A "great 40 years" sign on Ben's locked door read like a closure, but the owner says the Jack London-district Chinese restaurant is only pausing for upgrades — and reopening under his son as the founding chef retires.

A handwritten sign inside the locked door at Ben's — a spare Chinese restaurant tucked into Oakland's Jack London warehouse district — thanked regulars for a "great 40 years." Read cold, it looked like the end. It isn't. David Fung, who has taken the four-decade-old room over from his father, told public station KQED this week that Ben's has only gone dark for a renovation and will be back within a few months.

The upgrades, he said, cover the dining room, restroom, floors and fire escape, with a target of reopening two or three months out. The pause also marks a generational handoff. Ben Fung, the founder whose name is on the door, has passed the business to David as he prepares to retire. His father, 76, has cooked at the restaurant since 1986. "Pops needed a break," David said. Once Ben's reopens, he plans to oversee it day to day so the older man can cut back to a few hours a shift.

For 40 years the draw was the price — Chinese and Chinese American plates that once ran about $6, cheap enough to fill the room with the district's warehouse and dock workers. A 2013 East Bay Express notice from critic Luke Tsai, now KQED's food editor, pegged it as one of Oakland's most underrated Chinese kitchens.

Neither Fung could be reached, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, and no firm reopening date has been set.