In Remembrance…
With sadness, we remember some of the classic San Diego establishments that have shuttered in 2025. Restaurants come and go, but when a family favorite closes up, it’s almost like losing a loved one…
Lucky’s Breakfast, North Park, San Diego, in 2024.
Lucky’s Breakfast / Lucky’s Golden Phenix Restaurant (1975 – 2024)
A landmark in North Park, Lucky’s Breakfast, started out serving Chinese-American food as Lucky’s Golden Phenix Restaurant in 1975. After the death of his wife, Wong Suey “Lucky” Chong (1938-2024) alone served inexpensive, no-frills American-style breakfasts. It was indeed a “one-man diner.” Sausage, bacon and eggs. Hash browns. Toast. OJ out of a gallon jug. Coffee. All served with with an honest love for his customers. He’d remember your order. If you ordered too much, he’d say “Oh don’t get that — you’ll be too full.” His breakfasts were all under $10 — a price point he refused to go over.
Wong Su Chong was born on 15 Dec 1938 in Taishan, Jí’ān Shì, Jiangxi, China. He immigrated to the US, settling in San Diego, and attended San Diego High School. Lucky eventually worked for Tommy Sheng, cooking at his popular at Sheng Haw Low restaurant. He married Mei Chui Wong in 1973. The couple opened Lucky’s Golden Phenix Restaurant in 1975.
Lucky was 86 when he passed in his beloved restaurant on the night of December 30, 2024. There was a memorial attended by many of his friends, customers and family in 2025. Mom’s Chicken and Waffles will go in its place. The stretch of Grim Street between University and North Park Way was renamed “Lucky Lane” in his honor. You will be missed, Lucky.
North Park
Lucky’s (1975 – 2024)
Andy’s Coffee Shop (1959)
3804 Lucky Lane [Grim Avenue]
San Diego, CA 92104
Wong “Lucky” Chong, photo Fernando A
Las Cuatro Milpas, Barrio Logan, San Diego, January 2026.
Las Cuatro Milpas (1933 – 2025)
Natividad and Petra Estudillo family’s restaurant served homestyle Mexican cooking continuously since 1933. The landmark restaurant closed at the end of 2025, with the building being purchased by neighboring Light of the World Church. Impending retirement, and unpaid taxes were also contributing factors to the closure.
For generations, the Estudillo family daily prepared fresh tortillas, rice, stewed pinto beans, tacos (pork, rolled and soft-shell), tamales (chicken or beef), chorizo with eggs, and menudo on Saturdays. La Prensa San Diego newspaper proclaimed Las Cuatro Milpas ‘hands down, the most authentic Mexican restaurant in San Diego.’
People are still in disbelief. When we visited shortly on January 3, 2026 for photos, three carloads of foilks stopped by to confirm its closure.
Barrio Logan (1933-2025)
1875 Logan Avenue
San Diego, CA 92113
Red Fox Room surrounded by new condo building, San Diego, 2023.
The Red Fox Steakhouse (1959 – 2025)
North Park (2022-2025)
2200 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92104
Lafayette Hotel (1959-2019)
2223 El Cajon Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92104
Red Fox Room, 350-year-old pub interior
Pernicano’s Ristorante (1977 – 2025)
Second-generation restaurateur Larry Pernicano’s location of his family’s legendary chain closed in 2025. Larry’s Pepper Chicken, a la Baffi.
Scripps Ranch (1977-2025)
Canyonhill Center
9932 Mercy Road #109
San Diego, CA 92129
Larry Pernicano
Other Notable Closures
For a more complete list of San Diego’s 2025 restaurant closures, visit SanDiegoVille.
Matteo (2019 – 2025)
Henry’s Pub (2020 – 2025)
Casa de Freds, Old Town (2020 – 2025)
Camino Riviera (2021 – 2025)
Comedor Nishi, La Jolla (2024 – 2025)
Roma Norte Bar (2024 – 2025)
Wilma’s Carousel Bar (2024 – 2025 )
I am a native San Diegan who has lived most of my life in other California cities. Many of the restaurants that closed are ones I was familiar with by name and several were favorites. For me, the closure of Las Cuatro Milpas hits the hardest. My memories of eating there when I was eighteen years old with my boyfriend Roberto when you ate in the back kitchen at picnic tables, then many decades later at sixty years old with my boyfriend Tom when I lived once again in my hometown for six years until retirement. Eating in the kitchen was no longer an option by the 2010’s. I’m sorry that I no longer have the opportunity to visit again. They served the best corn tortillas!