Saugus Cafe closed, fans mourn; it opened again in the midst of an angry argument

After L.A. County’s longest-running restaurant announced in late December that it would be closing after 139 years, customers at the Original Saugus Cafe started buying its signature hats, T-shirts, mugs and other merchandise.

When the merchandise was gone, others began to sift through the tables: glassware, salt and pepper shakers, even bowls.

For Jessie Mercado, 31, and her father, Alfredo — who has owned the popular restaurant in Santa Clarita for 30 years — it was funny and sweet that so many hold the establishment so close to their hearts that they want to take pieces of it home.

But the property manager who took over their lease months ago saw it differently. He left his 59-year-old father an angry voicemail, which was reviewed by the Times, telling him to “bring Godd— s— back,” or he would sue.

Customers of the Original Saugus Cafe didn’t have long to mourn the loss of the landmark. The restaurant, which closed Jan. 4, has already reopened under new management. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the dispute over the ownership of the store has reached court as the Mercados insist they be evicted.

For decades, Mercado’s father said he had a friendly relationship and a verbal lease with the property’s owner, Hank Arklin Sr., a former state legislator who owned several stores in the area.

But difficulties arose after Arklin’s death at age 97 in August, the Mercados said, and they began dealing with Larry Goodman, who manages properties on behalf of Arklin’s family company, North Valley Construction.

The Mercados said in a lawsuit filed last week that Goodman, North Valley Construction and Arklin’s wife, Louise, mistreated the family, defamed them, and ignored their legal claim to the business and utilities to leave the restaurant.

Despite the ongoing legal challenge, the cafe reopened Monday at 5 a.m. under new owner Eduardo Reyna and with a slightly different name: Saugus Restaurant. Most of the furniture looks the same, along with the menu items and even some of the staff.

People waited in line to eat at the Original Saugus Cafe during what was thought to be its last day of business after nearly 140 years in Saugus.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“People think we lied to them [about shutting down]. That it was a public front. I want them to know that we were cheated on this,” said Mercado. “It’s sad that it had to go down this way.”

Steffanie Stelnick, an attorney representing the Mercados, said that for the new owner and landlord to be “up and running. [the cafe] in the same place, representing it as the same business without buying it or without permission” is effectively stealing.

Stelnick said he plans to amend the indictment to include Reyna.

Reyna did not respond to a telephone request for comment.

Goodman did not return multiple calls and text messages from The Times seeking comment. Louise Arklin also did not respond to requests for comment.

But earlier this month in an interview with Santa Clarita Valley news station the Signal, Goodman denied the Mercado family owned the business and said the father was reluctant to keep the restaurant going.

“They have nothing to sell. I own everything,” said Goodman. “We own the cafe. We own the building. The stove. The dishes. The forks. We own everything there.”

The cafe, in a long narrow building, was popular with the residents of Santa Clarita and was known in its area for its long run, its cameos in various films and television shows, and visits by Hollywood stars such as Frank Sinatra and John Wayne.

Mercado said his family didn’t want closure. They wanted to continue to support the 17 workers who worked there. But, he said, they have the potential to sell the business if they get the right offer. The relationship with Goodman, however, turned hostile and left his father feeling “humiliated” and it seemed like they had no choice but to leave.

A sign on the door posted in late December announced the restaurant’s closure, noting that “the decision was not made lightly.”

On its last day of operation, the line stretched down the block. Among the customers saying goodbye was Charlane Glover, who shared dozens of Sunday morning breakfasts with her husband before his death.

“I don’t think it’s gone,” said Glover, who waited more than an hour for a table with her grandson. “We are losing all our history.”

Mercado’s father was shocked the next morning, his daughter said, when he arrived to pack to find the locks had been changed and a sign that said the restaurant would be “reopening under new ownership soon!”

Alfredo Mercado had started in the restaurant bussing tables and washing dishes, he said, climbing the ladder to the bar and cooking to finally get ownership of the cafe and its name in 1998. His father is the only name listed on the LLC.

Stelnick, the family’s attorney, wrote in a Jan. 6 of the cease-and-desist order to Goodman that he was making a “bad attempt” to take over his client’s business and that “his continued threats and power have already caused significant damage.”

The Mercados filed the lawsuit on January 14 in Los Angeles County Superior Court and are seeking damages — including the forfeiture of personal property — of at least $500,000.

The complaint alleges that, in August after Arklin’s death, Goodman pressured Mercado’s father to sign a lease that stated that, in addition to the premises, all manner of appliances and utensils were under the purview of the rental agreement — including “kitchen equipment, booths, counters, stools, chairs, registers, utensils, pots, plates, cutlery, and other cooking & mechanical systems” — even though the Mercados had bought and kept those things, the case was argued. Goodman, the lawsuit alleges, stated that the Mercados would not be able to live in the property as tenants if they did not sign.

In late August, the Arklin family’s company, North Valley Construction, filed trademark applications for the names “Saugus Café,” “The Original Saugus Café” and “Saugus Café1.”

The lawsuit said the filings showed the landlord wanted a name that was “confusingly similar” and that the Mercados’ infringement was “wilful, willful, and malicious.”

Mercado said that his father did not act quickly because he did not understand the extent of his request regarding the business.

“We didn’t know our rights,” said Mercado.

Photographer Juliana Yamada contributed to this report.