Frank Enciso glanced at a sign in front of Narsi's Hof Brau at Coddingtown Mall on Wednesday, advertising an "eviction special" for $10.
"I'll have that," said Enciso, a Santa Rosa resident and longtime patron. "Then I'm going to cry because it's closing."
Owner Narsi Samii, 62, who's run the restaurant for 27 years, spent the lunch hour shaking hands and sharing embraces with customers.
"This is the end of the line for me," Samii said. "They can have the key to the restaurant."
At 6:01 a.m. Thursday, a court-ordered notice for Samii to vacate the cafeteria-style restaurant takes effect, giving the Simon Property Group control of the premises.
The turnover caps Samii's two-year legal battle against Simon's effort to evict him in favor of a tenant that draws more customers to the 1960s-era shopping center.
"We wish Mr. Samii all the best, but after years of litigation, the court has issued a judgment regarding Narsi's that we will abide by and enforce," said Kim Hall, marketing director for Coddingtown.
Simon, which bought a 50 percent stake in Coddingtown in 2005, is seeking a number of new tenants to reinvigorate the 880,000-square foot mall, originally built by developer Hugh Codding.
Hall said it is "premature" to announce any specific tenants, but noted that a Whole Foods grocery is scheduled to open in October in a space that already bears its name.
At his usual station behind the cash register, Samii received condolences from customers almost as if he were at a funeral reception.
"I'm really sorry," Gail Alford of Santa Rosa told the restaurateur.
Once a month, Alford and two friends had lunch at Narsi's following a quilters' meeting at Coddingtown.
"We're all upset," said Ronda Turk of Santa Rosa, one of the trio.
Alana Colburn of Windsor, the third quilter, recalled bringing her children to Narsi's when they were in grammar schtwo decades ago. "Always been very good food," she said.
"Big business always wins out over the little guy," Alford said. "That's tragic."
Whitehaired Lois Pardo, who's been coming in from Oakmont to meet her daughter for lunch at Narsi's for 20 years, said she will no longer eat at Coddingtown or the Santa Rosa Plaza, which Simon owns.
"We're going to have a problem," Pardo said.
"It was just lucky we came here today," said her daughter, Carol Jorgeson of Sebastopol. "We wanted to wish Narsi well."
Samii, whose restaurant career began in 1969, said he sold a business in Marin County and opened the Coddingtown eatery in 1983. He's since tripled the size of the restaurant and incurred a $2 million debt due to his investments in the restaurant.
His legal bills for fighting Simon since 2007 come to more than $300,000, he said.
On Tuesday, a state appeals court in San Francisco denied Samii's bid to overturn the eviction ruling by visiting Judge Dean Beaupre in Sonoma County Superior Court.
Samii has appealed the ruling, but the process will take a year, according to his attorney, Peter Goldstone. Based on Tuesday's decision, Samii will lose the restaurant and can only seek financial compensation through the appeal, Goldstone said.
Brad Baker, CEO of Codding Enterprises, which co-owns the mall with Simon, said Samii's restaurant has been "a great staple at Coddingtown for many years."
But new shops and restaurants are needed to "increase traffic" in the center, he said, calling Samii's departure "a necessary evolution in the history of Coddingtown."
Samii, who told customers Wednesday he plans to reopen somewhere in Santa Rosa, believes he can run a restaurant for 15 more years.
He's picked out a name - New Narsi's People's Hofbrau - but said he has not found a site nor does he have the finances for a new place.
Simon is seeking $330,000 from Samii for its legal fees.
Samii said he feels he was denied justice in the courts. "They took my rights away. They didn't let me speak," he said.
In losing the restaurant, Samii said he feels as if he were "losing my legs."
"Thanks for all the years of good food," Joanne Kalies of Ukiah told the restaurateur on her way out Wednesday afternoon.
"We'll be seeing you again," said her husband, William Russell.
Asked if he is ending more than a quarter century at Coddington on a bitter note, Samii said: "What choice do I have?"
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