It is a bittersweet day for customers as another mom-and-pop restaurant closes its doors, but the closure wasn't due to the tough economy.

"I (am) just kind of tired already from doing this kind of work for 30-some-odd years, so it's time to retire already," said Hank Konishi, owner of HK's Restaurant.

Customers came in droves all day to wish Hank Konishi and his family well and get one last bite of some of their favorites.

"Ever since they were at the original location down Sheridan Street, I've been patronizing them," said customer Warren Okano. "It's like losing a family."

"They catered my son's graduation party and many Christmas parties that we had," said Bernadette Kaai, who has been eating at HK's restaurant for almost 30 years. Kaai said she left work early to have lunch there with her husband one last time.

It ended up being an extended lunch break for most people in line, some waiting for more than an hour.

On a normal day, employees said they serve about 150 plates. On Wednesday, they estimated at least 200 orders went out before noon, and they quickly ran out of popular items like fried noodles.

"A lot of us got the yum yum chicken instead, and I just heard they ran out too, so just in time," said customer Mitchell Chun.

Konishi hinted that this is just a partial retirement, and he has some projects cooking down the road.

"Anything food-related? In a sense, maybe yes. Maybe no. I can't say right now," said Konishi.