Red Coral is closing, but a few menu items will soon be available at Lollicup next door. Westword

Neighborhood Chinese restaurants are almost invisible to passersby in the strip malls and shopping centers around the city. Most aren't destination dining establishments; they get by on take-out orders and a steady trickle of business from local customers. But over time, a place can earn a reputation for solid food and friendly service.

Red Coral Chinese Restaurant is one such place, not necessarily known throughout the city, but nonetheless beloved by its regular customers. And after more than thirty years in business it can come as a shock when that restaurant decides to call it quits.

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The owners of Red Coral announced earlier this week that they'd be closing the doors to the tidy eatery tucked behind an IHOP on South Colorado Boulevard, where they'd been serving Chinese-American standards and house specialties since 1990, after moving across the street from the original location that opened in 1982.

A sign on the door indicated that Red Coral would be closing on January 26, but since the restaurant is normally closed on Mondays, Sunday dinner will be the last chance to partake in a final meal there.

The Yuan family posted this notice on the door of their Red Coral restaurant. Jon Solomon

The good news is that family members are involved in Lollicup Denver right next door, so the Yuans will be adding some favorite Red Coral appetizers to the tea house's menu of "nibbles," which currently consists of steamed buns and a few other Asian small bites.