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Gee Whiz opened yesterday!
Without too much fanfare, Gee Whiz opened yesterday, having been closed since mid-March, when all restaurants were required to shutter initially. The menu is the usual, which is a comfort, and seating is curbside. Hours are 9a to 9p.
The opening is of course bitter sweet, since owner Peter Panayiotou died on April 5 of the coronavirus, nine days after his former partner and owner of Tribeca’s Kitchen, Andy Koutsoudakis, also died of the virus. The partners took over the northeast corner of Warren and Greenwich in 1989, and since then played a part in nearly every neighborhood milestone — the anniversaries of PS 234, little league opening days, kids tastings at Taste of Tribeca — and many local families’ milestones as well, not to mention their regular weekly suppers. The family will run Gee Whiz moving forward.
The diner was also known for its elaborate displays at holidays, and seeing that corner dark and quiet all this time has been a daily reminder of the toll the virus took not just on the area’s businesses, but on the people who make Tribeca a real neighborhood.
Peter and Andy were the first sponsors of both Downtown Little League and Downtown Soccer League when each started in 1993, and sponsored a team every year afterwards, as the walls of the diner proved. For a couple decades the restaurant stretched halfway to Chambers, but in 2016, faced with an increase in both rent and wages, they reduced its footprint by half (Joe & the Juice now has the other half). The pair opened Tribeca’s Kitchen together in 2014, but a couple years later they split the business into the two separate restaurants and each took one, with Peter keeping Gee Whiz.
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Peter and Andy may they RIP. Both wonderful people. Hopefully both Gee Whiz and Tribeca Kitchen survive this horrible time.
Our go-to for over 16 years. We’re coming back. Spent many a before school (PS234) waffle breakfast and after school french fries and friends. So many breakfast meetings and mom mornings at Gee Whiz. Strolled by this afternoon to see the al fresco dining in full swing. Waffles tomorrow! Welcome back Gee Whiz. You’re home to us!
I love Gee Whiz and have been going there for years. Good food and always wonderful service with a big smile! So glad they have reopened following the double tragedy.
However, they need to review some of their prices. I was there this week with family – a plain spaghetti pomodoro at $19.95 competes with Il Mulino Prime’s same dish at $20.
Other items like burgers are more reasonable, so it’s not across the board but hard to understand the logic.
Welcome BACK!!!
Happy to See You OPEN
So happy you are back! My mom and I ate lunch there once a week and you are always so kind to her. Best tuna melt in town!