Photo: Oset Babür-Winter
All of downtown Manhattan awoke this morning to some troubling news: Overnight, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance had seized Dimes Square Greek mainstay Kiki’s. “Before there was Dimes Square,” wrote one commenter, “there was Kiki’s….”
Owners haven’t responded to multiple attempts to get in touch, but according to the publicly available information from NYS, 12 separate tax warrants are open for Chinatown Greek Food Services, an LLC that includes Kiki’s, with outstanding balances that total $1,064,793.25. There are, additionally, outstanding personal-income taxes from one of the LLC’s owners, Pavlos Sierros, and separate warrants with a balance totaling $195,679.48 have been filed against another owner, Kiki Karamintzas. (Kiki’s neighboring sister restaurant, Forgtmenot, appears to be unaffected by the closure, which is good news for anyone planning to watch the World Cup there.)
By midday, the bright-orange seizure flyers around the restaurant’s exterior were accompanied by cheerful, all-caps hand-drawn posters reading, “Kiki’s open across the street,” as well as at least one plea: “Mamdani please help them!!!
Temporary or otherwise, the closure hasn’t affected business: Guests had no trouble migrating to the unmarked Kiki’s annex across the street and appeared wholly unbothered by the ordeal during lunch service with bowls of feta and cucumber salad and Greek fries on most tables. When asked for comment, the staff, who appeared unaware of what was happening at the main Kiki’s, simply responded, “We are open” — as in, here — “across the street.” (They also declined to offer any insight into whether the closure would be temporary.)
But as one neighborhood local explained, “This has always been the overflow space for Kiki’s, it was actually their original location. If you come from Thursday through Sunday, this is where people are at.”
Depending on how things shake out at the main location, it might be where the people are permanently, but reaction to the closing news has been mixed online: “Was never a fan of the place: very small portions for the price. Went with a group but needed to order more food so we got their meat platter which was 75% fries and pita and barely any protein,” wrote one Reddit user.
Another responded, “I’ve found the exact opposite to be true — I’ve never really loved the food, but always found the prices reasonable and have never felt ripped off. Hell, you can still get a sub-$30 liter of wine in 2026.” Maybe not for long: Yes, you can get the same souvlaki and saganaki in a slightly different setting, but those prices might have to bump up a bit to cover those taxes.
Photo: Oset Babür-Winter
