The Original Louis Pappas Restaurant

The original Louis Pappas Restaurant in Tarpon Springs was a far cry from the one you see today. This rather modest restaurant was a frequent stop for many northerners visiting the Tampa Bay area. Located across the street from the Anclote river sponge docks, the restaurant was right in the middle of "mom and pop" gift shops famous for selling sponges, shells, canned Flordia sunshine and anything else you could print the word "Florida" on.
This photo was taken in 1972, a few years before Pappas built a brand new restaurant right on the sponge docks on the corner of Dodeconese and Alternate 19. The new restaurant was ultra modern for 1975, and would seat over 1000 people.

With the shell of the building complete, you can see how the new Louis Pappas looked in 1975, just a few months before opening up.

It looks the same today.

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