Beloved Sacramento breakfast spot Harry’s Cafe to close permanently at year’s end

Harry’s Cafe will close for good on Dec. 31, 2021, according to a Facebook post by the owner’s son Tuesday.

In the post, Harry Luong’s son Sam said his father decided to retire at year’s end.

“Retiring jersey after 17 years in restaurant GAME!” wrote Sam Luong, a former college basketball player. “Harry’s Cafe FINAL day of operation will be Friday, December 31, 2021! A man of many words, he says … ‘It’s TIME!’ Thank you for showing me how to be YOU and be (your) own BOSS.”

Ethnically Chinese but raised in Vietnam, Y Luong immigrated to San Francisco via Malaysia at 19 years old. He chose the name “Harry” because he liked Clint Eastwood’s star-making movie; he brought the rest of his family over three years later, according to a 2005 Sacramento Bee article.

The family moved to Sacramento in 1981 and Luong got to work washing dishes at West Sacramento dim sum emporium King’s Restaurant, which closed in 2017. He eventually found a career at General Produce, staying for 16 years until opening Harry’s Cafe in 2004 at 2026 16th St., next door to his wife Lynn’s hair salon.

Lynn’s Beauty Salon ended up seating many of Harry’s overflow customers, though, as word spread about the cafe’s fluffy pancakes and decadent short rib stew. It was a mix of Vietnamese, Chinese, Hawaiian and American diner food, with big portions and bigger lines on weekend mornings.

Harry’s Cafe did not respond to an email request for comment and an employee hung up when asked for comment over the phone Tuesday.