Philippe Gris never thought his restaurant would be around more than two decades. He maxed out three credit cards to get it up and running.

"If we can last three years, we will be very lucky," Gris said.

But when the restaurant posted a farewell notice on its website earlier this month, Gris quickly found out what his restaurant meant to so many.

"We had to put two hostesses to answer the phone all day long. It was like crazy!" he said.

Customer after customer lined up to say goodbye. He said he’s leaving on his own terms but didn’t want to sign another lease and risk a future drop in business. 

"I wanted to leave on a good note and be happy with it," Gris said.

One of his keys to success? "Make sure you eat your own food, every day!" he said.

He’s also grateful to his staff, who were busy serving and cooking up a variety of dishes, including pastas, fish, and meats.

"With this place, I work about 80 to 85 hours a week. Now, I’m going to drop that to 40 hours a week, if I’m lucky," Gris said.

Genevieve Desjuenes is French Canadian and drives to Cafe Bizou regularly from the westside.

"Since March 10, I think it’s my 5th or 6th time here," she said. "This Sherman Oaks Cafe Bizou is more like a Paris restaurant. I’ve invited friends here for Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve, birthdays."

Janet and George Klein are still in shock about it.

"Our soon-to-be son-in-law asked us for permission to marry our daughter in this restaurant," Janet Klein said.

"We’ve celebrated almost every happy occasion in our family’s history in this place, so it’s very challenging to comprehend that it won’t be here for us," she said.

There were attempts to sway his decision, but ultimately, plenty of kisses--a fitting farewell for Cafe Bizou.

Gris does have another Cafe Bizou location that he opened two years ago in Agoura Hills. He hopes some Valley customers will join him there.