Man's Greek restaurant in backyard honors late immigrant father: 'This is for him'
The son of a Greek immigrant opened a restaurant in his backyard to fulfill his late father's dream. Lakis Greek Kitchen has been donating profits to charity for 10 years.
A man is celebrating the success of his small restaurant after opening for the 10th summer in a row — in his backyard.
Panikos Panayiotou, 44, is a father of three from Walsall, England, who runs and operates a Greek restaurant out of a semi-detached structure in his backyard.
The sports development manager by day opened Lakis Greek Kitchen in 2014 — an idea that originated from his late father, Lakis Panayiotou.
The elder man was in the process of building his own backyard Greek restaurant when he passed away due to small cell lung cancer in 2012, according to SWNS.
Panayiotou told Fox News Digital that to honor his father and his Greek heritage, he decided he would make this happen himself. It took five months, he said via email.
"I built it in memory of my father, who passed away from cancer. He tried to start it — [but he] built half a restaurant in his garden [and then] passed away before it could be finished," he also said to SWNS.
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He added, "My father always wanted to run a traditional Greek taverna from his home, and so it’s a way of keeping his memory alive and raising much-needed money for charity."
He told Fox News Digital that what makes the restaurant special to him is "the ability to serve people through the love of food in memory of my father and to help local people in need."
Since the start, the Panayiotous have donated nearly $70,000 to local charities.
Panayiotou keeps the restaurant — which can hold about 75 customers — open for six weeks each year.
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He and his wife, Michelle, volunteer their time and efforts to prepare for the crowd while a volunteer chef from a local hotel comes in to cook the food.
Panayiotou also told Fox News Digital that his three children, ages 13, 12, and 8, also help out at the restaurant.
"My daughter is in the kitchen. My boys run an LGK (Lakis Greek Kitchen) shop, which sells Greek oil, olives and other produce that helps with our fundraising," he said.
Additionally, his children also help with prep and serving the customers.
Their signature dish is a lamb kleftiko dish. The marinated lamb and potatoes are slowly cooked for 8 to 12 hours, according to SWNS.
The restaurant also serves desserts such as baklava, coconut cake and a Greek chocolate rock cake called Doukissa.
Panayiotou told SWNS that the restaurant opens its reservations two months in advance and within a few hours, the tables are about 80% full.
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"We try and cater for walk-ins, too [and] we can end up with people all over the back garden," he said.
Panayiotou said that luckily his neighbors don’t mind the large crowds — and that some visitors even come from the United States to visit the unique restaurant.
"Our traditions are to have a relationship with your loved ones in the afterlife, so you do good deeds in memory of them," he told SWNS.
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He added, "And this is what we do here every year. This is for him."