Souvlaki, a chain of three restaurants opened by Baltimore’s Taramas family, are “temporarily closed,” according to an alert on the business’ website.

The Greek restaurants — located in Hampden, Federal Hill and Washington, D.C. — originally spawned out of a small space for pita wraps and platters that sat on the Avenue in Hampden for over a decade. Even as owner Dimitrios Taramas expanded into D.C, he told the Baltimore Business Journal in 2020 that “Baltimore is always our goal.”

It is unclear when the businesses plan to reopen or why they closed, though their website says pickup and delivery service will “soon” be an option. Neither the Taramas family nor multiple business associated with them responded to requests for comment.

The recently expanded Souvlaki space in Hampden is now up for lease, according to a listing for the 1103 W. 36th St. space. The 3,200-square-foot property is available for $10,000 per month.

Developer Jeremy Landsman, who did not respond to requests for comment, previously purchased the space along with its neighboring building, which houses Golden West Cafe, for $1.94 million and pledged to keep the restaurants in place, according to a 2021 Baltimore Business Journal report. (In May 2024, Golden West owner Samantha Classen was considering leaving the Avenue but decided to stay put after striking a deal with the developer, who had more than doubled her rent.)

Souvlaki opened up a second location in Dupont Circle on Feb. 18, 2020. While the pandemic led to financial strain for the restaurant, Taramas told the Journal two years later that both businesses were doing “better than ever.”

Another family member, Michael Taramas, opened a similarly styled restaurant in November 2022 in Federal Hill. The 17 E. Cross St. location was named Yeeros and, unlike the other Souvlaki locations, focused on gyros, or meat cooked on a vertical spit and sliced into pita-wrapped sandwiches. Taramas previously owned restaurants in Greece and renovated the new Baltimore space himself, according to Baltimore magazine.

In 2024, the business license for the Yeeros space was transferred from Michael Taramas to Dimitrios Taramas, according to a filing for Souvlaki Plus, which is the listed trade name for the restaurant’s Federal Hill address.

While the Souvlaki website lists another Washington, D.C., location in Capitol Hill, it is unclear whether the restaurant has opened. The site also notes there may soon be a fifth location for the eatery in Miami, Florida. Details for that branch, including its address, are currently unavailable.