Farewell Tops: Iconic East Van restaurant tip its hat goodbye
Tops restaurant owner Steve Taraviras is serving his last meal Sunday after 44 years of serving breakfast, lunch and dinner to East Vancouverites.
"I came to this country in 1952 and I worked hard all my life," the 81-year-old told The Early Edition.
"I've got everything here… I have good employees. I have good family. And I say to all my customers: thank you."
In the past, Tops was open 24 hours and was a favourite for late-night eats.
Taraviras recalls groups sitting on benches outside the door waiting for a table at all hours of the day.
But he knew he couldn`t keep the doors open forever.
Sorry, we're closed
"It was hard to find employees to work [the overnight]," he said.
"Even today I have a hard time to find employees, because nobody likes to work."
He says the job's gruelling hours are why he didn't want any of his three children to take over the business.
"That's why I decide to move on. And to retire. Because my kids, they've worked since they were 12 years old and I was 50 years old," he said.
"I don't want them to stay any longer in the restaurant business."
But Tops' customers — Taraviras says nearly all of them have come back for a second visit — are sad to see it go.
"Oh, memories, memories. We all taught locally. ...We would come here for lunch," one customer eating lunch said.
"I knew [Taraviras' sons] when they were seven and eight years old and Helen [his daughter] was like five."
Time to say goodbye
Helen Taraviras agrees it is an emotional time.
"All the people that come here, they're all hugging him. They're saying goodbye. There's tears. And they love him so much," she said.
The lineup for a table Thursday was indeed filled with hugs and pats on the back between longtime customers and Taraviras.
"We've got four generations in this restaurant, four generations of customers," he said.
"I do it like anybody else does."
The busy father moved from Greece to to Canada at 16 and opened Tops after working at two other Vancouver-area restaurants.
After working so hard for so long and getting a good offer for his restaurant, Taraviras is happy to take some time for himself. First item on the agenda is soaking up some sun on the Greek beaches.
"[I'm going to] take my wife, go around the world. Enjoy the time. I didn't have this before. I can see my grand kids much better," he said.
With files from The Early Edition
To listen to the segment, click on the link labelled Tops Restaurant closes its doors after 44 years
