After 95 years, the Bay Area's last Kasper's Hot Dogs has closed

""It's bittersweet, but it's hard without my mom here," Belfanti said. "That's been a challenge, so I think the timing is right.""

""It's the end of an era for us, but he's very comfortable with who's taking it over," Belfanti said of her father. "They will be good stewards of the business and they'll be good neighbors, having been part of that Dimond District community for a long time.""

Kasper's Hot Dogs locations in Oakland and Concord closed after 95 years while a separate but related Caspers Hot Dogs chain still operates five East Bay restaurants. Harold Koojoolian was the sole owner of the Oakland Kasper's and owned the building; he and his wife Bonnie were in their 80s and planning to sell and retire, and Bonnie's sudden death accelerated the sale. Oakland Trybe purchased 2551 MacArthur Blvd. and plans to keep a food business with a similar menu and install a commercial kitchen to provide meals for the community. The restaurant's iconic neon sign was taken down and sold to a Fresno collector. Kasper Koojoolian began selling hot dogs in Chicago in the 1920s after fleeing the Armenian genocide and later opened the first Bay Area stand at Fruitvale Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard.

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