MR. GREEK Restaurants Inc.
 | |
| Family | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Restaurants (casual dining) |
| Founded 📆 | 1988 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | Toronto, Ontario |
Number of locations | GTA 26 (5-Mediterranean Bar + Grill locations, 16-Fast Casual, 1-Floga) 2 in UAE 1 in Kuwait 2 in Regina |
Area served 🗺️ | |
Key people | (President & CEO) |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | http://www.mrgreek.com |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
Mr. Greek is a mediterranean restaurant chain with locations throughout Ontario, Canada. There are two different franchise concepts used by Mr. Greek; Mediterranean Grill and Express.[1] In the last 20 years it has become one of the largest and most common [2] Greek Cuisine restaurant establishment chains in North America. [3] [4][5]
History[edit]
Mr. Greek began in 1988 when George Raios purchased a small restaurant on Danforth Avenue, in the heart of Toronto’s Greektown. Following that, the restaurant focused on eliminating MSG and trans fats from its ingredients.
Helping the franchise grow early on were its below average prices and the fact that its first location continued to do well despite being on a street renowned for its many restaurants.
In 1992, the company decided to add a second location in the east end of the city in Scarborough, which was risky at the time because until that point their only location was in Greektown. That made it the first multi-location Greek restaurant in greater Toronto.[6] In response to the growing popularity of Mediterranean cuisine, Mr. Greek began franchising in 1993. The more hurried lifestyles of the 1990s led to the launching of Mr. Greek Express – a smaller version of the restaurants, offering an abridged menu, counter service, and takeout – using the slogan Great food for the new generation on the go. By 1995 Mr. Greek had become a household name in parts of Canada[7] and in 2003 the most common Greek restaurant in Toronto.[2]
The tradition of lighting the saganaki cheese on fire and yelling, “Opa!” is widely popular with patrons. "it's all part of putting on a show for the customers" - James Kakarelis [8]
Floga named for the olympic torch[edit]
Floga first opened in 2019 with a theme 'to showcase Greek gastronomy' [9] The name comes from the Greek word for 'flame' - inspired by the olympic torch which company founder George Raios carried in the 2010 winter olympics.[9]
Western Canada Expansion[edit]
In 2015 Mr. Greek announced plans for three Winnipeg locations.[1] The restaurant also has a presence in Saskatchewan.[10]
Middle Eastern Expansion[edit]
In 2014 Mr. Greek became the first Greek themed restaurant to open in Kuwait.[11] Companies in Qatar, Dubai and Saudi Arabia have also shown interest.[6] About a year later two new Mr. Greek restaurants opened in the United Arab Emirates.[10]
Awards[edit]
Mr. Greek was voted Toronto's best Greek restaurant by the Toronto Sun for 22 consecutive years.[10] Toronto is home to one of the world's largest Greek diaspora communities.[12]
Fast casual restaurant segment[edit]
The segment which Mr. Greek operates in, has overtaken the full-service segment in market share. As the Financial Post put it "At licensed fast-casual restaurant chains such as Mr. Greek, patrons typically dine inside, a practice that drives up the average dining cheque". [13] For the month of may total sales in that segment were $24 billion versus $22 billion.[13]
Expansion plans[edit]
The Burlington Centre is looking to new tenants like Mr. Greek to bolster their new look.[14]
Expansion is underway in other parts of Southern Ontario including Brantford, Cambridge, Guelph, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Barrie, Markham, Kingston, London, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Wasaga Beach and Windsor.
Make-A-Wish Foundation[edit]
Mr. Greek supports local community groups, school and charities through donations and sponsorships. Helios was formed in 2007 to "support each other and fellow Canadians. Especially special needs children". [2] Since 2009 the Helios Foundation has worked with Make-A-Wish Foundation to support children in need. "We the family of Tyler would like to take this opportunity to send a huge “thank you” to Mr. Greek who sponsored Tyler’s wish and thus made it possible for Tylerand his family, to go on a vacation."[15]
Helios supports various types of charities, with an emphasis on children’s charities. Fundraising for Helios occurs 365 days a year, with at least three major initiatives annually.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Ask Mr. Franchise - George Raios (video)". March 23, 2010.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Toronto - for visiting SF folk". 2003.
- ↑ Ruprecht, Tony (December 14, 2010). Toronto's Many Communities. ISBN 9781459718043. Retrieved April 28, 2020. Search this book on
- ↑ "Mr. Greek Says OPA! To Health". Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Franchise: a solid business investment in Canada". Canadian Immigrant. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Next up for mr. greek : total world domination". February 24, 2014.
- ↑ "Enjoy Food and Friendship at Mr. Greek" (PDF). The Bay Newspaper. 1995. p. 9.
- ↑ "It's All Greek To Me". August 18, 2017.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Mr. Greek gets fancy at Floga in Scarborough". March 29, 2019.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "22 and counting… Mr. Greek continues gold streak in Toronto Sun Readers' Choice Awards". October 25, 2018.
- ↑ "Mr. Greek establishes Middle Eastern toehold". February 19, 2014.
- ↑ "The Greek omogenia Greeks outside Greece, the Greek diaspora". 15 April 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
- ↑ "How Burlington Mall turned 50 and beat the odds to thrive in online shopping world". May 18, 2018.
- ↑ "Adopt a wish sponsor : Mr. Greek" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
External links[edit]
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