WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Angelo Ballas was planning a big party this year to thank customers for the Grecian Corner’s 50 years on the Winston-Salem restaurant scene.
That party isn’t happening, but Ballas is thankful that those same customers have continued to support the restaurant through a pandemic and probably its toughest year yet.
“We have great customers,” Ballas said. “I’ve been touched by the way the community has been so supportive.”
Grecian Corner opened in December 1970 at 101 Eden Terrace, a short side street that connects Cloverdale Avenue and First Street, in the shadow of then N.C. Baptist Hospital, now Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
Angelo’s uncle, Jimmy Ballas, opened Grecian Corner in 1970. Within a year or two he left to open Zorba the Greek’s on Stratford Road and turned Grecian Corner over to his brother, George. For the next 30 years, George Ballas would be the face of Grecian Corner, so much so that in the early 1990s, the sign was changed to George’s Grecian Corner - a moniker that continues to this day.
In 1990, the restaurant was immortalized - disguised as a generic pizza joint - in a scene in Mr. Destiny, one of the first major feature films to be shot in Winston-Salem.
George Ballas, one of many Greek immigrants in the Winston-Salem restaurant business, was the kind of hands-on owner who cultivated customer loyalty because he remembered everyone who passed through his doors.
That attentiveness and a menu that offered something for everyone bred success. Grecian Corner always had steady stream of customers who relied on it for affordable, consistent, family friendly fare.
George Ballas’ concept offered a mix of greatest hits - Greek, Italian and American cuisine. Some people came for the souvlaki and gyros. Others ordered the spaghetti, and still more came for the hot dogs, hamburgers or sandwiches.
Angelo Ballas took over running the restaurant in 2001, and he and his wife, Georgia, officially became the owners in 2002. George Ballas retired, then passed away in 2008.
There was a short-lived expansion into Clemmons from 2005 to 2007, but for the most part Angelo Ballas has focused on his core business, keeping his uncle’s vision and his memory alive.
The menu at Grecian Corner has changed precious little over the years. It still offers a veal cutlet sandwich ($4.50), a once popular item now long forgotten by many other restaurants. The spaghetti a la Venice ($8.95) - with onions, peppers, mushrooms and mozzarella - is still a best-seller, though the Greek-style spaghetti with feta ($7.95) has its fans, too. Other Italian items include lasagna ($8.65) chicken veal and eggplant Parmesan ($8.95 each).
The most popular item on the menu is the chicken souvlaki plate with a Greek salad ($11.80), though for years the restaurant sold only the traditional pork souvlaki. “People bugged my uncle for a long time to add the chicken souvlaki,” Angelo Ballas said. “Now it outsells the pork 10 to 1.”
Other Greek items include the gyro ($6.85), moussaka ($8.95) and spanakopita ($5.85). The spanakopita is a relatively recent addition under Angelo Ballas’ tenure, as is the popular avgolemono (Greek lemon soup ($4.25).
Grecian Corner sells quite a few hot dogs (now Nathan’s all-beef dogs). Other sandwiches include steak hoagie, BLT, Reuben and hummus pita.
Just in case none of that appeals to diners, Grecian corner also sells a variety of pizzas, ($9.65 to $13.14 for a 12-inch).
A couple of newish items include a chicken pesto pita, sweet potato waffle chips and cranberry pecan salad, but most of the food is just as George Ballas envisioned back in the 1970s. “About 90 percent is probably unchanged,” Angelo Ballas said.
Only a few other things have changed over 50 years. The restaurant is quite small - it opened as a Minnie Pearl fried chicken restaurant in 1969 before the Ballas family took it over. The Ballases managed to squeeze in about 50 seats in the original building, fondly referred to as “cozy.”
In 2013, Angelo Ballas embarked on a major renovation. The bathrooms finally were accessible from inside the restaurant. “That was huge for us,” he said. “For 43 years, people had to go outside when it was 30 degrees to use the bathroom.”
He also built a new dining room on the side, increasing the seating to 80. He even tinkered with the idea of moving the restaurant next door to the old Pier One building on First Street. “But when I mentioned it to customers, they said, ‘No, don’t move it!’”
Another big change was the acceptance of credit cards in 2015. “For 45 years, we were cash-only,” Ballas said. “When we added credit cards, I had to put it on the sign out front, because no one believed it.”
Despite the updates, Grecian Corner retained its atmosphere as a “simple, comfortable little place,” as Ballas described it, and that’s just how customers like it.
