Hof’s Hut closes

Busboy Alberto Torres hugs his customers one last time at Hof’s Hut in the Long Beach Marina as the coffee shop prepares to close for good.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

It’s time for one last cup of coffee for longtime customer Harold Sammons. Sammons has been a loyal three-times-a-week customer.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Some of the table fixtures have stood the passage of time -- five decades -- at Hof’s Hut.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Pies and other desserts on display are among the favorites at Hof’s Hut.   (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

From left, Jeanne Miller, Carrie Thomas, Bonnie Matthies (in blue coat), Jennifer Cozens (back to camera), Eva Burke (hidden behind Cozens) and Debbie Vignovich have their last meal together at the oldest remaining Hof’s Hut.   (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Matt Johnson, 49, center, of Rossmoor reminisces about working at Hof’s Hut from 1981 through 1986 with Hof’s Hut employees Chava Perez, left, and Alberto Torres. When Johnson saw that the Long Beach location was closing, he wrote to his friend and former co-worker Jennifer Boaz (far left, back to camera) of San Diego. She worked at the Hof’s Hut on Second Street from 1985 through 1988. A week before the Long Beach location’s closure, Boaz, with her children, Trevor and Allison, meet up with Johnson for lunch. It was the first time Johnson and Boaz were in the restaurant together since 1986.   (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Jayne Lane leans in to kiss her grandson Jake Garcia, 8, while enjoying a meal. Lane has been dining at the restaurant since the 1960s, when she and her husband were dating.   (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

From left, Doris Krcelic, 73, of Lakewood; Jim Wolcott , 83, of Huntington; Hona Wolcott, of Huntington; Ann Merrill, 84, of Lakewood; Michael Kohel, 65, of Long Beach; and Pat Adams 88, of Long Beach have gotten together every Thursday for a meal at Hof’s Hut.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)

Gerry Rolfson, 85, and Marilyn Smalling, 72, walk into Hof’s Hut. They have been dining together at the restaurant for the last 20 years.  (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times)