“Why is it that most of the cheeseburger diners in our town are owned by Greek families?”
I posed that question to Jim Canavos, a Greenville restaurateur and son of Greek immigrants. We were enjoying cheeseburgers and fries inside my favorite Greek diner, Kendall’s Grill.
“It depended on where you ended up,” Canavos explained. “After World War II, many Greeks who lived in the small villages left because of the terrible poverty. The first one that landed on their feet in the U.S. got a job, many times at a restaurant, because that job came with free meals. Then they sent money back to the family so successive family members could follow and they ended up working in the same restaurant. In Greenville we ended up at these burger diners. Boston? It was all pizza. It just depended on the city you landed in.”
For many years this was the Bikas Drive-In. Today it is owned by twin brothers Kendall and Rob Tillotson, and the story goes all the way back to when the brothers were 13 walking home from school.
“We wanted to make some money, and Mr. Bikas was outside the restaurant, and we asked him for a job,” Rob Tillotson said. “This was our favorite restaurant, and he said, ‘sure thing boys, you can paint the building.’ We did that and he fed us, and he paid us. We kept coming to work here in the summer and when we graduated from high school, Kendall made an offer to Mr. Bikas to buy the restaurant.”
At those words, Canavos gave up a huge smile.
“Rob, I love that story and all the little things that you get right,” he said. “Even when I order burgers to go for the family, the way your staff wraps the burgers and neatly creases the wax paper. It shows an extra level of care and commitment.”
I told Rob that his staff is always hospitable. They say hello, they smile, they ask the right questions, and they bus your table. They butter and grill the buns, they shape their own patties from fresh beef, and their small milkshake is less than $5. Kendall’s is always clean and tidy and at lunchtime it is quite busy. It’s not often that I eat lunch in that part of town, but if I want a quick bite with great service for less than $20 then it’s hard to beat Kendall’s.
Canavos agreed.
“This burger reminds me of the ones I had at my uncle’s restaurant in Fayetteville, North Carolina, when I was just a little kid,” he said. “The right burger can be a time machine and can bring back those memories of our youth. And this is the right burger.”
I took another bite of my chili cheeseburger, saw my own youthful memories, and agreed.
Kendall’s Grill, at 1810 W. Blue Ridge Drive, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner Mondays through Saturdays.
“City Juice” is a colloquial term for a glass of tap water served at a diner. John Malik is a restaurant coach and hospitality consultant. He can be reached at chefjohnmalik@gmail.com.
