Johnny’s Luncheonette Closes Its Doors

Johnny’s Luncheonette, a 1950s style diner that served breakfast all day, quietly closed last week after five years in the Square.

Zoe’s Kitchen, a Greek eatery, will open by the end of November in the basement-level storefront on 1105 Mass. Ave that was formerly occupied by Johnny’s, between Massive Records and University Market.

Neill Solomon, the co-owner of Johnny’s, said he closed the restaurant so that staff and furniture could be transferred to a new, larger Johnny’s Luncheonette set to open later this month in a new Jordan’s furniture outlet in Reading.

“It was too good to turn down and we decided to focus on our new opportunity,” he said on Sunday. “Coincidentally, our lease was up so we decided to close.”

Solomon said that the closing was not due to a decrease in pedestrian traffic, although he said that parking at the restaurant had always been a problem.

Theophilos Vallas, the owner of Zoe’s Kitchen, said that the new restaurant would feature many of the same menu items that Johnny’s Luncheonette offered.

“The atmosphere will stay the same,” he said. “Breakfast will still be served all day. We’ll add a lot more dinner and lunch items.”

He also said that the purple- and red-painted restaurant would get a makeover.

In addition to omelettes, burgers and basic sandwiches, Vallas said that Zoe’s will also serve Greek specialties such as shistawak and kebabs.

He said that his family had owned several Boston area Greek restaurants, including Mykonos Fair in Faneuil Hall, but that they had all been closed.

“It’s a family-run restaurant,” he said. “I’ll be here everyday.”

On Sunday afternoon, several passersby stopped by the former Johnny’s Luncheonette, thinking that it was still open.

Stan Silbert ’48, on the other hand, stopped by for a closer look at the sign announcing the eatery’s closing.

“Good riddance,” he said. “They were very pricey for what they were serving—not good value.”

Silbert also criticized the restaurant for simply replicating in the Square the atmosphere of its Newton location.

According to Solomon, the Newton Johnny’s Luncheonette will remain open.

—Staff writer Joseph M. Tartakoff can be reached at tartakof@fas.harvard.edu.