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Gee Whiz’s space is now for rent
I am just dancing around this since 1) I do not have it confirmed from Chris Panayiotou and 2) I don’t want it to be true. But there are now ‘for rent’ signs at Gee Whiz, and the restaurant has not reopened since neighbors first noticed the shades pulled two weeks ago.
A neighbor who has lived in the Gee Whiz building (295 Greenwich) for decades said the staff there had been told they can remove and discard items from the restaurant. The locks were changed, and inside there are no signs of life. “It’s as if they just closed it up, removed the food, walked out, and left.” One other story was that a rent hike had made continuing untenable.
I don’t think I have to tell anyone here why this is such a loss for the neighborhood. There are so many reasons that Gee Whiz had such staying power over three decades. Peter Panayiotou and Andy Koutsoudakis opened the diner on 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. It was the site of many local families’ milestones as well (graduations, birthdays, homecomings), not to mention their regular weekly suppers.
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 two partners opened Tribeca’s Kitchen together in 2014; soon after they split the business into two and each took one restaurant.
But then the unspeakable happened when Andy died of Covid-19 on March 29, 2020, and Peter died nine days later, on April 10, 2020. It spoke to the way these men ran their businesses — greeting each customer, often by name, and always with open arms.
The sons of each of the men kept the businesses going, Andreas with Tribeca’s Kitchen and then Marathi, and Chris with Gee Whiz. But it could not have been easy. Marathi closed in 2023, but not before Andreas tried two other iterations to keep his father’s business alive. And now here we are.
It’s truly the end of an era.
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So weird! I just read about him and his thoughts on Hobby Lobby. Scroll to the end.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/business/hobby-lobby-nyc-store.html
Same. I read the article and the saw the rent signs an hour later. Very sad. There will be some chain store/bank there no doubt.
Very sad, indeed. It was my home away from home for decades when I arrived in 1991. When way too busy to cook, which was most days, it was breakfast and dinner daily. Hard to sustain rising rents and food costs by selling $25 plates of eggs and coffee. Too many options now now in the neighborhood for coffee, etc.
Terrible news. Gee Whiz is a cornerstone of my Tribeca childhood; I’m so sad i didn’t even get to have a last omelette :(
This is just awful news. I can’t imagine Tribeca without Andy and Peter—and yet, here it is. The end of an era, indeed.
Such a loss for the neighborhood, especially following the loss of Tribeca Kitchen. Solid diner food with friendly faces is still needed. We can only hope a new owner might fill the same gap in our community.
Square Diner is in the neighborhood and going strong!
Lived in the neighborhood 10+ years and really tried to give it a go, but quality was always meh. Only been once since covid- took my then 4 yr old. He had a waffle, bacon, and juice. I had an omlette, coffee, side of fruit. Was almost $75 with tip. We’ve gone to Square ever since even though its twice as far.
This is awful news. Gee Whiz was the neighborhood for me. To this day they know me and my breakfast order after 20 years. Hard to find places like this that make a neighborhood a home.
Sorry for everyone’s loss but I was never impressed. Prices were crazy high, portions way too big, low quality food, and after Covid the menu never came back. I do miss the over-the-top holiday decorations. Maybe a new smallish restaurant will go in. It’s a great location. Thst said, it’s always sad to see a high profile neighbor go.