Big Changes at the New Little Athens

Evyennia Kontoulis was a gangly 7-year-old when her parents opened  of Sewickley. She started out watching her mother and father work in the kitchen, but by the time she was 10 or 11, Kontoulis was helping to seat customers in the dining room. Soon enough, she was a waitress and later a bartender.

“I know everything like the back of my hand,” she said.

So it only made sense when Little Athens closed two months ago to try to regroup that Kontoulis’ parents, Lori and Vasilis Kontoulis, tapped their now 19-year-old daughter to manage the family business.

Kontoulis still depends on her parents and values their opinions, such as when she recently stopped to ask her dad a business question, spurring a brief conversation in Greek. Even though she's young, her family believes she's capable.

“Serving, cooking, managing: She does everything. She knows how to handle it,” Vasilis Kontoulis said of his daughter. “She’s very mature, my daughter … She’s been cooking with me since 8 years old.”

Little Athens reopened last week with little fanfare. The soft reopening July 6 came without advertisements, giveaways or “half-off” attractions, but Evyennia Kontoulis said word about the opening quickly spread and the customers came back.

“We’ve gotten a nice crowd,” she said. “We want our family clientele back.”

The Kontoulis family has asked Yvonne Kass, former owner of  in Sewickley, to help with management. Kass has 25 years of business experience, including a decade spent with Fondi's.

"Personally, I'm honored that the Kontoulis family asked me to join them," Kass said. "They've been asking me for a while now to come over and manage and help this venture be successful with Evy because you can't live there, and that’s what she would be doing."

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While Kontoulis is busy managing the restaurant all week, she’s also keeping her grades up while she studies at Robert Morris University. The sophomore is majoring in secondary education history with a minor in psychology.

Even though her full-time job is in the restaurant business, Kontoulis said she does have other interests and earns good grades in school.

“History is my favorite subject. It always has been,” she said.

When it comes to the history of the  restaurant, Kontoulis has a lot of good memories. When she thinks about the past year, thought, the nostalgia begins to fade. A little less than a year ago, she said, her parents hired a new manager to oversee day-to-day operations, but the restaurant’s quality and reputation slowly began to decline under the new management, she said.

The menus, the service and the overall atmosphere changed, and she said they were nothing like the Little Athens she grew up in.

“The wrong crowd was coming in,” Kontoulis said. “It didn’t work out too well.”

The management changed and the restaurant closed to regain its bearings, she said.

Plenty of changes took place during the brief closing. Kontoulis said the family took Little Athens back to the old menu they offered before. The new menu is shortened but contains the authentic Greek food diners know and love.

Kontoulis hired a new staff that totals 15 employees. She brought in young workers from overseas through a work-travel program. The employees, from Bulgaria, Macedonia and Moldova, are soaking up the experience while working on their English skills. The hostess, for instance, doesn’t know English well but greets customers as best as she can.

“It’s going good,” Kontoulis said.

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Summer is the busiest season for the restaurant, and Little Athens wants to be open for business, but it's also a busy time for festivals and s, which keeps the catering business busy.

That's why Kass is so important to the restaurant.

Kontoulis said her family knows Kass very well. After the family talked to her about everything that happened with the restaurant, Kass agreed to offer her help, mainly on the weekends.

Kass has an 18-year-old daughter and said Kontoulis is very much like her daughter. Kass said she also sees herself in Kontoulis, who is about the same age Kass was when she started in her own family's business.

Kass works full time as a professional health coach but said she feels honored that she's been entrusted to help make the restaurant successful. Her main goal is rebuilding the reputation and making sure customers are getting the right service, which includes quality, consistency, timing -- and a great cocktail to boot.

"This is a phenomenal place. They have phenomenal Greek food; it already speaks for itself," Kass said. "We want this place to be the destination. I want this town to have an awesome other place to go to." she said.  

Having Kontoulis and Kass managing frees up Lori Kontoulis to concentrate on her catering business. She's happy to have Kass aboard, and she said she loves that her daughter has taken on a management role.

“She has new ideas, and she has a great mind,” Lori Kontoulis said.

The restaurant is open seven days a week, while the catering side of the business offers customers off-site or on-site service.

While some restaurants frown upon children, Little Athens welcomes them with open arms. Evyennia Kontoulis said she planned to order balloons and lollipops to pass out to young patrons.

“Kids are very welcome. We want them to come in,” she said.

'Little' Specials All Week Long

• Mondays: 35-cent Wing Night, 6 to 10 p.m.

• Tuesdays: $6 Gyros

• Wednesdays: 35-cent Wing Night and Karaoke Night, 6 to 10 p.m.

• Thursdays: Ladies Night

• Fridays: DJ Night

• Saturdays: Live Bands*

* New bands will play each Saturday night beginning at the end of the month.

New Hours

Dining room: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; 8 a.m.-8 pm Sunday. 

Lounge: 10:30 a.m. to midnight Monday-Thursday; 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday; 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.