OCEANSIDE - The Flying Bridge Restaurant, an institution for many Oceanside residents, may close by the fall of 2008.

Shantu Patel, who owns the property the restaurant sits on, submitted plans last month to demolish the popular eatery and the Guesthouse Inn, which is on the same lot, city officials said. Patel said Thursday he plans to build a 127-room Hyatt hotel on the property, at 1105 N. Coast Highway, near the harbor.

Patel said the restaurant, which opened in the mid-1960s, will remain open until he receives approval to start construction, perhaps as long as two years.

Patel, who's also a physician, said the 80-room Guesthouse Inn and the restaurant don't generate much income.

"The business is very marginal," he said. "It requires a lot of repairs."

Patel said he thinks the Hyatt would increase occupancy rates on the property because it would offer the public a more upscale hotel that is more consistent with recent condominiums and time share developments in Oceanside.

Patel said he hopes to get a conditional use permit to build the hotel approved by year's end, adding that construction could start in 18 months to two years, with an opening in 2010.

City Redevelopment Manager Kathy Baker said projects such as Patel's tend to take a minimum of between 6 and 9 months to get through the city's approval process. She said there are some coastal, traffic and environmental issues because of the property's location near the banks of the San Luis Rey River.

Baker said the city's staff is just beginning to evaluate the application. If the city determines the project requires an environmental impact report, Baker said it could take between 12 and 18 months for it to get through the process. In addition to a hotel, plans also call for constructing 24 condominiums, said Baker.

Sad reaction

For those who work at the Flying Bridge, news of the planned closing has left them sad about leaving co-workers and customers that they've grown close to over the years.

"Working here is like family," said Mary Marrs, a hostess who has worked at the Flying Bridge for 27 years. "I've made a lot of friends here."

Marrs pointed to photographs on the wall that showed how the restaurant looked decades ago when it was first bought by Dorothy Satten and her husband, Frank. Years ago, it was frequented by California Highway Patrol officers, she said, and local officers when the police headquarters was located nearby. When the parking lot outside had spaces for trucks, truckers heading up and down the highway would regularly stop off for meals.

"We're really a local place that people love to come to all the time," said manager Candy Stacy.

Restaurant employees and their longtime customers think of the Flying Bridge as one of the few older places left in Oceanside, where everyone from politicians to local business people to regular Joes and Janes stop off for a good meal and friendly service.

Well-known celebrities and politicians, including former presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, actor Sean Connery and singer Bing Crosby have visited the restaurant, employees said.

Marrs remembers the time comedian Flip Wilson, who had a variety show on television for years, stopped by the counter for a meal, shielding his face with a small newspaper.

"I got him a big paper and he said, 'Thank you,'" she said. "I didn't tell anybody he was here until he left."

The Flying Bridge has a large bar area and a small dance floor that can accommodate a DJ and band. The restaurant has dozens of tables and booths that overlook the San Luis Rey River and the Pacific Ocean.

Mercedes Fields, who goes to the Flying Bridge regularly with her husband, Al, said the thought of the restaurant closing makes her want to cry.

"The busboys the waiters are fantastic," she said minutes before eating lunch.

Fields, who smiles and laughs easily, rattled off nearly a dozen names of busboys and waiters.

"I can't say nothing bad about this place," she said. "I love this place."

The Flying Bridge still caters to local groups such as the Kiwanis Club, Oceanside MainStreet and The Optimist Club.

The restaurant features brunch on the weekends, jazz on Sundays and karaoke on Wednesdays. Various bands play blues, jazz and Latin music on Friday and Saturday nights. Hip-hop and old school R&B are played downstairs on Fridays.

Tracy said she wants people to enjoy the restaurant while it's still open.

She said the banquet hall and patio below the restaurant will still be available for weddings, quinceaneras, receptions, memorials, baby showers and conferences.

Fields said if she had the power to stop the restaurant from being demolished she would do it because she feels the restaurant is a historical landmark.

Patel said he knows there's going to be some sadness about the Flying Bridge closing, but he thinks the public will appreciate a new hotel and restaurant in its place.

"I'm sure there's going to be a lot of fond memories of the restaurant and the hotel," Patel said. "I'm sure when those facilities are built, people will continue to enjoy the restaurant (inside the Hyatt) and the hotel.

"We can only fix an old building so many times."

- Contact staff writer Keith Rushing at (760) 901-4151 or krushing@nctimes.com.