"While the future plans for the building are currently unknown, we want to share that Saugus Cafe will officially close its doors on January 4, 2026."
That was the message posted on the front door and at the cash register at the oldest restaurant in Los Angeles County when I went for (perhaps) a final meal on the second day of 2026.
And that was the news at the time, too—which I'd been devastated by just a couple of days before, which was just enough notice for me to drive 30 miles north to say goodbye.
Then today, a KHTS headline read, "Saugus Cafe Will Reopen Despite Earlier Claims About Closing Permanently"—on an article that included an anonymous tip from a supposed new managing owner.
So I don't really know what's what, other than the fact that the cafe's 97-year-old owner, Hank Arklin, passed away in August 2025 and there were no descendants/heirs to take it over.
And, knowing that Saugus Cafe as I've known it would close for some period of time—if not forever—last Friday I ate like it was going to be my last meal ever there.
The Saugus Cafe story goes back nearly 140 years, when it was founded by James Herbert Tolfree as the Saugus Eating House in a train depot across the street. The owner back then moved the business to its current position in 1916 and built a new building, and then replaced that one. The cafe was bought and sold many times over, including by an owner who built an even newer structure in 1952—the one that stands there today.
It's not the work of a master architect, and it's not postcard-perfect. In fact, it's pretty rough around the edges. But it's always felt like home to me.
I first had brunch there on April 19, 2014 when I was on my way to the Antelope Valley to see the poppies. I sat in the back room, eating silver dollar pancakes, and they were so good I vowed to return whenever I could.
My favorite seats became the ones at the counter, stitched with the names of bygone regulars. But when I came on March 15, 2021, after getting my first COVID-19 vaccine at Six Flags, the only place anyone was allowed to sit was outdoors. I got a tuna melt on sourdough with onion rings that day.
I returned again on June 18, 2021, after picking up the rental Jeep that we would drive to Cerro Gordo ghost town in the Eastern Sierra. The last time I'd been there was on February 23, 2023, after a coworker and I finished filming some footage at the St. Francis Dam Disaster Site. I had a club sandwich with a side of fruit.
There was a long line waiting outside when I got there—but fortunately the counter is first-come first-served and I was flying solo, so I could squeeze in.
I nabbed the seat marked in loving memory of "Paul," with a plaque dated 11/29/2017. 
I never went to Saugus Cafe often enough to develop a taste for a particular dish. I didn't have the luxury of becoming a regular at a place that it could take 45 to 90 minutes of driving time to get to.
So instead, I ordered my "usual" when I go to pretty much any diner: a Denver omelette (of ham, cheese, peppers, and onions). I daresay it's the best Denver omelette I've ever had.
And despite having gone gluten-free because of a celiac diagnosis a year and a half ago, I indulged in my favorite "secret menu" delicacy of the Saugus Cafe—a grilled English muffin.
Legends tell of the famous and infamous also dining at Saugus Cafe—Teddy Roosevelt while he was U.S. president, William Mulholland on his way to secure water from the Owens Valley, Hollywood stars like Charlie Chaplin, and local celebrity cowboys like William S. Hart and Harry Carey.
There's a myth that James Dean ate his last meal at Saugus Cafe before dying in a car crash—but the conjecture that he stopped in Saugus at all (even at a different restaurant, like Tip's) has been debunked.
When the (prospective) new owners take over and do a deep clean, I hope they don't scrub away too much of its history and leave it a roadhouse befitting the Old West character of the Santa Clarita Valley. They say they plan to keep the name the same as its been since 1899—but if they change too much, it won't be the same Saugus Cafe.
Stay tuned.
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