Nick the Greek debuted in Ceres last week, under the personal supervision of Nick Tsigaris himself. Well, make that two of them since all three cousins who founded the chain share the name.
The eatery, conjoined with the Union 76 station that opened in the Ceres Gateway Center, opened to a long line of customers on Dec. 3 with the promise of free food. The restaurant had planned to open on Nov. 6 but there was an issue with PG&E failing to provide gas needed. The Ceres Chamber of Commerce celebrated with a ribbon cutting.
At 4213 Mitchell Road, the Ceres location of Nick the Greek is the first one in California with a drive-through lane. The company opened a restaurant in Houston, Texas with a drive-thru about six months ago.
The cousins humorously are identified as Big Nick, Baby Nick and Little Nick. Little Nick was in San Jose where the company’s headquarters are located.
“Most of our stores are in the San Jose and Bay area and it’s tough to find real estate for drive-thrus around here so this was a good opportunity for a drive-thru,” said Big Nick Tsigaris. The drive-thru will be key for many customers streaming off of Highway 99 and onto Mitchell Road.
A decision was made to locate in Ceres’ newest shopping center because of all the other big chain names, including Chipotle, Starbucks, In-N-Out, Popeye’s and Ono Hawaiian.
The Tsigaris family has been busy this year with “Big Nick” attending about 30 openings this year alone.
The company is planning to open a new Nick the Greek near the Pelandale Avenue Costco in Modesto and one in Turlock. They will join the Ceres and Riverbank stores. Manteca and Stockton are other locations in the works.
“Ceres is great – never knew about it until we planned this,” he said.
The restaurant employs about 15 workers.
Edgar Ruiz, a corporate manager, said the offer of free lunch kept the store “super busy.”
“We had a line all day. They could get any item on the menu – pitas, bowls, plates,” said Ruiz. “It was a great turnout.”
Nick the Greek was born in 2012 after a visit to Greece, the birthplace of the gyro, on the founders’ annual trip to their hometown village. They decided to open their restaurants, according to a company statement, after “wondering why there were no decent gyros or souvlakia in California.”
The first Nick the Greek opened in February 2014, offering rotisserie meats, charbroiled skewers, zesty sauces and fresh vegetables. The menu includes burgers, salads and froyos.
The Ceres restaurant is open 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
