It's always disconcerting and frustrating when a long-standing establishment closes its doors without a word to its loyal customers. Beautiful confectioner Lukács cukrászda has graced Andrássy út since 1912, so it came as something of a surprise to reader J.F. to find that his favorite coffee shop had abruptly shut up shop without any warning. He didn't know where to turn, so he turned to Chew.hu with the following impassioned cry for help.

They have posted a sign in English indicating that they are closed "for conversion." I'm hoping this is a bad translation of "renovation" but I can't be sure as my Hungarian is not yet sophisticated enough to make sense of the sign in that language. Peering inside the dark space, I noticed that the counter that is normally home to their assortment of pastries and sandwiches has been removed entirely.

Lukacs' closure would be a major blow to many people, but particularly my girlfriend and I as we live practically around the corner and had come to depend on Lukacs as an appealing place to hang our hats on the weekend. Their sajtos pogacsa were pretty decent too.

Please let me know if you have any information about the fate of Lukacs.

Indeed we do. We found the following explanation on coffee lovers' portal Kavéházak.hu, posted by the former confectioners: "Because of an unrealistic increase in rent, Lukács has closed. In the interests of your readers, please remove the shop from your site."

Not so fast! A post by Cordes Ltd. dated January 8 says its not all over for Lukács: "Following expansion and restoration, the Lukács Cukrászda will be opening soon to and employing Hungarian and international master confectioners to continue its good name. The new owner aims to put the old classy up among the best Hungarian confectioners once again."

Let's hope so.