When Mr. Souvlaki opens in the British town of Cheltenham this summer customers won’t know that the driving force behind it isn’t just owner Ilias Alexeas, but his grandfather Andreas. It will be the third in a chain.

“As a kid I listened to his stories and his advice and was inspired to follow in his footsteps,” he told GloucestershireLive. How much? The restaurant’s brand features a logo with a photo of his grandfather. “He went to New York as an immigrant and started from a food stall as he didn’t have a lot of money,” said Ilias.

“He slowly expanded, and then began opening restaurants. At his peak he had 20 restaurants and then retired home to Greece,” he added, but he left behind his imprimatur. “To honor him I made a logo of him to have his blessing and hope to follow his path,” he said.

He started Mr Souvlaki in 2017, working weekend events in London. When furloughed from an engineering job during the pandemic, he took the opportunity to expand his operation, a small canteen with high quality authentic Greek food.

Thanks to pappou.