Plates and salt and pepper shakers sat untouched atop Souvlaki Greek Cuisine’s tables as a sheriff’s deputy and two contract workers busted open the restaurant’s locks Monday morning.

Their footprints across the carefully decorated white interior were among the first inside the family-run restaurant in months, after the space in Hampden quietly closed amid an ongoing rent dispute. It’s a depressing turn of events for the community, according to the neighborhood’s permit savant and former Hampden resident Lou Catelli, who stopped to peer into Souvlaki’s windows shortly before authorities arrived to evict the business.

Known as the go-to neighborhood spot for gyros and Greek platters, Souvlaki opened in Hampden more than a decade ago with plans to fill a void in quality takeaway Greek food. Dimitrios Taramas and his family quickly found success by leaning on fresh ingredients and traditional family recipes.

In recent years, the 700-square-foot spot at 1103 W. 36th St. expanded to double its size. More Taramas-run Greek eateries opened, including one in Federal Hill and another in Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.

While sitting at the air-conditioned bar of the nearby Food Market, which shares a landlord with Souvlaki, Catelli said he was “blindsided” by the restaurant’s closure. Only weeks ago, Taramas began soliciting donations from community members over crowdfunding platform Indiegogo, promising the swift return of the beloved neighborhood spot. Contributors would receive gift cards and exclusive invites to the soft opening once Souvlaki’s funding goal was reached, he wrote.

“By contributing, you’re not just funding a restaurant — you’re helping revive a piece of local culture and supporting a family-owned business with deep community roots," Taramas wrote of the fundraiser, which remained active as of Monday afternoon.

But the $645 in total donations collected thus far comes nowhere close to the campaign’s $150,000 funding goal nor the $42,781.52 owed to satisfy a warrant over unpaid rent, according to Baltimore District Court records.

Taramas has not responded to requests for comment about the fundraiser, or the missing payments from January through April that spurred Monday’s eviction.

In an interview with the Baltimore Business Journal this month, Taramas said funds raised by the campaign would potentially also be used to finish construction on a store he planned to open in Washington.

While Catelli found it surprising that the business would lean on community members to contribute money to the reopening, he said Taramas had a brilliant mind for business and created an amazing operation with his father, who has since died.

Souvlaki was “filled with passion and love,” Catelli said. “Losing it is clearly his [Dimitrios’s] hurt. But it’s also our [Hampden’s] hurt.”

The Taramas family poured extensive resources into updating, cleaning and bolstering the facade of the restaurant over the years. Weeks ago, a commercial realtor posted the space‘s availability with leases starting at $10,000. The listing was taken down for a short period, but has reemerged.

Jeremy Landsman of Avenue Real Estate purchased the property at auction in 2021, along with the neighboring Golden West Cafe. Taramas told the Baltimore Business Journal that Landsman was “willing to work with him” as the owner attempted to reopen the business, despite the missing payments.

Reached after the eviction Monday, Landsman reiterated that sentiment. “We are open to working with Dimi,” he wrote in a text message. “Many people from the neighbourhood would like to see him reopen.”

He said in a phone call that the eviction was one piece of an ongoing court process and does not preclude him from working with Taramas once he “gets his ducks in a row.” Souvlaki was a successful business, Landsman said, but he said he thinks the restaurant may have expanded too quickly.

Landsman said he would be excited to see Souvlaki come back or to have another great lessee move in. His Avenue Real Estate brokerage, which still has a sign propped up in Souvlaki’s storefront window, is actively showing the space to potential tenants.

Baltimore Banner photojournalist Kaitlin Newman contributed to this story.