When do we stop calling it "Greektown"? (DTW)

[coney with everything]

Heard today that Laikon Cafe is closing, so the casino can tear down the building for a walkway.
http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthre...

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

Laikon was our gyros go-to. This sucks.

Are there any actual Greek restaurants left?

[SandraLewis]

Ugh. I'm sure demolishing the rich ethnic history that we all love was not the intent when they approved the casinos but it's certainly sad to see that happening.

[xman887]

history http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/detroit/d12.htm

here is a list of places, but it is an old list and a lot are gone http://www.restaurantica.com/neighbou...

and the casino is going to build another giant deck...

[jjspw]

So the only Greek restaurants left are:
- Pegasus
- New Parthenon
- Golden Fleece
Or have some of the above closed as well?

From what I've heard about the history of Greektown, some Greek immigrants settled there and established businesses around the 1920s, thus coining the area "Greektown". But by the 1950s/1960s, unsafe streets had driven most of the Greeks out of the area. Not wanting to lose "Greektown", however, the Detroit Greek community sort of rallied together to get better lighting/safety in that neighborhood so that the Greek heritage of the area could remain.

Seems like they could use another push to keep the Greek history alive there, otherwise the whole neighborhood will just turn into a casino-driven circus.

[trapani]

I've always been struck by how lame Greek restarants in Greektown (& metro Detroit) compared to the quality/variety in Chicago's Greektown.
On Detroit's Greeks, Jeffrey Eugenides' novel MIDDLESEX is instructive--and an amazing trip through the city's history c. 1920-80.

[tokyo]

This is sad. On a recent visit to the city, I took a group of friends to Greektown for the first time in several years. I was looking for Cyprus, or New Hellas, or... Greektown. I had already eaten, so they picked the place. It might have been the Golden Fleece? I remember liking the dark, cozy, old interior and they all liked the gyros and kabobs, but it wasn't out of the ordinary. I was so disappointed with the jumble of establishments that have taken over the area. Cold Stone Creamery?? Sigh...

[syrup09]

Was there ever a Greek community in that area, even years ago? I don't think Detroit ever had a really large Chinatown, (there might of been a small one near the Cass Corridor.)

[gooddog]

Well there's a giant 100-year old Greek Orthodox church at the end of the block so I'm guessing yes there was a Greek community in that area.

www.annunciationcathedral.org

[syrup09]

The only Greek Orthodox in the area I know about in the Detroit area is the one off of Woodward near Long Lake. I also know there's a Syrian Orthodox Chuch on Lasher near Ten Mile, close to Southfield High School, (Go Bluejays.)

[coney with everything]

Lots of Greek Orthodox in this area...I've been to a Greek Orthodox funeral in SCS, a GO wedding in Westland, and there's a good size church in Troy that does a festival yearly.