La Bocca Felice: The Happy Mouth to Replace Pappy’s Seafood

This past June, Greg Morena, restaurateur and owner of Pappy’s, announced he was selling the historic restaurant location for $2.5 million. At the time, he said if the building didn’t immediately sell, he would put it up for lease until the right offer and circumstances appeared.

The news was music to the ears of restaurateur Nima Karimi, the owner of Sebastian’s Mediterranean Cuisine and Matteo’s Pizza. Karimi had his eyes on the former Papadakis Taverna location since he arrived in San Pedro almost seven years ago.

“I still can’t believe it,” Karimi said. “Ever since I came to San Pedro, which was six and half years ago, I’ve always had an eye for that place. And now, finally, we’re there.”

Karimi’s new restaurant will be called La Bocca Felice, or The Happy Mouth in Italian. The restaurateur intends for this new restaurant to be more formal than Pappy’s but has no plans of making significant changes to the historic venue, with the exception of installing an open-air pizza oven on the second floor of the restaurant, provided that all of the building and safety permits go through. Karimi said the restaurant will be open for business by Oct. 1.

Iranian born, but reared in Norway, Karimi has three restaurants in Norway. When he came to the United States, he was the chef at an Palos Verdes Italian restaurant called Avenue Italy before moving on to open Matteo’s Pizza on Gaffey Street, then Sebastian’s Mediterranean Cuisine on 7th Street.

“I have always cooked Italian food,” Karimi said. “I’ve cooked Italian cuisine for over 20 years.”

The new restaurant will offer Italian seafood cuisine from all 20 regions of Italy.

“My partner and I are convinced that if we travel to each region, each as a special, that will create something unique in San Pedro,” Karimi said.

When asked about the pizza oven that has to be installed, he explained that his vision called for it to be installed on the second floor outdoors. Karimi explained that before any of that is possible he would have to get approvals from the city’s building and safety department. So we shall see.

Karimi noted that due to outdoor dining permissions, he’ll be able to engage in outdoor dining on Oct. 1 with or without the pizza oven in place. With that in mind, Karimi is looking to ensure that operations and staffing are above par by the time of La Bocca Felice’s opening.

“I want everything to be set with good staff,” Karimi said. “It’s much better to be open a little later and be at 100%, rather than use clients as guinea pigs. So, as long as it takes.”

The 301 W. 6th Street location has a great deal of history. Greg Morena’s renovation exposed the 5,000 square-foot building’s architectural history by removing the mid-century architectural add-on, which revealed original 1920s windows, open beams, concrete and other accents that had been covered up.

San Pedro’s famous Papadakis Taverna’s occupation of that corner of Sixth and Centre is the longest in downtown San Pedro history. Closed in 2010, John Papadakis and his family owned and operated the restaurant for more than 40 years. The building originally housed a U.S. Post Office, before it became the Beacon Drugstore.

Back then, drug stores featured a soda fountain and had something alongside the pharmaceuticals sold from their shelves. The first restaurant opened at the location was the Yacht Club Cafe, which advertised as a place to rendezvous and grab a drink, if not a bite to eat.

 Morena purchased the building for $1.6 million in late 2016. Moreno and his wife, Yunnie Kim, reportedly had to let go of the new San Pedro property when the pandemic hit to focus on their two primary restaurants on the Santa Monica Pier, the Albright and Rusty’s.

As sad as it is to see Pappy’s go, there’s palpable excitement for what’s next on the corner of 6th and Centre streets in San Pedro. For his part, Karimi expressed hope that San Pedro and others who may cross La Bocca Felice’s doorstep embrace his vision with open arms.

“I hope that they will enjoy every bite of their meal and I hope I can provide a fun and cozy atmosphere for them with safety first,” Karimi said. “Besides that I can promise nothing. I just hope that everybody puts their feet inside my restaurant and leaves with smiles on their faces.”