> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # No more hash: Dee’s Diner closes its doors - URL: https://www.smdp.com/no-more-hash-dees-diner-closes-its-doors/ - Published: 2003-08-04T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T02:40:11.000Z - Author: John Wood - Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import *After 62 years downtown, old-school cafe shuts down* The last weekend at Dee’s Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard wasn’t all that different from every other weekend in the cafe’s 62-year history. On-duty police officers ate generous portions of the diner’s famous corned beef hash, Frank Sinatra crackled over the stereo, and owners Bob and Debra Moini greeted long-time customers who have become family friends. On Sunday, Dee’s became the last of a handful of local, independently owned diners to close their doors. Le Pain Quotidien, an upscale Belgian bakery, will take its place this fall. Owner Bob Moini, 55, who has been in front of Dee’s for the last 28 years and is a fixture of the Santa Monica Boulevard business family, said it was difficult to say good-bye. 33F,“It feels like something hit me in the head,” he said. “I don’t know, it’s not real.” > “It feels like something hit me in the head. I don’t know, it’s not real.” — –BOB MOINI Dee’s owner Debra Moini, 51, who spent 10 years on and off as a waitress in Dee’s, described the day as bittersweet. The two plan to travel and enjoy retirement with each other and with their three children, Joy, 26, Mariam, 21, and Mike, 19. But Moini said he doesn’t yet have the will to abandon his nook of downtown. He plans to spend a good amount of time next door at Britannia Pub, where cook Reginald Aguayo and waitress Maribel Garcia will still be serving the entire Dee’s breakfast menu starting today. “I’m going to get royalties on the secret recipe for the corned beef hash,” Moini said, laughing. He added that he is pleased to be leaving the business of his own volition and not being forced out like so many other small businesses downtown. He pointed to the Old World Cafe, Nat’s Coffee Shop and Biff’s Coffee Shop — all out of business — as examples and said the rising cost of rent in Santa Monica has made it difficult for mom-and-pop merchants to survive. Moini declined to comment on the value of his building, which he bought 24 years ago, or how much rent he will charge the new bakery. He said it might give some the impression that he is leaving for financial reasons, when in fact he is simply ready to retire. It took Moini months to find a worthy tenant in Le Pain Quotidien, which he described as a good addition to Santa Monica. Matthieu Devaux, manager of west coast operations for the bakery, said he is excited about the Santa Monica store and will open the doors as soon as he completes the permit process at City Hall. The restaurant and bakery, which has outlets in New York, LA and throughout Europe, is known for its fresh breads and open-faced sandwiches, Devaux said. It’ll be big change from the pork chops, eggs and patty melts that have been served in the small space since 1941, when the two twin German brothers named Dietrich first opened the diner and gave it its name. Moini took over Dee’s in the early 1970s and for a short time paid $400 in monthly rent. He bought the building in 1979 for $400,000. Some of the antiques that have decorated the diner’s walls for decades will be packed up and taken home. Others will be given away. Many of the Tiffany lamps that hang from the diner’s 18-foot ceilings will be given as gifts to the Moini children. Garcia on her final Sunday shift broke into tears. “It’s really sad,” she said. “I’ve been coming here eight years, almost 10 hours a day. I’ve spent so much time here. It’s like my family.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/080403-02_01-7.jpg) Dee’s Diner owner Bob Moini, left, and his son, Mike, sit in their familiar spot outside the restaurant recently. (Photo: Carolyn Sackariason/Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 4, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080403.pdf?ref=smdp.com)