The Greek institution on May 4 will serve its songs of the Last Flame Barbecue Lamb, the Last Pillow Potatoes and Saganaki Swan. 77 years later, family restaurant Papa Cristo is closing, with its buildings for sale.
For decades, the Greek market in 1948 began to expand to mature restaurants and community staples. It was Angelenos’s joint generations flocking to the edge of Pico-Union, for the specialty goods and Greek feasts of the three generations of the Chrys family. This restaurant has become the heart of the unofficial Byzantine-Latino quarterIt is a small historical and cultural district, as well as the nearby Hagia Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral.
“It’s finally time to the point where we decided to comply with the terms,” said Mark Yordon, cousin of owner Chrys Chrys. “We’re not going to wait for the buyer to come in and say, ‘Okay, I’m going to turn it into a hotel.’ Transparent
Yordon refuses to confirm that rent increases affects the closure decision, but Chrys Tell Laist Risks are the culprit. “The rent is too high, and we can’t do anything about it. …The tenant is the landlord’s pawn.”
Yordon, who serves as general manager, said the family made a decision when they learned the building had been sold. Papa Cristo’s plot is for mixed use or high-density residential purposes and is currently listed at $5.2 million.
Its listing agent could not be contacted for comment.
“The whole corner is for sale and never for sale,” Yordon said. “It belongs to the same Greek family as Dad Chrys and Current [lot] The owner’s grandfather. It dates back to 1948. ”
Los Angeles Agency
Sam Chrys founded Papa Cristo of C&K Importing Co. in 1948. The market sells imported Greek food and wine and continues to do so along with the wider Mediterranean and European specialty goods.
In 1968, Chrys Chrys bought the business from his father and eventually took over an adjacent burger stand to transform it into a bistro for daddy Papa Cristo.
Annie Chrys was on Papa Cristo’s left, Chrys Chrys and Mark Yordon in 2016.
(Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times)
The generous portion and joyful environment made Papa Cristo’s Papa Cristo a decades-long community and far beyond that, and in 2010, Chrys’s youngest daughter Annie joined the trade.
The past few years have not been so easy for Papa Cristo, and like many local businesses, revenues have dropped sharply during the pandemic. But the market allows some sales to continue, and the restaurant’s catering business (Yordon) is mainly supervised – making the family business and its employees hired.
Inflation led to smaller profit margins over the next few years. Now, with the arrival of tariffs, Yordon muses: “Maybe this is a good time.”
Since the news came, fans have flowed into restaurants and markets. Hundreds of online comments are shouting for someone to save the business.
In the future, Papa Cristo is open in smaller locations elsewhere, although Yordon says fate will be decided by his cousin and niece. Chrys, 80, may also take this opportunity to retire.
“He’s kind of hit his limit,” Yordon said. “The head with the crown is heavy.”
But Chrys’ public statement on Thursday hinted that this may not be the end of Daddy Cristo. He posted on the restaurant’s Instagram page, saying, “At the corner of Pico and Normandie, at the corner of Pico and Normandie, it’s time for me to hang up an apron and say goodbye.”
More classic restaurant struggles
Over the past few weeks, some of the city’s longest and most precious restaurants have announced a fight for survival or direct closure. Chili John’s, of Burbank, recently launched a fundraising campaign to help keep business in circulation. owner Said last month They may close sales in the coming months.
Early dinner special at Du-Par’s at the original farmer’s market.
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
Recently, Du-Par’s CEO said the restaurant founded in 1938 is also struggling with it, known for its hot cakes in the corner of the original farmers’ market. Frances Tario Tell “Los Angeles” within a minute podcaster Evan Lovett, Immigration Repression, Increase egg price and loss of business January wildfire in the city Injured one of the oldest surviving restaurants in the city. Tario could not be contacted for comment.
French restaurant Le Petit last week Close forever In a series of West Hollywood shutters. Last month, after 101 years of service, Original food pantry close and Leaving Angelenos.
Customers line up in the rain in line on tables in the original pantry cafe in February.
(Nick Agro/Times)
Newer restaurants are also closed in a quick clip, with many Notable close In the first half of the year, it included guerrilla tacos, Cosa Buona, Sage and Wexler at the Grand Central Market.
“It’s a real avalanche,” said local historian and tour guide Kim Cooper. “Many factors pile up on each other and people made very difficult decisions.”
Cooper runs walking tours and historic company Esotouric with husband Richard Schave. The two of them have been customers of the restaurant for many years.
Especially given the closure and struggle of some of the city’s oldest restaurants, Schave and Cooper want to see more local and state plans to help traditional businesses and support them before it’s too late.
The two raised two potential situations that could save the restaurant. They say maybe the NSW law SB 4 aimed at helping faith-based organizations build affordable housing, which could help the surrounding Greek Orthodox community build deep connections with Papa Cristo to develop that number.
Or, they say, with historic restaurateurs can buy the business from the Chrys family and hopefully ensure it survives, as Marc Rose and Med Med did for Fairfax restaurant Genghis Cohen Carry out your own land sales and relocation.
“It often goes too far when people who love these places hear they’re in trouble and they announce the closure,” Cooper said. “It feels like Los Angeles is disappearing. We have to save it.”
