Having to break a few eggs

It has been a week since I learned that the Omelette Parlor lost its

lease and will be closing, and there has still been no news of a

reprieve. How can this be? This isn’t just another restaurant -- this

is a living, breathing part of Costa Mesa’s identity.

The Omelette Parlor is an important community gathering place,

where people young and old flock for sustenance and good times. It is

like a very dear and old friend, trustworthy and reliable, always

there for you when needed. The staff is always friendly, and the food

is always excellent. We must do whatever we can to prevent the loss

of such a great place! This appears to be a cold-hearted and callous

business decision by the owners of Vons, essentially a

dollars-per-square-foot calculation with no value given to the wishes

of the community. How can Vons have missed the out-the-door lines at

both Chester Drawers and The Omelette Parlor?

The Omelette Parlor has been a thriving part of our community for

20 years. How can we just stand around and let another part of Costa

Mesa’s cultural heritage get snatched out from under our feet? I can

only hope that everyone who wants the Omelette Parlor to be around

for at least another 20 years will let Vons know how they feel.

ROB DICKSON

Costa Mesa

Over the last 50-plus years that I have spent in the Newport-Mesa

area, I have rarely found a restaurant with a combination of

reasonable prices, consistently considerate and fast service and

quality food. Besides that, the place is bright, comfortable and

homey. Add a personable, hard-working staff and owner, and you have

the Costa Mesa Omelette Parlor.

I have seen similar places close because the business owner was

retiring or the building was being torn down. That is not the case

with the Omelette Parlor. Susan, the Parlor’s owner, wants very much

to stay in business. The building is not being torn down. The Vons

Corp. refuses to even discuss why they will not extend her lease. As

long as they refuse to discuss the Omelette Parlor, I refuse to shop

in their stores and encourage like minded folks to do the same. There

is not another place like the Omelette Parlor in Costa Mesa.

It cannot be replaced be a restaurant chain, where, every time you

visit, they have a new staff. There are a thousand Safeway markets,

all pretty much alike. The Omelette Parlor is unique. We need this

kind of business in Costa Mesa. Keep the Omelette Parlor open.

MIKE STEINER

Costa Mesa

I and my family are so sorry to hear of the closure of the local

Omelette Parlor. We love their early-morning “happy hour” omelets

during the week and often go with friends on Sundays after church.

Costa Mesa won’t be the same without them. We have been going there

for many years.

DONNA DEGRAFFENREID

Costa Mesa

For those of us who have been enjoying the “local ambience” of the

Omelette Parlor, perhaps we should be writing to the corporate powers

at Vons. They seem to perceive their lack of business caused by the

parlor’s patrons using all of “their” parking spaces. Let me see,

that center has more than three vacancies, and Vons still will not

look at their dark, dingy cramped store as their real reason for down

sales.

I am not ready to bid farewell to an old friend, and to that end,

I will no longer patronize Vons.

IRENE KRINSKY

Costa Mesa

It is with a heavy hunger pain and an empty stomach that I too

lament the closing of the Omelette Parlor in the Newport-Mesa area. I

mean, how much more egg-in-the-face can a guy or gal take?

Earlier this spring, the savory powers closed Coco’s on 17th

Street. Then some guy tried to take away my Oreo cookies. Now it’s my

breakfast omelet and hash browns.

Take my gun perhaps. Take my dog if you have to -- but don’t mess

with my burgers, cheese omelets and Oreo cookies -- never!

How about all of us giving Vons the vacuum treatment; like in --

if we all refuse to stop and shop there -- the cash flow will become

a vacuum.

People of Newport-Mesa, are you with me or not? It’s time to draw

a line in the parking lot asphalt and let Vons know they need to

renew the lease of the egg people.

MICHAEL GLUECK

Newport Beach