The Lido Café, a staple for Sunnyside residents and visitors to Kensington for 70 years, has closed for the final time.

Sunday marked the end of an era along 10 St. N.W. as the staff at the restaurant served the final ‘All Day Breakfast Special’ to one of the dozens of customers who stopped by the Lido for one last meal. The day began earlier than expected as a long line of hungry Calgarians prompted the owners to open 30 minutes prior to their regular opening time of 9:00 a.m.

“It’s a shame that we have to tear places like this down because they mean a lot to the whole community,” said Esther Weerstra, whose lived in Calgary for 49 years. “There are people that come every week on a regular basis.”

Pam and Ken Fung, a married couple, have owned the Lido Cafe for the last 24 years. The Fungs were overwhelmed with emotion as they prepared to say a final goodbye to their restaurant in Kensington.

“The customer’s like to come back to say goodbye to us,” said Pam. “We really appreciate what they did and we are very sad too.”

There are aspects of owning the Lido which will be easier to leave behind. Ken Fung smiled and laughed as his wife reminded him Sunday would be his last day of washing the restaurant’s dishes.

The Lido’s lease has expired and the building is scheduled to be demolished. The owner of the lot plans to construct an eight-storey residential building with retail space on the ground level and underground parking.

The Fungs plan to take only memories with them when they walk away from the shop. Nearly everything in the café was for sale on Sunday, with handwritten post-it notes indicating the items which had been claimed.

Brayden McCue lives and works in Inglewood and purchased the Lido’s four jukeboxes with plans to display them in his dental business office.

“I love artifacts, I love antiques,” said McCue. “I want to put all four of them in my clinic for patients to enjoy because Inglewood loves the history of Calgary, and the community.”

“I thought it would be a great way to take a piece of the history here, and transport it someplace else to keep on growing.”

Sunday's breakfast rush was one of the busiest in years at the Lido Café as customers from years past stopped in to show their appreciation to Ken and Pam, and their years of service.

The Fungs will begin their retirement on Monday and are planning to travel in the near future.

With files from CTV's Kevin Fleming