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After serving breakfast to loyal local customers for more than 20 years, Mel's Dinor is closing its doors.
Tuesday, May 31 will be your last chance to visit the restaurant on Steven Court in Newmarket. After that, owner James Sheng said he is looking forward to sitting down.
“It’s long enough, 21 years,” he said. “The last couple years was really tough, right; COVID, the lockdown, so we tried to survive.”
Sheng had never considered running a restaurant but the opportunity came up when his family came to Canada from Australia 21 years ago. He said the first few years were tough but through a lot of hard work, he was able to find success.
He said there are a number of regular customers who have been coming to Mel's Dinor for a long time and have become more like family
“A lot of regular customers, we know what they want,” Sheng said. “Usually people come in, they don’t say anything. Just grab a newspaper, sit down and within five minutes we have their order for them."
He said that's definitely something he will miss.
"The time we announced the closure, they were all surprised,” he said of his customers.
Since then, it has been busy, Sheng said, with an influx of customers coming in for one last taste of Mel's Dinor and to say their goodbyes.
“A lot of people come to say goodbye to me,” he said. “We have a lot of people come and take a picture together. There are lots of customers.”
While the closing will be bittersweet, Sheng said it is time for a change after 21 years of going to the same place every single day.
“It’s time for me to move on,” he said.
After taking a bit of a break, Sheng said he wants to take care of his 85-year-old mother who lives in China. When asked if this would be his retirement or if he would work again in the future, he responded, "You never say never."
Mel's Dinor will be open for the last time from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 31.
