Little Pete's sets its closing date, throwing a party
Little Pete's building has a date this year with a wrecking ball to make way for a Hyatt Centric hotel.
Memorial Day - Monday, May 29 at 9 p.m. - will be the finale for Little Pete's, the landmark, 24-hour Center City diner at 17th and Chancellor Streets.
Little Pete's building has a date this year with a wrecking ball to make way for a Hyatt Centric hotel.
Owner Pete Koutroubas says he will throw a block party on Tuesday, May 30 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. "I want to pay tribute to my customers," he told me. "I'll put out Greek food and we'll have music."
Koutroubas and his brother John also have a Little Pete's location near the Art Museum at the Philadelphian (2401 Pennsylvania Ave.).
They have been scouting Center City for a new location, but are vexed by high rents. Pete Koutroubas says he pays $10,000 a month for his current space, and has been offered rents of $20,000 or more.
Little Pete's opened in 1978 in what was a former Dewey's. Rent at the time was $800 a month, Koutroubas said.