After 37 years, Lyn-Lake's It's Greek to Me closes

After 37 years of serving dolmades, skordalia, spanakopita and shish kebob, It's Greek to Me quietly closed its doors on Sunday.

The restaurant has anchored the northeast corner of Lake St. and Lyndale Av. in south Minneapolis since 1982. It began as a storefront partnership between brothers Argyrios and Alkis Arambagjis, immigrants from Salonika, Greece, and their spouses.

"Think of it as your little Greek corner cafe, a ma and pa joint, except in this case It's Greek to Me is owned by two brothers," wrote Minneapolis Tribune critic Karin Winegar in her first take on the restaurant, shortly after it opened. (That's Argyrios, left, and Alkis, in a 1982 Star Tribune file photo).

Expansions took place over the years, as adjacent spaces became available (including the addition of one of the city's more charming off-the-sidewalk patios), and the restaurant's success certainly helped reverse the fortunes of what had been a troubled commercial district.

In 2016, the restaurant changed hands, and spouses Nick and Athena Karos took over.

"We look forward to maintaining our efforts to provide you with authentic modern Mediterranean Greek cuisine, catering, and our merchandise at a new location, to be announced in the near future," reads an announcement on the restaurant's website.