Anchorage’s Marx Bros. Cafe is closing after nearly half a century. For many diners, it marks the end of an era.

The Marx Bros. Cafe, a legend in Alaska’s culinary scene, will close at the end of August after 45 years in business.

The founders, sommelier Van Hale and chef Jack Amon, said life is passing quickly. They want to enjoy time with family while they still can.

Longtime fans of the restaurant say the closure will leave a giant hole in Anchorage’s restaurant scene.

They say Hale and Amon set the standard for fine dining in Alaska, providing impeccable cuisine, service and wine.

When the two business partners opened Marx Bros. in a historic house along Third Avenue in downtown Anchorage in 1979, they aimed high, hoping to build a landmark establishment in Alaska’s restaurant industry.

At the time, young people were moving into the state, getting jobs in the booming oil industry. They made up the restaurant’s early customer base.

“We wanted to have a place in Alaska that stood up to anywhere else,” Amon said. “We’ve always felt if we’re not getting better, we’re going backwards.”

But running a business is all-consuming, and they’ve reached a stage in their life where they’re ready to retire, he said.

“We’re both over 70, and we wanted to have some years of freedom while we could still walk around,” Amon said.

Hale said he wants time to relax, including traveling with family in a motorhome he keeps in the Lower 48.

“But I’ll never leave Alaska,” he said.

‘This one hurts’

After announcing their plans on Facebook recently, longtime patrons have raced to reserve one last dinner.

Marx Bros. is booked solid through Aug. 31. There’s a waiting list of several dozen standbys in case anyone drops out.

“We’re just blown away,” Hale said.

The cozy restaurant has just 14 tables.

But it’s serving close to 100 meals nightly.

“If it had always been like this, we would have retired 10 years ago,” Amon joked.

Their goodbye Facebook post generated an outpouring of tributes.

Many people recounted their first meal or favorite dish at Marx Bros., as if it they’d eaten it yesterday.

“Oh, I remember when my mother brought my sisters and I there when we were in high school 40 years ago!” one wrote. “It was the best food! You will be missed for sure!”

“My first dinner at Marx Bros was to celebrate a 5-year wedding anniversary … that was in 1990! Thank you for providing the most incredible memories, wine, and delectable dinners over the years!” another wrote.

“This is a true loss for Anchorage. This one hurts,” someone else wrote.

Anchorage resident Barbara Britch said in an interview that she remembers eating pears Helene for the first time there in the mid-1980s. Later, she and her husband ate at Marx Bros. for anniversaries and other special occasions.

“I still have a very clear memory of their pears Helene,” she said. “The presentation was perfect. The pear was poached to perfection, and it had chocolate sauce on it. And I was blown away by the combination of pear and chocolate.”

Ordering Van’s Caesar salad was another highlight in part because it’s prepared table-side.

“So you could smell it as they prepared it and it smells lovely,” she said. “And they do it right at the table, so it’s showmanship as much as good eating.”

The community reaction to news of the closing has been heartwarming, the owners said.

“It’s very moving to me,” Hale said, his voice faltering. “I mean, I get choked up.”

Over the years, they’ve seen customers who had first dates at Marx Bros. go on to get married, then book tables for anniversary meals for decades. Later, the kids of those couples came in for special events, like high school prom nights.

“It’s very gratifying to see the emotional connection that people have with the place and what we’ve meant to them,” Amon said.

‘A theatrical experience’

On Thursday afternoon, Amon visited the kitchen to check on preparations before the night’s rush.

A chef pulled tins of chocolate macadamia tortes from the oven. They would soon be covered with chocolate ganache and amaretto creme anglaise.

In another oven, Peking-style ducks were being smoked above steaming black tea. They’d be served with coriander-scented rice and vegetable stir fry.

Every dish at the restaurant involves extensive preparation, Amon said.

A popular choice lately has been a special, the Olympia-style, Alaska king crab-crusted halibut.

The restaurant still serves signature dishes, too, like macadamia-crusted halibut and Neapolitan seafood mousse made with smoked salmon and smoked halibut, Maine lobster and caviar, served on brioche toast.

Hale and Amon were young men in the 1970s when they started out together selling their so-called Spaceway Sausages at fairs. They were sandwiches made from Alaska reindeer sausage.

Later, they built a catering kitchen in a storage room at a bar called The Jade Room, selling gourmet dinners.

They moved out as soon as Hale found the historic cottage going up for sale.

A dispute with the owner of The Jade Room, as they removed their stove, led to a visit from the police. The scene reminded them of the Marx Brothers movie “A Night at the Opera” — thus the restaurant’s name.

Marx Bros. stood out from competitors in part by offering an ethnic-fusion menu that was unusual at the time, Amon said.

It served fresh Alaska food as much as possible, especially salmon and other seafood. The menu constantly evolved, with new dishes added regularly.

The service staff was among the best in town, Amon said. That’s been key to the restaurant’s success, he said.

So has their approach to dining, they said.

“I always say dining is like making love,” Hale said. “You take a long time and enjoy it.”

“I’ve always looked at fine dining as a theatrical experience,” Amon said. “It’s entertainment. And if you’re coming for your birthday or your anniversary, you want to feel special. And in a little place like this, we can offer that personal service.”

They said the restaurant created opportunities they never imagined.

Celebrities ate there, including Steven Seagal and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor a couple of years ago.

The business partners became celebrities of sorts in the food world, appearing as guest chefs on the Food Channel and at the James Beard House in New York.

Hale helped create the 10 Chefs for Causes group, featuring Anchorage chefs who have raised more than $2 million for charitable causes. He’s traveled the world learning about wines and appeared in the film “Sour Grapes,” a documentary about the rare wine auction market.

Amon said he’s proud that he brought the ProStart program, which trains high school students in culinary careers, to Alaska. He worked with U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens to win a federal grant for it when Amon served on the National Restaurant Association board.

‘Everybody else was a follower’

Restaurateur Chris Anderson said Marx Bros. has always been the restaurant to emulate in Alaska.

“They led the restaurant industry in the state of Alaska with what they did, and everybody else was a follower,” said Anderson, former co-owner of Orso and Glacier Brewhouse.

He said they’ve helped train and support cooks, restaurant owners and others in the industry who have had successful careers of their own.

“They helped hundreds of people in this industry and inspired them,” Anderson said.

Former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell said he’s a longtime fan of Marx Bros., after he and Amon became roommates in the 1980s.

Anchorage has other great, high-quality restaurants. But Marx Bros. always stood out as special, he said.

It wasn’t cheap, but it was always worth it, he said.

Treadwell said he’s on the restaurant’s long standby waiting list, hoping for a reservation that might never come.

It’s always been tough to get a reservation, Treadwell said. Years ago, someone created buttons that proclaimed “I know Van,” he said. The hope was the buttons would help them get a table.

“It’s an end of an era,” he said. “It means it won’t be as easy finding an intimate restaurant in Anchorage where you know the proprietor, trust the wine list and totally trust the food.”