![\"Coco\u2019s](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/IMG_2081webtop.jpg\")
<\/a>I then turned to the Coco\u2019s Bakery Restaurant website, which listed seven San Diego locations, none of them on Lake Murray Boulevard. Another friend whose family frequented Coco\u2019s sent me a photo confirming the closure. One sign on the door said, \u201cThis location is now CLOSED. Deliveries will no longer be accepted.\u201d Another said, \u201cTo our valued guests: this location is now CLOSED. We thank you for your business\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
It felt as though a dear friend had passed away without a warning. Coco\u2019s meant a lot to me and my family. It was the first restaurant to host our then-infant daughter. While other restaurants have guests who frown at children being children at the table, the people who frequented Coco\u2019s were warm and family oriented. Anyone who knows about Lake Murray Coco\u2019s knows at least 70 percent of its customer base was at least 70 years old. And those grandparent-types were the ones who would smile as we walked in with Quinn, happy to see a family join them in the next booth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to find a new place for Sunday breakfast,\u201d said my mom sadly. My mom, who turned 81 in February, really liked Coco\u2019s. It didn\u2019t cater to the more modern gourmet palate and instead offered simple diner options she recognized. Walking into the restaurant, she would always walk up to the pies on display to see if there was one for which she had a special hankering; most often she chose a straightforward lemon meringue.<\/p>\n
I told her we had a few other options around town and that we\u2019d find one she liked just as much. She nodded, but I can tell that at her age, it\u2019s hard to have to shift to a completely different venue, even if it\u2019s only a few more minutes away.<\/p>\n
I also knew several Coco\u2019s staff members by name, including Jessica, one of my favorite servers of all time. Her brother, Ricky, also worked there, as did her mom.<\/p>\n
Unless by lucky happenstance, I will probably never see any of their smiles again, a hard reality for me as they had become people in my neighborhood.<\/p>\n As bad as I felt, I can\u2019t imagine what it was like for our Coco\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n I recently read in Nation\u2019s Restaurant News that a former 24-year employee of the Coco\u2019s Bakery and Carrows restaurants filed a federal lawsuit April 8 charging new owner Food Management Partners Inc. with failing to give fair notice for mass layoffs. It makes sense as many of the thousands of employees terminated were suddenly given what would be their last paychecks in a staff meeting April 3.<\/p>\n So while it would have been nice for Coco\u2019s to have given its loyal customers a week or two to say our proper farewells, it would have been even nicer for its owners to reward its longtime employees for their service by giving them more than a few days\u2019 heads-up.<\/p>\n<\/a>