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RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS <\/p>\n
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After 30 years serving their community at 3318 Roblin Blvd., Bob and Maria Papasotiria, owners of Pappas Greek Food and Steak \u2014 pictured with family \u2014 are retiring and closing their restaurant. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Deciding to close the restaurant and sell the building wasn\u2019t easy for the couple, who have been married for nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to walk away, but you know, when you\u2019re getting old, it\u2019s not an easy thing to keep going,\u201d said Bob, 76.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to retire and finish this chapter of our life and move on to the next,\u201d added Maria, 67.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to express our deep appreciation for everybody who came through our doors and made our dream a success. They filled our hearts with a lot of joy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The husband and wife grew up together in Kyllini, a port town in Greece. Bob immigrated to Canada in 1967; Maria followed 10 years later.<\/p>\n
After settling in Brandon, they opened the first of what became three restaurants in the Westman city in 1977: Romano Pizza and two Parthenon Pizza locations.<\/p>\n
Seven years later, they sold the restaurants and moved to Portage la Prairie with their daughter, Tasha.<\/p>\n
They opened an eatery called Westos and worked seven days a week until, following the advice of a customer whose son had died in a tragic accident, they decided to close the restaurant on Sundays so they could spend time with Tasha.<\/p>\n
When Tasha started going to school in Winnipeg, Bob and Maria moved to the Manitoba capital. They opened Pappas at 3318 Roblin Blvd. on May 1, 1994, in what used to be a Bank of Montreal location. (They converted the vault into a walk-in fridge.)<\/p>\n
The Papasotirious were aided by Gord Guenther, who started assisting Bob in the kitchen when the restaurant opened, and Krista Keryluk, who helped Maria with front-of-house duties for the last 27 years. Tasha also worked at the restaurant as a teenager and young adult.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n After 30 years serving their community at 3318 Roblin Blvd., Bob and Maria Papasotiria, owners of Pappas Greek Food and Steak are retiring and closing their restaurant. On Friday, Bob was preparing one of the restaurant’s last orders.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n In a review published at the end of August 2013<\/a>, then-Free Press food critic Marion Warhaft described the service at Pappas as \u201cwarm (and) attentive,\u201d and she called the Greek specialties on the menu, such as moussaka and lamb chops, the best she\u2019d had \u201cin ages.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about memories that stand out, Maria mentions a time both simultaneously challenging and meaningful: the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Many longtime customers made a point of ordering takeout so the restaurant could keep going.<\/p>\n \u201cShe remembers everything about everybody. I don\u2019t know how she does it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople phoned and they said, \u2018How are you? Do you need anything?\u2019 That was very touching,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Tasha says, in her youth, she didn\u2019t always understand why her parents spent so much time at Pappas. That changed when she, too, started working there.<\/p>\n \u201cI ended up appreciating the restaurant, and all the sacrifices and compromises that my parents made,\u201d said the 47-year-old, who met her husband, Mathieu Brazeau, at the eatery. \u201cEverything that I was fortunate enough to experience was because of this restaurant and my parents\u2019 hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n Vicki Green visited the restaurant for lunch on Friday with her sister, Chris Belanger. Pappas closing is a loss for the neighbourhood, said Green, who has been a customer for 30 years.<\/p>\n \u201cI am so sad,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s a big part of Charleswood gone for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been in Manitoba 50 years, and there are places we haven\u2019t seen because of work \u2026 We haven\u2019t been to Hecla, we haven\u2019t been to the Whiteshell \u2013 we haven\u2019t been to so many beautiful places. So maybe we\u2019ll just tour Manitoba.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Bruce MacFarlane stopped in to eat his favourite meal \u2014 the hot chicken Greek salad \u2014 and spend time with the Papasotiriou family.<\/p>\n He and his late wife, Diane, discovered the restaurant 15 years ago, and were immediately taken by the quality of the food and Maria\u2019s warmth.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s unique in the sense that she \u2026 treats everybody like we\u2019re members of her family,\u201d MacFarlane said. \u201cShe remembers everything about everybody. I don\u2019t know how she does it.\u201d<\/p>\n The building will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a garage sale, where Bob and Maria hope to sell the restaurant\u2019s dishes, appliances and decor.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t RUTH BONNEVILLE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Sharing a quick embrace on their last day in business at Pappas Greek Food and Steak, Bob and Maria Papasotiriou, who have been serving the community for 30 years at 3318 Roblin Blvd. are retiring and closing their restaurant. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n After that, they\u2019re looking forward to a relaxing summer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been in Manitoba 50 years, and there are places we haven\u2019t seen because of work,\u201d Maria said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t been to Hecla, we haven\u2019t been to the Whiteshell \u2014 we haven\u2019t been to so many beautiful places. So maybe we\u2019ll just tour Manitoba.\u201d<\/p>\n aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Aaron Epp Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. Read more about Aaron<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Aaron produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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