the pendulum
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2011 // PAGE 13
A Pn.6CIP6 FOPs. SUCCESS: Local Greek restaurant
celebrates 44 years of operation, ownership kept In family
Edith Veremu
Copy Editor
W'ith the popularity of
restaurant chains, it’s not always
gjsy to find a family-owned
business where the owners are
mother and child. But for Greek
restaurant Acropolis on North
Eugene Street in downtown
Greensboro, this is nothing new.
Beginnings
Jimmy Contogiannis began his
career in the restaurant business
as a child. His parents, Eleni and
Gus, opened their first restaurant
“The Boston Cafe" in 1967, when
he was 10. The restaurant served
Southern st>le food for 13 years
until 1980, when the founders
moved locations and switched to
serving exclusively Greek food,
after his father retired.
The transition to Greek
cuisine proved to be just what
dovvntown Greensboro needed at
the time. It also gave Jimmy and
his mother a favorable reputation
among visitors to the Triad
because it offered something
unique to the area.
■‘Greensboro was a ghost
toftTi at the time," Jimmy said.
“We didn't have Elm Street and
Greek cuisine wasn’t as big then.
We figured if we switched over
to Greek, we could have people
come into the city and the Triad."
A family affair
On any day of the week,
Contogiannis is at Acropolis
from 9:30 a.m. until 10 or 10:30
p.m. During these times, the
restaurant serves lunch and
dinner, with different menus.
There are two chefs during the
week and two or three on the
weekends, including Jimmy.
But he isn’t the only family
member who works at the
restaurant. His mother, sister
and children often help out,
he said. Eleni Contogiannis
still serves as co-owner and
often comes during the lunch
hour and will sometimes greet
customers during private parties,
which guests love, according to
Contogiannis.
“She’s paid her dues over
the years,” he said. “She’s a very
hardworking lady.”
Jimmy’s sister, Liz, is the floor
manager and she can be seen
throughout the week. Jimmy’s
children have also showed
interest in the restaurant. From
young Katerina, 5, to Heni, 21,
Jimmy’s children have helped
out whenever they can.
My son Dino, 16, comes in
and helps out and my daughter
Zoey, 18, helps us on the
weekends,” Jimmy said. “My
other daughter Eleni, 21, helps us
during Christmas break and my
youngest daughter, Katerina, 5,
she thinks she’s helping out. She
keeps saying, ‘1 want to work in
the restaurant.”’
Working with family
members is pleasant because
you have already established
good relationships with them
and that makes the restaurant
what it is, said Jimmy. But there
can be strained relationships too,
and that’s part of the work.
“You work with somebody
all the time, so there’s always a
strained relationship,” Jimmy
said. “The restaurant business is
one of the hardest industries to
be in and there’s always going to
be some strain here and there. It
comes with the territory.”
44 yecirs and counting
With just less than 50 years
of existence under its belt.
Acropolis has created a name
for the Contogiannis family
and Greek cuisine in dowTitown
Greensboro. The restaurant
attracts many professionals and
regular customers from the area,
which has contributed to the
ambience of the place.
“We’ve got a Euro-Greek
atmosphere in here,” Jimmy said.
“We’ve got Greek music playing
throughout the restaurant and
customers really like that.”
But it’s not always fun for
Jimmy and his team.
“You have to put in long
hours yourself, which means you
don’t have to hire anyone else,”
Jimmy said. “Years ago, I made
more money than I do now, but
you have to ride the tide. If the
restaurant’s open. I’m here.”
The restaurant’s menu is a
combination of traditional Greek
home-style dishes, including
souvlaki, a dish made with meat
that can be served in sandwich
or dinner style, moussaka, a
traditional eggplant dish, and
pastitsio, baked pasta.
“The baked chicken is one
of our popular dishes,” Jimmy
said. “We’ve been running it as
MERISSA BLITZ | Staff PtTOtOflraph«r
Owners Jimmy Contogiannis and his mother Eleni Contogiannis are fond of the murals along the walls of their Greek
restaurant, Acropolis, located on North Eugene Street in downtown Greensboro. The mural depicts the Acropolis.
a Wednesday lunch special for
31 years and now we also serve
it on Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday nights. It’s marinated the
night a day or two before and the
chicken absorbs the marinade
and it’s baked with potatoes.”
Jimmy and one of his
daughters are semi-vegetarians.
While he eats poultry and
seafood, his daughter doesn’t eat
fish. Jimmy said working at the
restaurant where meat is popular
among guests isn’t a problem.
The family philosophy
at Acropohs is to not to put
anything out that they wouldn’t
eat themselves, according to
Jimmy.
“If it’s not right, it’s not going
out,” he said. “That could be the
reason for the longevity of the
restaurant.”
Since 1980, Acropolis has
been named the “Best Greek
Restaurant” in the Triad by
GoTriad, an art and entertainment
supplement of News & Record,
almost every' year except for
2011, when Mythos Grill took the
award.
