Yuba City's Linda's Soda Bar closes, but owner hopes its legacy can continue

Linda's Soda Bar and Grill, a longtime Yuba City diner known for its 1950s theme and generations of regular customers, closed Sunday after its owner said rising costs made it too difficult to keep the business going.

Owner Lori Pack worked at Linda's for nearly 30 years, starting as a waitress before eventually taking over the restaurant.

"I just want them to come in and feel at home, that home feel," Pack said.

She said the location has operated in some form since at least the 1930s or 1940s, first as a pinball business and later as a soda bar and ice cream shop.

Over the years, Linda's became a gathering place for customers who returned as much for familiar faces as the food.

"They're like, 'Where are we gonna go? Where is everyone going now that they won't get to see their friends they see every day when they come in?'" Pack said.

Longtime customer Patricia Dickens remembers visiting Linda's as a child with her parents.

"My mom would always get her hair done and she said if you were a good girl, you could go to Linda's," Dickens said.

Pack said higher food, fuel and other operating costs ultimately forced her to close. When she canceled a sanitation contract because the restaurant was shutting down, she said the company told her Linda's was the eighth restaurant customer it had recently lost.

John Kabateck, California state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said closures of longtime family-owned restaurants can leave a hole beyond the businesses themselves.

"These small business restaurants are like a little community bastion, like a community center," Kabateck said.

Linda's was also filled with antiques and other items donated by customers over the years. Pack has been reaching out to return those pieces to their owners.

She is also hoping the closure may not be the final chapter. Pack said she is looking for someone to buy the business and keep the space operating as a community gathering place.

"I don't even care how much money I get for the restaurant," Pack said. "I just want to make sure it keeps going as something."