Bewley’s Café on Grafton Street has poured its last cup of coffee until September.
It's shut its doors for at least six months for a major refurbishment, costing an estimated €1M.
All 140 staff are being laid off - half of them will be re-hired when it opens again later this year.
Only the ground-floor of the building will be open to the public after the refurbishment, and the cafe's menu will be much smaller.
In a bid to reduce losses, the company intends to focus on serving hot drinks and cakes rather than hot meals.
Bewley’s Chief Executive John Cahill said "We have a choice of either permanent closure or investing in a realignment and rejuvenation of the cafe."
“We have chosen to underpin its future sustainability through a restructuring plan involving further investment and improvement", he added.
Despite its best efforts to get out of it, Bewley’s is still tied into a costly upward-only rent review contract.
