Tera Mar and Kate Manley showed up at 10 a.m. to stake out the first spot in line for a last meal from Japhy's Soup and Noodles today. The restaurant announced its closure this week after a quarter century in business and the line for its final lunch service stretches up the block to Northtown Coffee.
click to enlarge - Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
- Regulars for 25 years, Kate Manley and Tera Mar are first in line on Japhy's last day.
"We've been coming here for 25 years and we had to get one last Thai chicken curry and cold noodle salad," Mar says. "And cornbread." Under their cafe table, their 17-year-old miniature Dachshund Ming rests her white face in her paws. "She'll get a piece of my chicken," Mar adds.
Both she and Manley started coming to the shop when they worked at Humboldt State University. They remained steady customers, even picking up takeout during the height of the pandemic. Like many loyal regulars, they appreciated the filling bowls for low prices, as well as vegetarian options that went beyond green salad and macaroni and cheese.
click to enlarge - Photo by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill
- Japhy's beloved Thai chicken curry soup.
When original owners Josh and Miwa Solomon opened Japhy's 25 years ago, Manley recalls, "It was the only place for food like this ... Asian comfort food." That has changed in Arcata and elsewhere over the decades. Up the hill from Japhy's stands Pho Hoang, where Thai green curry and hot bowls of phô are on offer. More upscale ramen can be had in town at Nori and Sushi Spot, and there are whispers about a new noodle joint opening nearby.
Owner Josh Hand opens the door at 11:30 a.m. and the line flows to the counter, with customers offering thanks and regrets. Asked about the closure, he dips his head and says he'll essentially be turning Japhy's back over to its original owners, who won't be reopening.
Behind the counter, staffers fly between the rice cooker and the five pots of soup, occasionally glancing up at the line through the window. One tells a customer she doesn't expect to make it to the usual 8 p.m. closing time before selling out.
At the pickup counter, a woman with gray hair picks up her Thai chicken curry soup and rice and gives a wan smile. "Thank you," she says. "I'm gonna cry."