DENVER — Pete's Gyros Place, a longtime Greek diner in Denver, closed Sunday, a family member confirmed.
Nikki Phillips, the daughter of the late Pete Contos, who owned six restaurants in Colorado, said it was a very difficult decision for the family.
"We loved that location. We loved our customers, our employees," said Phillips. "It was a very difficult decision for our family to make."
Contos, who passed away in May, owned six restaurants in Denver. Those restaurants are now run by his family.
Contos first took over Pete's Gyros Place, located at 2819 E. Colfax. Ave. in the Congress Park neighborhood, in 1991. Phillips said her father had helped the previous owner open it in the early 1980s.
Phillips said Pete's Gyro's Place is in need of renovations and repairs.
"We have, as a family, made the decision that until we can do those repairs, we didn't want it to remain open in the condition it was in," Phillips said.
Phillips said the family doesn't have a timeline on when they'll be able to complete the repairs.
The family did reopen another restaurant — Central One at 300 S. Pearl St. in the Washington Park West neighborhood — on Dec. 2. Central One had been closed since August 2018 following a small kitchen fire.
"We're really happy it's reopened. He would have really wanted that," Phillips said.
The other four restaurants owned by Contos' family are:
- Satire Lounge at 1920 E. Colfax Ave.
- Pete's Kitchen at 1962 E. Colfax Ave.
- University Park Cafe at 2345 E. Evans Ave.
- Greek Town at 2910 E. Colfax Ave.
"It's been a tough year for our family without our dad around, but we're hanging on," Phillips said.
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