The Real Greek expands outside London

The new Real Greek restaurant is 2500sq.ft in size and has 130 covers. It will also create over 20 new jobs in the local area.

This venture will be the seventh for The Real Greek group, which has six other sites in the nation’s capital. Owner and operations manager Christos Karatzenis spoke to BigHospitality about the group’s expansion plans and the new site.

Expansion​

The new site in Windsor is the first for the restaurant group outside of London, and while the capital remains a priority for The Real Greek, Karatzenis told us they were open to the opportunities which come with sites elsewhere and plan to expand at a rate of one or two sites a year.

He said: “We’re looking to open one more before the end of the year, I can’t disclose the exact location yet where because it’s subject to planning, but it will be in London. We want to expand organically with one or two openings a year, depending on the opportunities that present themselves.

“We want every restaurant we have to be unique so that’s why we’re not in a hurry with expansion. We’re looking, but it depends on the site and the environment. In this recent case the opportunity of Windsor came along and we love this city. We believe that it’s very much made for us, it offers the type of customers that normally visit us and we believe our concept will be very successful in the area.”

The Windsor site​

Karatzenis is keen that every one of The Real Greek restaurants is different, and that the group is not viewed as a chain. The menu is the same between different sites, but the décor and atmosphere is a little different in each. The site at Windsor is based over two floors and has views of the river and the castle.

The food on offer at the restaurant is based on traditional Greek meze on and off the grill and many of the ingredients used are imported from Greece as they groups aims to be authentic.

Karatzenis said: “The menu is the same in all the restaurants, simple and based on great ingredients. Great food doesn’t have to be complicated.

“We don’t have a ‘chain’ attitude at The Real Greek. We are very personal, like a family and the restaurants are like our kids. We do things with a lot of passion, including customer service, food, and creating a great atmosphere.

“We’ve done some refurbishment at the new site. It has lots of elements of Greece and posters of different islands and the ports on the walls. Every restaurant we own is unique though, we don’t have a pattern in decoration.”

The Real Greek in Windsor will be located on 2 River Street, taking over the site of La Taverna. ​