.

Former Mayor Evelyn Hart said she used to have many of her

subcommittee meetings at Coco’s.

“I just loved to go there for breakfast,” she said.

Back in the 1960s, there weren’t too many restaurants in Newport

Beach, Hart said.

“Seventeenth Street didn’t even get developed until the ‘60s,” she

said. “I was not big on the pies. But I loved their cookies,

especially the oatmeal ones. Breakfast was my favorite, but I’d go

for lunch, too, sometimes. They had a good chicken Caesar salad.”

Longtime Newport Beach resident Charles Roman said he was

disappointed to hear the news of the restaurant’s closure.

“It’s too bad,” he said. “I’ve been going there for years and

years with my friends.”

Roman remembers going to The Snack Shop on Pacific Coast Highway,

a little restaurant in Corona del Mar where the Coco’s chain

originated. The Snack Shop was owned by John McIntosh, who bought it

within two weeks of starting work there. He expanded his business and

changed the name to Coco’s in 1948.

“I liked it then; I like it now,” Roman said. “I love the people

there, the waiters and waitresses. They were the best.”

Roman, too, enjoyed the restaurant’s breakfast menu, he said.

“But I’m glad they’re still going to be in Fashion Island, which

is closer to my home,” Roman added.

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.