Papa Cristo's is a

taverna A taverna (Greek: ταβέρνα) is a small Greek restaurant that serves Greek cuisine. The taverna is an integral part of Greek culture and has become familiar to people from other countries who visit Greece, as well as through the establishmen ...

styled Greek restaurant and market located in the Byzantine-Latino Quarter across the street from Saint Sophia's Church Greek Orthodox Church in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

History

Papa Cristo's was founded in October 1948 as an importing and exporting company bringing produce from Greece. The company, which was initially called C & K Importing, was founded by Greek immigrant Sam Chrys. In 1968, Sam Chrys's son Chrys carried on the business and opened a Greek restaurant in addition to the importing business. Chrys eventually traveled across many different parts of Greece in order to attain a better understanding of Greek food and its specialties. In the 1990s, the

was opened. The restaurant uses ingredients and foods brought directly from Greece through the importing company. In 1990 the restaurant established a catering service which serves the Great Los Angeles area and

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

. In 2010 Chrys Chrys' youngest daughter Annie joined the management becoming the third generation of the family to run the business.

Restaurant

The restaurant features a "My Big Fat Greek Family-Style Dinner" every Thursday night which includes various types of entertainment including live

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

performances and

belly dancing Belly dance (Egyptian Arabic: رقص بلدي, translated: Dance of the Country/Folk Dance, romanized: Raks/Raas Baladi) is a dance that originates in Egypt. It features movements of the hips and torso. It has evolved to take many different f ...

. Due to its popularity, the event is usually sold-out. The restaurant serves many different types of Greek food and desserts including: *Chicken and lamb

Gyro Gyro may refer to: Science and technology * GYRO, a computer program for tokamak plasma simulation * Gyro Motor Company, an American aircraft engine manufacturer * ''Gyrodactylus salaris'', a parasite in salmon * Gyroscope, an orientation-stabi ...

s *

Souvlaki Souvlaki ( el, σουβλάκι, , ; plural: , ), is a popular Greek fast food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with o ...

Loukaniko Loukaniko (Greek: λουκάνικο) is a type of Greek sausage made from pork or lamb and typically flavored with orange peel, fennel seed, and various other dried herbs and seeds, and sometimes smoked over aromatic woods. They are also often ...

Falafel Falafel (; ar, فلافل, ) is a deep-fried ball or patty-shaped fritter in Middle Eastern cuisine (especially in Levantine and Egyptian cuisines) made from ground chickpeas, broad beans, or both. Nowadays, falafel is often served in a p ...

* Tsipoura *

Kefta Kofta is a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes found in Balkan cuisine, Balkan, Middle Eastern cuisine, Middle Eastern, Caucasian cuisine, South Caucasian, South Asian cuisine, South Asian and Central Asian cuisine, Central Asian cuisines. In ...

*Oktapodakia (Grilled Octopus) *

Loukoumades Lokma, also known by their Greek name, loukoumades, are pastries made of leavened and deep fried dough balls, soaked in syrup or honey, sometimes coated with cinnamon or other ingredients. The dish was described as early as the 13th century by a ...

* Taramosalata (Greek caviar) *

Gigandes plaki Gigantes plaki (Greek γίγαντες πλακί ) or Greek giant baked beans, is a Greek dish of large white beans baked in a tomato sauce. Gigantes plaki may be served as a main dish or as a meze. The beans are traditionally ''fasolia gigantes ...

Market

The market includes 3,000 imported goods from Greece such as

frappé coffee A frappé coffee, Greek frappé, Nescafé frappé, or just frappé ( el, φραπέ, , ) is a Greek iced coffee drink made from instant coffee (generally, spray-dried Nescafé), water, sugar, and milk. The word is often written frappe (without ...

, olive oil, various

ouzo Ouzo ( el, ούζο, ) is a dry anise-flavored aperitif that is widely consumed in Greece. It is made from rectified spirits that have undergone a process of distillation and flavoring. Its taste is similar to other anise liquors like pastis, s ...

spanakopita Spanakopita (; el, σπανακόπιτα, from ''spanáki'' 'spinach', and πίτα ''píta'' 'pie') is a Greek savory spinach pie. It often also contains cheese, typically feta, and may then be called spanakotiropita ( el, σπανακοτυ ...

, feta and

kasseri Kasseri or Kaşar (Greek: κασέρι, Turkish: ''kaşar''Merriam-Webster Unabridged ''kasseri''/ref>) is a medium-hard or hard pale yellow cheese made from pasteurised or unpasteurised sheep milk and at most 20% goat's milk. "Kasseri" is a pr ...

cheeses and

tiropita Tiropita or tyropita (Greek: τυρóπιτα, "cheese-pie") is a Greek pastry made with layers of buttered phyllo and filled with a cheese-egg mixture. It is served either in an individual-size free-form wrapped shape, or as a larger pie that is ...

. The market also features dozens of selections of imported Greek wine such as

Retsina Retsina ( el, Ρετσίνα) is a Greek white (or rosé) resinated wine, which has been made for at least 2,000 years. Its unique flavor is said to have originated from the practice of sealing wine vessels, particularly amphorae, with Alepp ...

and Muscat from the island of

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

. The market also features many Ethiopian foods and products.

Reception

In 2011 Papa Cristo's was awarded Best Greek Restaurant in Los Angeles by

Zagat The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering ...

. It was considered one of the top 7 family styled restaurants in Los Angeles by ABC 7 news in 2007. In 2010 ''Los Angeles'' Magazine featured Papa Cristo's Roasted Lamb and Feta sandwich as one of the top 17 great sandwiches in Los Angeles. The food appearing in the 2002 film ''

My Big Fat Greek Wedding ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' is a 2002 romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos, who also stars in the film as Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos, a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with White Anglo-Saxo ...

'' and the 2003

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

TV series ''

My Big Fat Greek Life ''My Big Fat Greek Life'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on CBS from February 24 to April 13, 2003. The series is a continuation of the 2002 movie ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' and was produced by Sony Pictures Television and Tom ...

'' was provided by Papa Cristo's. Papa Cristo's was featured in the ''Los Angeles Times'' as one of "the most delicious deals you'll find around town." In June 2020, rapper

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with ''Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single "Holla Holla". Durin ...

made a commercial for Papa Cristo's as part of the TBS reality show '' Celebrity Show-Off''. The commercial went viral on social media and helped to bring more business to the restaurant so it wouldn't fall victim to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

References

External links