Opa! Restaurant Finds New Home in Los Altos as A.G. Ferrari Files for Bankruptcy

Modern Greek restaurant Opa! is gearing up to open its latest location, this time in the heart of downtown Los Altos. Meanwhile, just yards away, the steady business at A.G. Ferrari contrasts the difficulties of the Italian market that led its headquarters to file for bankruptcy this week.

Opa!, which translates from Greek as a jubilant exclamation of excitement, is moving into the 325 Main St. space once occupied by Zitune, the critically well-received Moroccan/Mediterranean restaurant, which closed after four years.

The new establishment will open May 15 and will have the same menu and price points of , according to chef Spiro Tsaskoukos, a general partner with Angelo Heropoulos of the Los Altos Opa!

Opa!, which also has locations in San Jose's Willow Glen and Walnut Creek, has been known for its fresh, homemade Greek cuisine, including hummus, gyros and spanakopita. The restaurant is frequently packed in Los Gatos and was voted as “Best Mediterranean Food in the San Jose Metro Area” by Citysearch.

Dave Bibo, an investor in the Los Altos restaurant, said he decided to invest in Opa! because of its potential here.

“The concept is very do-able as far as expanding,” said Bibo. “The concept can be taken to places like the neighborhoods of Los Altos, since this is a type of family restaurant.”

Just down the street on the 200 block, Italian speciality food retailer A.G. Ferrari filed for bankruptcy Monday in an effort to reorganize its business.

The nearly century-old family-run business filed for Chapter 11 protection April 4 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of California. 

“A.G. Ferrari Foods has dealt with its share of ups and downs, and we find ourselves once again in a difficult economic period,” wrote Paul Ferrari, who represents the third-generation of Ferraris, on the company's Facebook page. 

Court records show that A.G. Ferrari owes $136,000 to the secured lender Bridge Bank NA and another $1.73 million in unsecured debt, according to Bloomberg.

As a result of its financial woes, San Leandro-based A.G. Ferrari recently closed its Berkeley and Sunnyvale stores with the possibility of shutting its doors at other locations. The retailer has 11 other stores around the Bay Area, including Los Altos and Palo Alto.

Paul Ferrari told the San Francisco Chronicle that he is seeking to renegotiate leases for Los Altos and other Peninsula-based stores. 

“This isn’t something that’s negative,” said Cathy Ranien, general manager of the Los Altos store on Main St. “We’re doing it for the positive.”

Ranien said the market continues to receive support from the community. 

Even with the bankruptcy filing, the Los Altos store participated in Dine Out for Packard Thursday to raise money for the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.

With 233 guests, the Los Altos store donated 10 percent of its proceeds, which, according to Ranien, was one of the highest sales days she's experienced since she started with A.G. Ferrari two years ago.

A customer named Julie (who would not disclose her last name), said A.G. Ferrari has been a family place where customers buy lunch for their kids and then retreat to the nearby park to eat their lunch.

“It’s sad to hear,” she said. She said she's been an A.G. Ferrari Berkeley customer for 10 years and a Los Altos customer for seven.

The week before the bankruptcy filing, two members of the Ferrari family business died, just three days apart from each other.

Harold Ferrari (son of Annibale Giovanni Ferrari, also known as A.G.) and Vincent Cerletti were known as the padrini (godfathers), who both ran the business for almost 40 years. The cari amici (dear friends), the Chronicle reported, have their resting places next to one another. 

Founder A.G. Ferrari, who was born in a small town in Italy, opened his first Bay Area store in 1919.