UPDATED Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. to include an interview from company vice president Patrick Armatas.
A popular diner in Aurora is preparing to serve its last plates of green chile and close up shop by year’s end.
announced Wednesday it will close its location at 2580 S. Havana St. in Aurora after 25 years as a fixture in the suburb.
“For this we are truly grateful, but it is time we concentrate on owning our own space,” said on social media.
The other Sam’s No. 3 locations in Downtown Denver and Glendale will remain open, the note said.
Speaking by phone, Sam’s No. 3 vice president Patrick Armatas said there was a time clock ticking on the Aurora location the moment they signed the lease, which ended in July. The business has been operating month-to-month since then and plans to close on Dec. 31.
But there’s hope for fans yet. Armatas said he, his father Spero, and his brothers Sam and Alex plan to scout new locations to reopen the restaurant. They’ll be looking in Aurora as well as other cities.
“As an ownership group, we work our restaurants. We don’t have time to go around and shop properties,” Armatas said. “By closing, it gives us the opportunity to shop for a new location.”
Greek immigrant Sam Armatas, the restaurantap namesake, opened his first diner in Denver in 1927 near the intersection of 15th and Curtis streets – across the street from where the current Denver location stands. It began as a tiny, 19-stool soda fountain-style counter that sold mostly hot dogs, burgers and red chili, according to The Denver Post’s previous reporting.
There were other locations in the city, too, but only Lucky No. 3 survived and eventually, expanded. The Aurora location opened in 1998.
Sam’s No. 3 is famous for its Kickin’ Pork Green Chili, which has been featured on The restaurants sell an average of 60 gallons of it per day, the website says.
In the closing announcement, the owners thanked staff, calling them the “heart and soul” of the business. Patrick Armatas, who took over the Aurora location at age 24 (he’s now 49), said the average tenure of a server there is 18 years.
“Itap not just that we’ve been at this location for 25 years that hurts, itap that we have staff thatap been here with us for over 20 years in this location,” he said, adding staff will be welcome at Sam’s No. 3’s other locations.
“It’s bittersweet.”
