Irv's Burgers Calling on Residents for Help

Irv's Burgers, a West Hollywood culinary institution that has lasted more than six decades, is beseeching patrons and the public for support on its website as it struggles to stay open under the spectre of "neighborhood development and gentrification."

An excerpt from the Irv's Burgers website states:

"The loss of Irv’s in West Hollywood would be another blow to our fragile Los Angeles culture. Destruction of this landmark would erase:

1) Another integral link to the Route 66 heritage
2) A classic post-World War II roadside stand
3) A genuine neighborhood eatery
4) The livelihood and future of a hardworking family"

Sonia Hong, the owner of the eatery, recently received an eviction notice. The Hong family has owned the 63-year-old hamburger shack on the corner or Santa Monica Boulevard and Sweetzer Avenue since 2000, when they invested their life savings and bought the business for $100,000.

Hong told Patch in January she was feeling pressured to relocate Irv's by associates of her new commercial neighbors. The family has been operating the eatery on a month-to-month basis since their five-year lease expired.

In a short call Tuesday, Hong told Patch that there's "no deadline right now. Everything's still up in the air. Somehow we got more time to stay." She also added things seem more "back to normal" this week after news got out regarding the eviction notice, and that she had "no idea" what she would do if she eventually had to leave.

West Hollywood designated Irv's Burgers as a "local cultural resource" in 2006.

Irv's owners are asking the public to use the text on their website to forge a letter while contacting a list of officials at the bottom of the page. To see the text as well as the list of officials, please click here.

- Diana Swartz contributed to this post.