George’s Greek Cafe on Pine Avenue in Downtown Long Beach—the definitive space that was sold to new owners nearly two years ago so the Loizides family can focus solely on their Belmont Shore location—has been told by the county sheriff to vacate. This means it will permanently shutter no later than May 1.
Even amid salacious and disheartening allegations—from employees, who had been there for decades, having checks bounce to a backlog of some $180,000 in rent unpaid to vendors no longer doing business with them for months… Even amidst this, there sits an even deeper tragedy behind its closure. And that is that its current owners care to have zero reflection of the spirit and communal care George Loizides had for Downtown, especially Pine Avenue.
His daughter, Nicky, is the sole bearer of her parents’ lifelong effort to achieve success in the States. She currently holds down the family name at George’s on 2nd after having to sell both the Downtown and Lakewood locations following the death of George in October of 2019 and, a week later, his wife, Rodoula, known as “Mama Rodou.” With the loss of their parents and a brother unable to work due to a lung transplant, Nicky and her brother Jimmy didn’t have the bandwidth to run all three locations.
“My feelings are all over the place because Pine Avenue was my father for me,” Nicky said. “And in this strange sense, I am relieved. I am relieved it is closed. And that’s because of how disrespectful it is to my parents’ legacy. I’ve never wished anyone to not succeed but when you have no moral compass, it is hard to not feel a sense of relief because you can better protect what you and your family have taken decades to build.”
George’s Greek Cafe might have ended on a horrible closing note—but few will forget his impact on Pine Avenue.
George Loizides was synonymous with Downtown Long Beach, especially Pine Avenue. After all, there once stood a cardboard cut-out of the man in front of the Pine Avenue location so guests can “hug” him when he would take his annual trip of respite to the motherland.
George and his wife Rodou, both Greek Cypriot immigrants, moved to Long Beach from Zimbabwe in 1980 with three children and little more than $500. Upon arrival in our city, George would take two buses to get to his job at a liquor store, while his wife worked as a cafeteria attendant at Wilson High School.
And, amidst the family saving penny by penny, opened what was then called George’s Greek Deli on Dec. 20, 1999. It was on the east side of Pine Avenue, directly next to the Farmers & Merchants Bank, where Omelette Inn currently resides. Over the next 20 years, it would move to a different location—the one it became known for at Pine and Broadway—and become George’s Greek Cafe, opening a second location in Belmont Shore in 2006 (that the family still operates under Nicky), and another in Lakewood two years later (that is now owned by a stellar operator, albeit not within the Loizides family).
Even when George’s health declined, putting him on hospice and with a newfound sense of freedom given a formal detachment from the restaurant, his children encouraged him to travel. Europe? Asia? Latin America? No. He would just want to be taken to the restaurant.
George Loizides’s spirit lives at George’s on 2nd in Belmont Shore.
For those that are either missing the original George’s or want to experience what they might have missed on Pine, look no further than George’s on 2nd. Operated under the tenure of Nicky, the space has been with the family since 2006. It continues to introduce many first timers and return customers to the wonders of saganaki and kleftiko, spanakopita and pastitso…
“This is all I have left of my parents,” Nicky said. “And I need to keep our name uplifted. I need to make sure people know that my heart and soul are in this restaurant and I want it to succeed because I want to keep my parents’ legacy alive.”
“Heart and soul” is putting it lightly: Nearly every damn day of the week, you will find Nicky grasping her father’s spirit with a face-forward attitude at the restaurant. She greets. And buses. And takes orders. She pours wine. She delivers plates. And, appropriately, she changed its name from “George’s Greek Cafe” to simply “George’s on 2nd.”
“As long as I am here, so will the spirits of my parents,” Nicky said.
Can we get an amen?
George’s on 2nd is located at 5316 E. 2nd St.
