Customers fill the booths and counter during lunch at Linda’s Soda Bar & Grill in downtown Yuba City on Sept. 19, following news of its Sept. 27 closure.

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - For more than two decades, Linda’s Soda Bar & Grill has offered visitors to downtown Yuba City a step back in time.

With its black-and-white checkered floors, bright yellow diner booths and walls covered from end to end in photographs, vintage trinkets, military memorabilia and local history, the restaurant at 668 Plumas St. has become nearly as recognizable for its atmosphere as for its breakfasts, burgers and homemade pies. But on Sept. 27, Linda’s will serve its customers for the final time under its current ownership.

Owner Lori Pack announced the closure on the restaurant’s social media page Thursday, Sept. 17.

“We will be closing as of Sunday the 27th,” Pack wrote. “The landlord and I are working diligently to make sure another wonderful restaurant comes in. The restaurant may be closed for a short time but it will soon have another great restaurant in its place.”

Linda’s Soda Bar & Grill at 668 Plumas St. in downtown Yuba City on Sept. 19. The longtime restaurant is set to close Sept. 27.

The announcement came as a shock to many in the community who were unaware of the business’s struggles. Speaking with the Territorial Dispatch Friday, Sept. 18, Pack said the decision ultimately came down to finances.

“Well, it’s just the economy. I mean, we’re not making enough money to pay the bills,” Pack said.

Although the restaurant may appear busy during peak hours, Pack said those periods do not tell the whole story.

“People are like, ‘It looks busy,’ but it really just depends on the time of day you come in,” she said.

The closure marks the end of another chapter for a restaurant whose history on Plumas Street stretches back decades. Former owner Linda McKenna began as a waitress at the restaurant before eventually purchasing the business. A 2017 Territorial Dispatch article reported McKenna had bought the restaurant roughly 18 years earlier.

Over the years, the restaurant became a fixture of Yuba City’s downtown shopping district. In 2020, CNN referred to Linda’s as a “local institution,” while a 2014 Good Day Sacramento feature showcased the restaurant as a throwback to the “Fabulous ’50s.”

That aesthetic has remained largely intact. The restaurant’s checkerboard floors, soda-counter atmosphere and retro furnishings are surrounded by an eclectic collection accumulated over the years. Its walls include vintage photographs and advertisements, tributes to local military members and Beale Air Force Base, collectible items, pieces of Yuba-Sutter history and even a collection dedicated to “The Wizard of Oz.”

Many of those objects also carry personal stories. As the restaurant prepares to close, Pack said she is contacting people who donated items to the collection and giving them the opportunity to take them back. She is also setting aside certain pieces for longtime customers who have developed attachments to them.

“I’m giving back to the people that have given us stuff, if they want it,” Pack said. “And then certain regular customers want certain things, and I’m making sure they get it.”

A vintage cash register sits inside Linda’s Soda Bar & Grill in downtown Yuba City on Sept. 19. The longtime restaurant is set to close Sept. 27, citing financial hardship.

Pack said she purchased the business, including its collection of memorabilia, for approximately $900,000 when she took over in 2021. She hopes her story will also shed light on the importance of supporting locally owned businesses. As she spoke Friday, Pack fought back tears while describing the restaurant and what it has meant to her.

“I never expected this to happen because I love this restaurant,” she said. “I feel like I let it down.”

Pack also voiced frustration at seeing drive-thru lines at large chains packed with cars while locally owned restaurants with competitively priced menus struggle to fill tables.

“People don’t realize that when they’re not supporting, you know, it’s like this is what can happen,” Pack said. “It’s just so important to support local businesses.”

What comes next for Pack personally is less certain. Facing financial struggles herself, she said her next step will be finding steady employment. Even so, she remains hopeful about both her future and that of the restaurant.

“Something is going to come in here,” Pack said. “The landlord’s going to keep trying to get something in here. ... Even though I’m closing on the 27th, we’re still going to work together to make sure that something comes in.”

Pack said she has already received inquiries from prospective operators and hopes to find a buyer with the financial backing needed to bring the restaurant into a new era.

“It might be a little different, but I think they’re going to keep it kind of the same,” she said. “I couldn’t give it what it needed, but I believe that it will come.”

Linda’s Soda Bar & Grill is scheduled to close Sunday, Sept. 27.