Rising rent prices are forcing a longtime Chinatown staple to close its doors this weekend. NY1's Gene Apodaca filed the following report.

If you were looking for a table at 69 Bayard, you had to be patient. Lines outside the Chinatown staple Friday night were as long as its reputation.

Jennifer Zhang decided to bring her two kids out despite the long wait.

"It's a memory that, you know, it has been here for like 40, 50 years, and the kids are like they are, grew up here and they had a fond memory of this place."

The restaurant, known for its dollar-covered walls and late-night faire, has been serving Chinese food for decades. Rising rent prices and a lack of traffic, though, made it impossible for the owner to stay in business.

Nina Mui says she's been coming here as long as she can remember.

"I used to come here as a kid with my dad," Mui said. "I remember all the wait staff. They know my father. That was many years ago. So I'm just going to miss the local feeling."

News of closure was met with a lot of disappointment as people remembered their favorite dishes, whether it's the gravy noodles or the steaming hot pork.

Aziz Nawrozie, who frequents often, brought his girlfriend out for her first time.

"You feel like going back to somebody's house," Nawrozie said. "It's like a place that, you know, a place that you're comfortable."

"Finally getting to eat the food that he's been blabbering on about," his girlfriend said. "We're actually bringing some back for his friends who couldn't make it out. It's a whole event."

An event that meant the lines outside only grew as the countdown to closing time quickly approached.

"It's sad when local places close after so many years," said one person eating at the restaurant for the first time. "I hear that they closed because they lost their lease, which is happening so often. So I want to support them, and hopefully they open a restaurant soon."

In case you're wondering what's happening to the dollars on the wall, the owner says he is sharing them with his staff.  Doors officially close Saturday at midnight.