Alameda restaurant Mama Papa Lithuania specializes in Lithuanian classics like koldunai, flour dumplings filled with meat and served with sour cream.
Janelle BitkerWhile the coronavirus has forced many Bay Area restaurants to close, Mama Papa Lithuania is permanently shutting its doors for a different reason: politics.
Owner Vaidas Sukys is running for a parliament seat in Lithuania — he described it as the equivalent of congress, with the election looming in October. He said he wouldn’t trust leaving the Alameda restaurant to anyone else when he moves, so Mama Papa Lithuania will close July 31.
When Sukys opened Mama Papa Lithuania, which he believed was the first Lithuanian restaurant on the West Coast, his Lithuanian friends thought he was crazy. Would Alameda residents really want to eat his mom’s potato dumplings and cabbage rolls? As it turned out, the answer was a resounding yes. Mama Papa Lithuania stayed popular ever since it opened, even through the pandemic.
People loved the cozy interior with its distinctive wood furniture and frilly curtains as well as the comforting dishes like meat-filled dumplings or crispy potato pancakes served with sour cream.
Sukys hopes he can be inspiration for other people “looking at their cuisines as something they don’t want to advertise to the rest the world because they don’t have the confidence,” he said.
尽管妈妈爸爸成功的立陶宛,茶水壶said operating a restaurant in the Bay Area has gotten tougher over the years due to rising minimum wage and the labor shortage. Meanwhile, his relatives still live in Lithuania, and the upcoming election started reminding him that he doesn’t consider himself a career restaurateur.
“I was representing my small culture on the West Coast and now it’s an opportunity to do bigger things,” he said. “This patriotism is boiling inside of me to help this country, to go and do some changes and bring the knowledge I’ve gained through all of these years.”
Mama Papa Lithuania. 11 a.m.-3 p.m., 5-9 p.m. daily. 1241 Park St., Alameda.www.mamapapalithuania.com
Janelle Bitker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email:janelle.bitker@sfchronicle.comTwitter:@janellebitker
