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After 77 years on the corner of Pico and Normandie, legendary Los Angeles Greek restaurant and market Papa Cristo’s is closing permanently . The restaurant will serve its last spanakopita and gyros on May 4. Chrys Chrys, the owner of Papa Cristo’s confirmed the closure in a statement on Instagram on April 3, writing, “After 77 unforgettable years on the corner of Pico and Normandie, it’s time for me to hang up my apron and for us to say goodbye (for now).
” LAist reports that Chrys pointed to rising rent costs as the ultimate reason for the closure. The building that houses Papa Cristo’s is listed for sale on LoopNet for $5.2 million .
Eater has reached out to Papa Cristo’s and the building’s real estate broker for further comment. Sam Chrys, Chrys’s father, first opened C & K Importing Company in 1948 to bring food and wine over from Greece to offer to the Los Angeles community. In 1968, Chrys Chrys bought the business from his father with a dream of opening a restaurant.
In the early 1990s, the restaurant arm of Papa Cristo’s was born. The restaurant and market have always operated in relation to each other, with the kitchen preparing dishes like tzatziki, moussaka, avgolemono, and baklava with ingredients from the market. In 2010, Chrys Chrys’s daughter Annie joined the business, operating it alongside her father and grandparents.
The year 2020 saw what may have been a move to modernize — or appeal to nostalgic millennials: Ja Rule was featured in an advertisement for Papa Cristo’s, in which the rapper tried to pronounce dishes from the restaurant’s menu over a green-screened photo of the food. Over the years, Papa Cristo’s became an essential part of Los Angeles’s restaurant scene, feeding generations of those looking for a taste of the Aegean — for decades, the restaurant provided space and lunch for church-goers after service at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral across the street.
“I have been blessed to carry on my father’s legacy as C&K, and Papa Cristo’s grew into a place where flavors, friendships, families, and memories came together under one roof,” Chrys writes in the statement. A post shared by Papa Cristo’s Greek Food (@papacristos) While Papa Cristo’s is on the precipice of closing, Kim Cooper, a preservationist who runs Esotouric Tours with her co-owner and husband Richard Schave, still holds speculative optimism for the restaurant’s future. She says there could be a chance the cathedral across the street will purchase the building, allowing the restaurant to continue operating there.
“Papa Cristo’s is so deeply connected to the cathedral across the street,” she writes to Eater LA. “So the discussion of how to save it will happen naturally when everyone goes to eat after Sunday services.” Cooper also points to SB4, a law that helps streamline the process for religious organizations and nonprofit colleges to develop affordable housing on their properties, as a way that the cathedral could help keep Papa Cristo’s alive as an anchor business.
She notes that some local organizations are already working to see how the law could apply to historic properties. A representative for St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral tells Eater LA that its involvement in any proposed sale is just a “rumor” and cannot be “substantiated.
” It seems like Papa Cristo’s isn’t fully ready to say goodbye. At the end of his statement, Chrys writes: “The story of Papa Cristo’s doesn’t end here — exciting things are coming.” This year has already seen the loss of 101-year-old Los Angeles diner Original Pantry Cafe , 41-year-old Highland Park mariscos truck El Mar Azul , and 18-year-old La Grande Orange .
As more foundational Los Angeles restaurants close due to rising costs, slow business, and aging owners, the city’s old-school restaurant scene may soon become unrecognizable to those who have lived here for decades. Update: April 4, 2025: 8:35 a.m.
: This story has been updated to include comment from St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Sign up for our newsletter.
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