Looking forward
The economy seems to be
recovering, which means bigger
plans for the future of dowTitown
Greensboro and Acropolis.
Jimmy said he would like to see
the downtown area be further
developed, thus attracting more
visitors to the dry and customers
to the restaurant.
“Right now, I’d like to see
something done with developing
this side of downtown, maybe
something done across the street
with a mini-mall,” he said.
Acropolis’ exterior will receive
a facelift within the next year.
which is something Jimmy said
is necessary. He said he believes
the outside has turned potential
customers away.
“It doesn’t have much of curb
appeal but the inside is great,”
he said. “In 2012, people will be
attracted to the place. I’ve had
a fear that people think it was a
diner but we’re working on the
outside."
As the restaurant celebrates
cmother year of business, so does
Jimmy. While he’s spent most of
his child and adulthood in the
restaurant, he said he won’t be
leaving anytime soon.
“I’m too young to retire,"
Jimmy said. “I’m thinking of
opening a fast-food Greek
restaurant of healthier choices
that other Greek restaurants
don’t have. I would have already
done it if the economy hadn’t
gone down three years ago."
Former CNN writer converges fast-paced media world, teaching style
Julia Murphy
Reporter
Quickly eating her lunch during the
few free moments she has during the
day, continuously checking her email,
consumed by school while keeping a
positive attitude
and peppy
personality,
Laura Williams,
instructor of
education, is more
like her students
than she may
realize.
Former
students’ artwork
cover her walls,
desk and shelving
cabinet, which reminds her of what
she’s done and the lives she’s touched.
Williams, who graduated from
University of Texas, Austin, with a
bachelors of Arts degree in French and
earned a Master’s degree in Journalism,
first worked at CNN, later finding her
stride as a school librarian. She finds
peace and enjoyment from what she
does every day. She is the director of
the Curriculum Resource Center (CRC),
3 mentor to education majors, a part-
time instructor and the woman with the
LAURA WILLIAMS
biggest smile in the room.
Walk past the buildings Powell and
Duke, beneath the ivy-covered walkway
and enter one of many brick buildings
with white windows on campus,
Mooney. This is home to education
majors and the CRC is the living room
of the building, a place for students to
congregate, study and find teaching
resources.
The brightness of the room, the
cheery staff and the overwhelming
amount of teaching supplies invites
more than just Mooney regulars to the
CRC, which resembles a school library.
Williams started her job at Elon
four years ago. The room that the CRC
now occupies was renovated before her
arrival, giving her the opportunity to
make it more attractive. Before, it was
dark, gloomy and usually locked.
Williams’ favorite part of the area
is the painted mural, Idea Zone, which
brightens the space and gives it a
youthful atmosphere. Now, there are
colorful posters on the walls, lots of
workspace, a cozy seating area and
someone working at the desk during
the weekdays and weekends.
The CRC acts as a functioning school
library for future teachers featuring
books for children and teachers, games
and textbooks. Williams worked as a
middle school librarian for 13 years
after leaving a media position at CNN
in Atlanta.
She worked for CNN as a writer,
producing cut-ins. The fast-paced
media world engulfed her from the
beginning with the big newsrooms
and her 24/7 schedule. Her interest in
libraries and education resurfaced after
leaving Atlanta and moving to North
Carolina with her husband. She earned
a library degree at UNC-Greensboro and
got her first job as a school librarian at
Turrentine Middle School in Burlington.
“It’s good for people to reinvent
themselves,” Williams said. “Tr> new
things, discover something else that
you're good at.”
Although it may not seem obvious,
there is a connection between education
and media that Williams’ co-worker,
Joan Barnatt, associate professor of
Education, recognizes.
“You could think of teaching in some
ways as a media presentation every time
you get up in front of the classroom,
Barnatt said.
To Williams, media and education
fields are related because of the
influence of the digital world. Her
students learn how to create a Wiki,
maintain a blog, create TV news reports
and use SMART Boards and digital
cameras.
“Teachers need to know the content
and the tools," Williams said. “The world
we live in is not departmentalized.”
Williams’ students say they can see
her previous media experience in her
daily actions.
“I think her working style also
parallels what I imagine as the
fast-paced, multitasking media
environment," said senior Kara
Schillings.
Schillings is a CRC assistant and an
elementary education major who views
Williams as a friend and mentor.
“Selling a message and making
an impact so that people have that
information anchored in their mind to
take forward and use as their own —
she’s very good at doing that,” Barnatt
said.
Williams’ quirky and positive
attitude spreads from person to person.
She is an open and welcoming individual
who is a staple in a busy student’s day.
“Just spend a day in the CRC to
get the Laura Williams experience,”
Schillings said.
Her fun education methods and the
respect she gives students help them
grow' into future educators.
“My life at Elon would not be the
same without her,” Schillings said.