Ann Jones has been coming to Grecian Corner for 48 of her 86 years. She would eat there often five times a week. Though she’s not eating in the dining room during the pandemic, she still calls in to-go orders, and she can’t wait to get back. “I miss it very much. I miss the people. I was very close to George and his wife, Loula, and Angelo is an exceptional person, too. They’ve been like family.”
Anne Butler said she has been going about once a week since the 1980s. “I always get the chicken souvlaki platter with the Greek salad,” she said. “It’s good food. It’s consistent. I know what I’m getting. The staff knows my name. They know I like my tea unsweetened. They really take care of their customers. It’s just an easy place to get a good meal.”
Linda Hill and her late husband, Gene, made it their go-to restaurant for years, partly because they lived just two blocks away in the West Highlands neighborhood. “This has been our neighborhood hangout for 38 years,” she said. “We have celebrated anniversaries there. We have celebrated birthdays. My kids grew up eating there.”
She recalled that, when Gene Hill died four years ago, Angelo showed up unannounced with a carful of food.
“He brought pans of chicken souvlaki, pita, jugs of iced tea and flowers. They’re just extremely generous people,” Hill said.
This spring, regular customers like Borgia Walker placed large orders for takeout to go to charities, such as the Bethesda Center for the Homeless. Chris Clifton of Grace, Clifton and Tisdale bought enough food to feed dozens of law-enforcement officers. Often, Ballas would kick in his own contribution, too, knocking 10 or 20% off the bill for such donations.
Customers have really stuck with the restaurant through the pandemic, Ballas said.
“We’ve been blessed,” said general manager Denise Decker, who has worked at Grecian Corner for 15 years. “People have bought gift cards. Some of our regulars come get food to go two or three times a week just to help us out.”
To thank such customers, Angelo Ballas had hoped to throw a party this month, setting up tents in the parking lot and cooking up a feast. Instead, he’s coping with a pandemic, government restrictions and a nervous dining public.
Grecian Corner has not closed at all during the pandemic, but it did shut the dining room from mid-March to Aug. 31 - long after he was allowed to reopen. “I waited, because I wanted to see what was the safest and best thing to do. There was a lot we didn’t know early on, so I didn’t feel comfortable opening the dining room,” Ballas said.
One of the first things Ballas did was put Plexiglas across the front counter to separate customers and employees.
When he reopened the dining room, he established a separate entrance for takeout and dining-in customers to avoid bottlenecks. The restaurant is still cozy, though, so with COVID-19 social distancing, it has only six or seven tables available.
But takeout always has been a big part of Grecian Corner’s business. “Traditionally, we were 35% takeout. So for us going from 35% to 100% takeout wasn’t hard when the dining room was closed. Our menu lends itself it being takeout-friendly. We just ramped it up.”
Now, even with the dining room open, takeout is about 75% of business.
One of the key components of Grecian Corner’s takeout business has always been the medical center. “The hospital has been a great neighbor,” Ballas said. He said he also draws a lot of customers from the Ardmore neighborhood on one side and Buena Vista on the other.
Still, like most restaurants, Grecian Corner is having a rough year. “Catering (or lack of it) has had the biggest impact,” Ballas said. “Because I’m a small restaurant, catering was like filling those extra seats we didn’t have. There’s money in catering, because you don’t have as much overhead, but I lost all that this spring - catering for pharmaceutical reps, for Wake Forest athletics.”
He said he has managed to keep his staff at about 15 people, though they may get fewer hours these days.
“Business has dropped, but I’ve tried to keep as many people as I can,” he said. “We got a PPP (Paycheck Protection Program loan), which was a lifesaver for about three months. At this point, we’re just trying to watch expenses, watch food costs, keep inventory levels right - just tightening our belt a little bit.”
Like other restaurateurs, he hopes that such measures will be enough to keep him going a few more months, until the pandemic begins to fade.
“We’re just trying to hold on and get back to normal, or whatever normal is going to be,” Ballas said.
But he’s not complaining. He has a great staff. He has loyal customers. And he has 50 years under his belt.
“Consistency would be the biggest thing,” he said in explaining the restaurant’s success. “Not just the food, but the people – having good staff is huge. And we’ve been fortunate this year that the menu lends itself to takeout.”
Still he doesn’t take anything for granted. “We’ve been around for 50 years. But in this business you have to keep on your toes.”
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