On Tuesday, the eatery is scheduled to have an eviction hearing Tuesday. Suehiro’s owner Kenji Suzuki says his landlord Anthony Sperl last year asked for a $100,000 rental renewal and raised the monthly rent from $6,400 dollars to $10,000, then stopped cashing rent checks and started eviction proceedings.

Suzuki, whose mother opened the restaurant in 1972, said at first he stayed quiet about his eviction woes. But as patrons and activists expressed outrage and concern about the loss of Little Tokyo businesses like his to the pandemic and gentrification, he changed his mind.