Unique Mediterranean-style restaurant returns to Stratford dining scene after multi-year absence by Giannakopoulos family
Those who remember Pizza Bistro are the ones in the know, and for those who have yet to experience the brand offered by the Giannakopoulos family, you’ll know soon enough.
After closing down their restaurant over on Wellington Street and decamping for Greece a few years ago, Steve Giannakopoulos and his sons, Chris and Tommy, have returned to Stratford and are just mere weeks away from re-opening their well-known and highly regarded bistro. And it was highly regarded because of the quality and difference between what they offer and what others do.
“Our pizza is not loaded the way North American pizzas are, so there is a nice balance to the sauce, the cheese and dough with seasonings and so on,” Steve Giannakopoulos said. “It’s not the kind where after you eat a piece that you’re super thirsty. We make almost everything ourselves, so it’s more of a ‘healthy’ pizza.”
Giannakopoulos said they learned a few new tricks while in Greece, saying they never stop learning how to take a good thing and make it better. That’s a rule, he said, that doesn’t stop with the food.
“It’s not just learning how to improve the taste of a pizza, but it can be the service of the restaurant, the look and overall feel of our place and making sure that when customers come in they have a good time and great experience,” he said. “It’s more than just ‘I paid $5 and had some good food’ … we want to create memories.”
At the time of the interview for this story, Pizza Bistro’s menu hadn’t been completely finalized yet but Giannakopoulos said it would be similar to what they had before with a few new fresh updates mixed in. Oh, and there would be self-serve ice cream, too, but perhaps the main focus will be on the olive oil.
“Another staple for us will be the olive oil we use – we brought it back from Greece with us and it’s going to be in a lot of our recipes,” he said. “It could even go on something like the ice cream, but it will definitely be in our sauces, our marinades.”
Chris Giannakopoulos talked about coming back to town and starting the bistro back up and how for those who aren’t familiar with Mediterranean cuisine should keep three things in mind Pizza Bistro will be built around: quick service, fresh food and good value.
“It’s very similar to what we did before but we’re going to build on it, and having healthy foods and fresh ingriedents and produce is a big part of that,” he said. “We want people to come in and be seated comfortably, be greeted by a warm smile and ensure that everyone has a good time. We try to keep the atmosphere light and relaxing and then just serve the best product that we can with the ingredients that we have available to us, and keep it at a price point where everybody is pleased – the ice cream is always an added touch.”
Good service means paying attention to the details, Steve Giannakopoulos said, even something down to a crack in a plate or replacing a spoon that falls off a table in a timely manner. Those are the types of things that take a dining experience from an okay one to making a repeat customer of someone who appreciates Pizza Bistro for looking after them as completely as possible.
“Let’s say you had two pizzas, with one costing $40 and one is $30, but they’re basically the same,” he said. “We want to give you a quality product at a fair price, which we think helps make the food taste better. You come in and get a delicious, affordable pizza and you wind up wanting to come back. And as Chris said, everyone says they make their stuff fresh, but we truly mean it. For instance, a lot of places use pre-ground bacon – we’re not about to make our own pepperoni, but we can buy a slab of bacon, cut it and roast it in our oven then put it on the pizza. We get the ingredients as raw as nature intended, then we prepare them here. That’s where the flavour comes in.”
In addition to some of their ‘greatest hits’ from before, Pizza Bistro will have a few new fresh items added in along with what Steve called a ‘Greek weekly menu’ that might feature things like lamb shanks or roasted pancetta or a dessert of some kind. And, of course, there’s the ice cream option.
As they draw closer to opening, Steve is looking forward to welcoming back familiar faces and new ones alike. Chris said they’ll have take-out deals, and they’ll be using social media to get word out of specials and other fun things they have planned. They’re ready to flex their creative cooking muscles once again.
“People can expect that our menu will have the same structure as before with pastas and pizzas and appetizers but that will give us room to still be creative,” Chris said. “We’ll have the room to invent and change some things and make them better. As for the pizzas themselves, I don’t think we’re going to deviate too much from what. Maybe the dough recipe might be a little different but it’s still going to be 24-hour fermented dough with a little better flavour.”
Pizza Bistro is now located at 107 Downie Street across from the Avon Theatre. Follow them on social media for important updates and more.