The church bells in Velventos, Greece, rang out this weekend for a man who left the tiny town nearly seven decades ago.
Mark Pappas, who changed the face of crab cakes in Baltimore but never forgot his roots in northern Greece, died Sunday of dementia-related causes. The Lutherville resident and Pappas Restaurant founder was 93.
The youngest child in a family of farmers, Pappas, born Markos James Papazisoglou, left Greece following World War II and a civil war that ravaged his country and claimed the life of his older brother. Pappas dropped out of school to help provide for his family, said his son Zinon, “but he always wanted more.”
He arrived at Ellis Island in 1956 penniless and speaking no English, according to his son-in-law, Justin Windle. Yet Pappas managed to find his way to Baltimore, where he joined up with a wealthy uncle who lived in the city and sponsored his trip over. “He set out to prove that he could make it in this world,” Windle said.
Pappas met his future wife, Harriet, née Nichols, while working for his uncle, running the lunch counter at a bus station downtown. The couple married in 1963, settling down in Mount Vernon, where Pappas owned a restaurant. In 1972, he took over a steak house and stag bar in Parkville, renaming it Pappas Restaurant & Sports Bar.
The restaurant eventually became synonymous with its gargantuan crab cakes, which Pappas adapted from a recipe learned from a friend and fellow chef, Tom Annos. According to a 2015 article in The Baltimore Sun, Pappas modified Annos’ creation by eliminating the crackers and using more mayonnaise. For years, Pappas kept his recipe a closely guarded secret, making every crab cake for the restaurant himself.
Over time, the dish won the attention of diners in Baltimore and beyond — with some help from media mogul and former Baltimore resident Oprah Winfrey, who included it in her list of “favorite things” one year. After that, “it was like night and day,” Windle said. “We had to add phone lines. We had to hire new people. We had to reinvent how we we did our shipping.” News outlets called Pappas the “crab cake king.”
In addition to its Parkville branch, the restaurant now has locations in Cockeysville, Glen Burnie and Harford County.
Windle said the secret to Pappas’ success was simple: “He made everybody feel at home.” He treated staff and customers like family, taking a break from work to play cards with guests in the restaurant each day.
“The man knew how to work the room,” recalled chef John Shields, who grew up in Parkville. “He built one of the premier dining legacies in the Baltimore area.” In the world of Baltimore restaurants, Shields said, Pappas was “royalty.”
At home, Pappas encouraged his three children to follow their dreams and be the best at whatever profession they chose. Zinon became a doctor, while Pappas’ other son, Steve, co-owns the restaurant. Pappas’ daughter, Tina Pappas Windle, is a stay-at-home mother. In addition to his children and wife, Pappas is survived by seven grandchildren.
As the restaurant grew more successful, Pappas always found ways to give back to others, sending money back to Greece and sharing his resources with his Baltimore community. As a devoted member of the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, he embodied the concept of “parea,” a Greek word that refers to a close-knit group of friends.
“He united the Greek community,” Windle said. “Everybody knew my father-in-law.”
Online, hundreds of friends and Pappas customers paid tribute to a man whose legacy helped shape Baltimore’s dining scene — and its signature dish.
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