After 42 years as a full-service Greek restaurant in the Bluemont neighborhood, Two Chefs Pizza has rebooted as a fast-casual spot.
Now known as Two Chefs Greek Kouzina, the restaurant at 5019 Wilson Blvd has installed menu screens, a self-service kiosk and new decor in response to changing market trends and personal circumstances.
The cushions on the seats and booths are now a Greek blue, while the menu is simplified and carries some additions. The restaurant reopened last week following renovations during a regular summer hiatus.
For the past two years, Tasos Sgardelis — the manager and son of Greek immigrants George and Dimitra Sgardelis, who originally opened the restaurant in 1984 — spent time thinking about modernizing the place.
After decades of running the restaurant, he told ARLnow that his parents were hesitant to make certain changes. They had spent years building their business and a clientele. Why change something that was working well?
For Tasos Sgardelis, it was because of a certainty they could get even better.
“They saw my interest, my work ethic and they trusted my opinions when I wanted to change things or update,” he said.
Sgardelis picked each new detail and remodeled the place on his own, with some help from his teenage children. He said customers would occasionally see him putting color samples on the wall and question what he was doing, but he kept the final result as a surprise.
Sgardelis said the pandemic changed the restaurant business, with fewer people sitting down to eat and more orders to-go. Even when the restaurant is not full, Sgardelis said he noticed clients’ preference to pick up their food and eat at home.
Under the previous diner model, Sgardelis said some of the regulars were accustomed to walking in, sitting at a table and taking their time with the menu, perhaps enjoying a glass of wine. With the new concept, they will walk into the restaurant, view the menu screens on the wall or on the self-service kiosk to order and pay, and then take a seat.
For those who like to sit and then order, Sgardelis said they are welcome to do so. The plan is to get some physical menus available so customers can review their options and walk over to the front when ready.
Sgardelis also sought to simplify the menu to make it Greek fast-casual. He started crossing things out: breakfast, flatbreads, the soup or salad and garlic bread that came with the dinners, and deli sandwiches such as BLT, tuna, ham, turkey and club.
After spending his entire life at the restaurant, Sgardelis also knew which items wouldn’t leave: the steak and cheese, the “monster sub,” a signature item Sgardelis’ father created, and some of the burgers and pizzas as well.
“Our customers here have seen my kids when they were in the car seat on the table, just how people have seen me when I was young here,” Sgardelis said.
Sgardelis also added some items. The restaurant now offers an authentic Greek gyro prepared with layered, marinated pork shaved directly off the spit, as well as grain and salad bowls, bifteki, falafel and portokalopita, a traditional orange cake.
“I just wanted to simplify it and make it more Greek fast casual, but still with bottles and glasses of wine,” Sgardelis said.
The biggest motivation for the changes was Sgardelis’ concern over his parents’ health after decades of long hours running the business, standing on their feet.
He hired a new team to relieve his father from working the line kitchen full-time, transitioning George Sgardelis into a supervisory role where he can check the kitchen and also visit with guests. Dimitra Sgardelis stays active in the front of the restaurant, learning the new order system and interacting with the customers. She said they are learning the new changes together.
As far as the future, Tasos Sgardelis said they don’t plan on going anywhere.
“I got 15 more years on my lease,” Sgardelis said. “I’ll renew it and keep doing this forever.”
