A LITTLE VILLAGE IN GREECE
Before Opa, There Was Derveni.
Our family comes from the little seaside village of Derveni, Greece.
Some of my strongest memories are tied to food my Thea Aleka cooking, my Yiayia baking meals in her wood-fired oven, and long days swimming in the sea before coming home to a table full of incredible food.
It wasn't fancy. It was family, food and time spent together.
That's the feeling I wanted to bring home to Opa.
THE OPA! STORY
Built on a Dream. Kept Alive by a Whole Lot of Heart.
I was 25 years old when I opened Opa! Greek Taverna.
But the dream started five years earlier.
I was working in restaurants, buying ingredients for the owner, cooking alongside the chefs, processing payroll and helping run the whole operation. Eventually I had the thought every young entrepreneur probably has at some point:
I can do this.
My dad, a Greek immigrant and entrepreneur himself, gave me a reality check. The biggest obstacle wasn't whether I could run a restaurant. It was money.
So at 20 years old, I put my head down. I worked doubles. I lived cheap. I saved everything I could.
Five years later, I had $50,000 in the bank and felt like a billionaire.
Then I got my first contractor's invoice.
Suddenly, I wasn't feeling quite so rich.
Fortunately, I had earned enough merit badges growing up to be dangerous. Painting, woodworking you name it. If I could figure out how to build it myself, I did.
Slowly, Opa began to take shape.
OPENING DAY · 2013
Then We Opened the Doors.
I thought I was ready.
Then opening day arrived.
I was so overwhelmed that my body practically shut down. I remember crying and thinking:
I'm not ready for this.
My dad consoled me, and my good friend Aaron Campos jumped in to help me get through it.
More than a decade later, Aaron is still here. Today, he's our Regional Culinary Manager and one of the most important people in our company.
That first day taught me something I've never forgotten: Opa was never going to be something I could build alone.
THE UPHILL BATTLE
“Greek Food
Won’t Work in Rowlett.”
I heard that more than once.
Rowlett was a meat-and-potatoes town, and plenty of people told me a Greek restaurant simply wouldn't survive here.
So we started converting people one table at a time.
Hummus? That's our bean dip.
Tirokafteri? Think Greek queso.
Tzatziki? That's our ranch.And if that didn't work, we had a burger and even made pita pizzas.
But introducing Rowlett to Greek food was only half the battle. There were plenty of times when we weren't sure we'd make it.
I kept telling my team we had a winning formula. We just had to keep working the rounds.
When people weren't coming to us, we went to them. We packed up the food and showed up at festivals, community events and anywhere else we could get Opa in front of someone new.
We'd sell a little food, shake a lot of hands and pass out menus all day hoping just one more family would walk through our doors.
We hustled. And slowly, Rowlett became home.
MARCH 2020
We Thought It Was Over.
Then COVID hit.
Like restaurants everywhere, we suddenly found ourselves facing something none of us had prepared for. After years of fighting to keep Opa alive, I genuinely thought this might be the thing that finally ended it.
Then something happened I never expected.
A video went viral.
People shared it. The community rallied around us. Orders started coming in, and people showed up for this little restaurant in ways I'll never forget.
What I thought might be the end of Opa became one of our strongest years ever.
It reminded me of something this restaurant had been teaching me since 2013:
Every time I think Opa is out of rounds, she finds another one.
THE STORY CONTINUES
And We’re Just Getting Started.
More than a decade later, Opa is still Opa.
The world around us has changed. My life certainly has. But this little restaurant has remained remarkably true to what I wanted it to be when I opened the doors at 25.
Good food. Warm hospitality. A room full of people. And every now and then, the sound of everyone yelling OPA!
Today, I'm fortunate to have an incredible team of managers, employees and culinary professionals who care for this restaurant and help protect what we've built.
We still work to make Opa better better ingredients, better service, better experiences but never at the expense of what made it special in the first place.
Some things don't need to be reinvented. They just need to be cared for.
Thirteen years after opening those doors, I still love this place. I'm still proud of what we've built. And I'm still excited about what comes next.
Because we're just getting started.
— Kostas Lazanas
Owner, Opa! Greek Taverna
