Vrisaki closes for good: Potter’s Bar takeaway follows April’s restaurant closure
Andreas & Tony Antoniou. Andreas and family have run Vrisaki since 1981.
It was only 6 months ago in May that I had to break the sad news about London’s best-known Cypriot taverna, Vrisaki Restaurant, closing its original restaurant in Palmers Green and relocating all operations to a newer takeaway spot at the end of Potter’s Bar’s High Street. After a year and a half in business, Vrisaki’s younger takeaway offshoot closes its doors too, marking an end to a 44-year run. Its doors close for good at 8.30pm on Sunday 16 November 2025.
In March, Vrisaki’s original takeaway offshoot, Andy’s Kebab House in Oakwood, also closed its doors following an eviction, but is coincidentally now set to re-open under new ownership – a fact that is unrelated to Vrisaki’s closure and ownership.
Vrisaki’s Potter’s Bar takeaway offshoot closes on 16 November 2025.
Vrisaki leaves behind a legacy that is known the world over. London Cypriots may have formed the nucleus of Vrisaki’s patrons, but Greeks working in London, Londoners of all backgrounds, and tourists from as far as America and China all helped create the legend of what is arguably the most famous Cypriot taverna to have ever existed. Cyprus might be spoiled for tavernes in every village and neighbourhood, but it’s hard to think of one single Cypriot taverna that has achieved Vrisaki’s reach and reputation across the world.
In London, it was the place to go in the late ‘80s and ‘90s in particular. Vrisaki welcomed celebrities and heads of state, especially those visiting London from Greece and Cyprus: Lefteris Pantazis, Antypas, Glafcos Clerides and Dimitris Christofias all ate there. Besides, it’s a challenge finding a London Cypriot who doesn’t have fond memories of Vrisaki. It was also the destination of choice for many a birthday party, christening, engagement or even wedding party.
You can read more about the history of the original Vrisaki restaurant here.
The entrance to the original Vrisaki Restaurant on Myddleton Road in Palmers Green.
When Vrisaki’s original site on Myddleton Road closed in March, I wrote:
Vrisaki joins an avalanche of London hospitality closures in the past 12 months, including Uncle Tony’s Taverna in Finchley, Byzantium Cafe in Bayswater, Meraki Grill in Southgate, Koutoukaki on Holloway Road and Tooley’s in London Bridge. Those are but a few names in the Greek restaurant category alone, amidst predictions that over 6,000 of the UK’s independent restaurants will close in 2025 (over 10% of them are already technically insolvent).
Since then, Santorini Restaurant in Bayswater has also closed and the closure of Vrisaki’s Potters Bar takeaway only underlines the plight of small hospitality business in (and outside of) London in what is shaping up to be most challenging period for the industry since 2018.
Not all restaurants can last forever, but finding ones that persist for decades is increasingly challenging in (and out of) London. As businesses find themselves squeezed between rising overheads and reduced consumer spending, the question of whether independents can survive without support from the government remains. In September 2025, 50 industry figures signed an open letter to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer asking for tax relief after 374 closures in just the first half of 2025, as one third are operating at a loss.
In the meantime, the best we can do is support them – and pay in cash.
Vrisaki, Andreas, Tony & family, thank you for the food, thank you for the memories, and thank you for doing it for longer than most. The doors might be closing, but the memories will remain. Vrisaki goes down as a major chapter in the history of Cypriot and Greek food abroad. All the best x
The till at Vrisaki in Potters Bar in its final week, 11 November 2025.