He minces meat but not words and Chris Nikolas put it bluntly after his Just GRK Greek restaurant in Houston was forced into bankruptcy after five years despite being rated one of the top 100 in the city – out of a strip mall.

It’s not because of the food. “I do believe I had the best (expletive) Greek food in (expletive) Houston. Period,” he told the Houston Chronicle in lamenting a series of setbacks, including the pandemic, lockdowns, a February freeze, and a weak economy.

The killer blow came in May when thieves broke in and stole cash and equipment and did so much damage the losses surpassed more than $23,000, and while he held on for months it was too much to overcome.

Nikolas, 53, has been in the food industry nearly 40 years, in the United States and Greece. “When you lose a day in the restaurant business, it’s not recoverable because the rolling expenses are still there,” he said. “I was forced to borrow money from hard lenders and then when the economy really took a hit, the lenders started calling for their money back,” he said.