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Comment by tlb | Hacker News Reader

Sad. I have fond memories of the place through grad school, Viaweb, and the beginnings of Y Combinator.

It was notable for unreliable service. About 70% of the things you ordered would actually arrive at your table. But the atmos was great, and the ibrik coffee was strong.

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You'll be glad to know its (well earned) reputation for unreliable service survived to the end. Algiers was an institution and will be sorely missed.

While I've never lived in Boston Cambrigde, my friends would take me here every time I visited them at Harvard. It was a place with an unique atmosphere. Sad to see it go. Woodside bakery and cafe is now gone after 40+ years (landlords wouldn't even give them the chance to renew). It's sad to lose community gathering spots.

I don't see the big deal. It's just a restaurant, it will be replaced by another one, and even if not why does it matter?

Routine and nostalgia are both very powerful.

When institutions die, they take some of our memories with them. Without any cues to recall the old memory, it becomes a sort of neural dark matter that lingers within us but can never be accessed. Because people strongly tie their identities to their memories, in a way we lose a part of ourselves. Old friends and family can help here, providing throwbacks that revive memories on the brink.

While not a Havard alum myself there were traditions and parallel institutions at my alma matter that existed long before my grandparents did.

There's something to be said about the culture that these places provide and the atmosphere that is forever lost when they close.

Something might replace, something may not, but the tradition will be reset.

>It's just a restaurant. As opposed to being what, a nuclear reactor? I'm curious what type of institutions you consider important, and see if there are any parallels between those and a restaurant.

It has sentimental value to some people

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