After more than 10 years of serving Greek favorites and staple American fare like cheeseburgers, Risty Vlavianos’s Cavalier Diner in Charlottesville, Virginia is closing – not because of COVID or a worker shortage, but the sale of the building it’s in.

“The new owner doesn’t want a restaurant in here,” she told The Daily Progress.  “It’s hard to believe. We made it through a recession, a pandemic, a staff shortage and a supply shortage and even a car driving into the building, only to have this happen,” she said.

She and her husband Sal are looking for another spot but it’s not easy, despite thousands of restaurants across the country closing because of the lingering pandemic that kept customers away.

The Vlavianos family has been cooking up meals for people in Charlottesville for five decades. Her parents, Nick and Margarita, arrived in Charlottesville in 1971 from Connecticut after emigrating from Greece, the paper said.

“I learned everything from them. I grew up in the business and was always in the restaurant. When I wasn’t in school, I was in the restaurant. I always loved it,” she also said.