April 28. 2010 1:02AM

Casino changes landscape Greektown catering to changing tastes

Jaclyn Trop and Jennifer Youssef / The Detroit News

The face of Greektown is changing as some longtime Greek restaurants have closed, and other spots in the downtown commercial district have been replaced by non-Greek establishments. Although most new eateries remain Greek-owned, the turnover has sparked a debate in the community about whether the two-block district on Monroe Street is headed in the right direction.
The area is becoming younger, hipper and more modern, said Athina Papas, 29, whose family founded many Greektown establishments, including Pegasus restaurant, the Atheneum Suite Hotel and Greektown Casino. Five years ago, Papas and her twin sister, Stella, opened Mosaic, a fine-dining restaurant offering "world cuisine" from sushi to saganaki.
Though initially criticized by other merchants and restaurateurs for "not being Greek enough," Mosaic offers what the next generation wants out of a Greektown outing, Papas said.
Merchants have had mixed reactions to the neighborhood's most dramatic change, the arrival of Greektown Casino 10 years ago. Some say the casino has helped attract a more diverse clientele; other restaurateurs say the gaming hall has put them out of business or forced them to reinvent their eateries with American fare.
Vassos Argustis, owner of Cyprus Taverna, is closing his doors this month after struggling to make money for the past three years. He said the casino and the Michigan Gaming Control Board contributed to his restaurant's demise.
Greektown Casino, he said, poached many of his customers with its cheaply priced buffet and free parking garage for customers visiting the strip. He also said the gaming board has asked for years that he get a gaming license for the eatery to accept casino comps.
"Why do I need a license to serve lamb chops?" he said. "These people destroyed us."
Greektown is changing "day by day," said Argustis, 73, who adds he may open a restaurant in the suburbs.
Greektown Casino insists its presence has supported local businesses. It provides $6.6 million annually to surrounding restaurants participating in its comp program, said Cliff Vallier, CEO of Greektown Casino.
"We view our role in the neighborhood as ... a first-class entertainment stop for people who are also encouraged to enjoy the entire Greektown experience," Vallier said.
'Enough is enough'
Another casualty is Nikiforos Flevotomis, 62, who said he was forced to close his Greektown eatery, Olympia, in June when he said the casino told him it might not renew his lease. He had owned the business since 1983, and sales had slowed since the economy declined several years ago.
"I decided enough is enough," Flevotomis said. "I didn't want to retire, but I was kind of forced to."
Besides, he said, with so many Greek restaurants, stores and churches in the suburbs, few Greeks come to Greektown to eat, shop or worship anymore. And suburban Greek business owners are comfortable where they are, Flevotomis said.
Yet Greektown is growing as an entertainment district for non-Greeks, local observers said.
"Other than the Coney Island, where else can you go at 2 a.m. and feel comfortable in this city?" said Jim Bieri, president of Bieri Co., a national retail brokerage and consulting firm based in Detroit.
The area's increasing popularity means that rents will probably rise during the next five years, he added.
"I don't think McDonald's or Burger King will ever move down here, but we won't push people away (just) because we're in Greektown," said Yanni Dionisopoulos, 28, whose parents opened Greektown's oldest surviving restaurant, Golden Fleece, in 1971.
Dionisopoulos, an officer with the Greektown Merchants Association, said the area is on the rebound after a two-year downturn. The association is preparing to revamp the streetscape with new sidewalks and lighting as well as offer more outdoor seating and street closures on certain days.
Greektown has strong name recognition among suburbanites and is better known than the ethnic enclaves of Corktown and Mexicantown, according to a recent survey by Clarkston-based market researcher Intellitrends.
More residents were familiar with getting to Greektown (78 percent) than Hart Plaza (75 percent) and the riverfront (72 percent).
"There's nowhere like Greektown in southeast Michigan, and it's been that way for generations," said Ann Lang, president of the Downtown Detroit Partnership.
That's how Tasso and Michael Teftsis, owners of Astoria Bakery in Greektown, felt when they decided to put Red Smoke Barbeque in the formerly empty space next to Cyprus Taverna.
When they surveyed their customers about what kind of business they would " Tasso Teftsis said. like to see there, "they all said, 'No Greek food,'
The barbecue business isn't out of place in Greektown, Tasso Teftsis said, adding that merchants are open to new non-Greek businesses as long as they maintain the property and keep the neighborhood thriving.
It's a sentiment echoed by Jamal Warner, a lifelong Detroiter, who said he likes seeing new businesses open in the city, regardless of the owners' ethnicity or what they sell.
"There's a little bit of this and a little bit of that," said Warner, 45. "They're all here to make Detroit better."
Though the commercial district is constantly evolving, the changes haven't eroded the area's Greek character, said Ernie Zachary, a Detroit-based urban planner who worked at his family's Greektown business in the 1950s.
"In the minds of the Greek community, Greektown is still the center of the community," Zachary said.
Five Guys welcomed
Still, Dino Stathis, whose store Athens Gift & Music has been in his family since 1929, is ambivalent about Greektown's evolution.
"I hate to see the Greek flavor being diluted, but I guess that's progress," he said.
Besides, Stathis said, Greek neighborhoods in other cities such as New York and Chicago have maintained their identity despite change.
The newest business on the block, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, which opened last month, is not Greek-owned but has received a warm welcome from merchants nevertheless, co-owner Brian Adelman said.
Adelman chose Greektown because of its foot traffic and proximity to the People Mover and sports arenas.
"Greektown doesn't need another Greek restaurant," he said. "This is just something different; another reason (for people) to come to Greektown."

jtrop@detnews.com (313) 222-2300

One Response to “Casino changes landscape Greektown catering to changing tastes”

1. Catering Michigan says:

   August 13, 2010 at 9:21 am

   I was in the area of greektown the otherday. I will agree that the area is a lot more cleaner now. A few years ago I went to a ball game and parked at greektown, it looks so much different now compared to then. This is a good thing though.