A crowd gathers for the last business day lunch inside the market building on Friday, when only eight vendors were still open.

Adel Eltawansy, owner of Zorba Restaurant, talks to one of his customers as he prepares lunches during a busy Friday.

Photos by ERIC BRADY The Roanoke Times

A sign at New York Subs chronicles the uncertainty that some of the Roanoke City Market Building vendors face when it closes today.

The lines for food at Roanoke's City Market Building snaked longer on its next-to-last day before closing than they have for months.

Downtown workers and foodies waited to get a last taste of their favorite dishes -- pho soup from Hong Kong, Jamaican Joe's from Zorba, the ultimate cheesesteak from New York Subs, Cuban beef hash from Paradiso -- before the building closes for a multimonth renovation that will end next Memorial Day, at the earliest.

Many vendors in the building have already left. A sign that adorns the side facing Campbell Avenue lists 16 businesses, but only eight of them were still open on Friday. Some, such as Seeds of Light and Burger in the Square, have relocated to new spots in the Roanoke Valley, while others have shut down altogether.

Some have come up with plans only in the last few days and weeks.

Gone CoCo and Azar Jewelry will share space a block away at 302 Market St.

"The other store is going to be ready by the end of this week," manager Tony Azar said. "Next week we'll start moving. The process should take three to four days," with the store opening soon after.

Adel Eltawansy of Zorba Restaurant will be cooking breakfast and lunch at Bobbi-Jo's, on Lynchburg Turnpike in Salem. He's not transporting his menu from Zorba there intact, he said, but he plans to incorporate some of his specialities into the mix.

"I'm planning to come back to the market" when it reopens, Eltawansy said. "Zorba needs Zorba, and I can't be in two places at the same time."

Juan Garcia, who with his wife owns Paradiso Cuban Restaurant, is still finalizing his plans. He's considered opening a restaurant in Key West, Fla., but doesn't know whether the logistics will work.

In the meantime, Garcia is traveling to follow his film "To Dream of Cuba" -- a documentary about singer Israel Kantor Sardinas and his unsuccessful attempt to return to Cuba after being exiled in 1983 -- to film festivals, including one in California in two weeks. He's also pursuing painting and has produced a series of colorful images that blend cubism, modernism and other styles to make political and personal statements.

Next to Paradiso, the owners of New York Subs have posted a sign: "Don't ask, 'What are you going to do?' We have no idea. Let us know of any employment opportunities. Last day 4th."

Suttie Economy, who as a child fetched meat from the old market building for his uncle's lunch stand, said he felt sorry to see the market building close, even temporarily.

"They worked hard for what they've got," Economy said of the vendors, "and now they're getting kicked out."

Once the building is closed, vendors will have several days to remove their equipment and supplies before MB Contractors -- a local firm -- begins work on the project. All told, the top-to-bottom renovation, which includes replacement of the building's plumbing and sewer lines, is expected to cost about $6.4 million.

During that time, Wall Street and Market Street will mostly remain open, although they'll be periodically closed because of utility work, and the rows of diagonal parking along the market building will be gone for good (plans call for parallel parking on both sides of each street).

If things go according to schedule, vendors will be able to move back to the building for a reopening about Memorial Day next year.

Economy said that despite his frustration with the building's closing, he'll be back to check it out when it reopens: "Yeah, I'll come back and see if I like it."