Photograph by Douglas Rider
On The Rebound: Roula Tsagaris, owner of Tina's Restaurant in the Willow Glen Plaza shopping center, and her father Michael Somatopoulos, are working hard to serve area customers delicious food at reasonable prices.
Tina's Restaurant offers people low-priced dinners
By Jim Aquino
Business at Tina's Restaurant, 2306 "K" Almaden Road, is back on the upswing again after a few setbacks, including problems related to nearby construction and the post-Sept. 11 economy.
Opened in 1995 at the Willow Glen Shopping Center (now the Willow Glen Plaza) by owners Roula Tsagaris and her then-husband/business partner George, this family restaurant/diner is part of Tsagaris' attempt to move onto "bigger things" after she and her ex-husband concentrated on bringing Greek fast food to the South Bay with the now-defunct Yaissou franchise.
One of the most popular features on the menu is a list of entrees known as Tina's Special Dinners, which cost $8.95. They range from shish kebob to spaghetti with meat sauce, and they're served with soup or salad, as well as potatoes and vegetables. Tsagaris says the $8.95 dinners are a big hit with seniors, who comprise 80 percent of her customers.
"We get a lot of families. We have a lot of repeat customers who are no longer really customers. They're our friends. We establish a good relationship with them," Tsagaris says. "It's wonderful to have this kind of people here. It's what really makes your job worthwhile."
The restaurant is named after Tsagaris' 15-year-old daughter, who attends Pioneer High School and plays forward on the girls' basketball team. Tsagaris says her daughter is currently trying out for a spot on the boys' football team.
"She's the only girl so far that is involved," Tsagaris says. "She's really got her mind and her heart set on it. She's going to give it her all."
Tsagaris says she's grateful for getting an extra hand at running the restaurant from members of her family, particularly her father, George Somatopoulos, who manages the restaurant in her absence.
"He is a tremendous help, a big mentor to me and also a wonderful person. He has helped me throughout my divorce and helped me with the business itself," Tsagaris says.
In the past, Tina's has experienced some financial hurdles. A year and a half after its opening, an overnight kitchen fire destroyed much of the restaurant's interior and kept Tina's closed for more than a year.
After extensive remodeling, Tina's reopened in 1998 as the rest of the shopping center experienced renovations as well (which were unrelated to the fire).
But according to Tsagaris, the plaza's construction work, which took more than a year to complete, drove regular customers away from her restaurant, as well as other shopping center tenants' businesses.
"That was very detrimental to us. It really killed us," says Tsagaris, who adds that her older customers found it tough to find parking due to the construction mess. "There was no way these people could park all the way by Safeway and walk to Tina's, especially if they had strollers, walkers or wheelchairs."
Despite constant delays, the shopping center's facelift was eventually finished, and on Sept. 15, 2001, the plaza threw a grand reopening. At the time, Tsagaris said, business at Tina's went down 30 percent. However, months after the refurbished plaza's celebration, Tsagaris says business is gradually picking up again.
"I know we're going through some hard times. It has affected everybody, including the restaurant business," Tsagaris says. "Thank God it's been picking up. It's wonderful."
Tina's Restaurant, 2306 "K" Almaden Road. Open every day 6 a.m.-9 p.m. For more information, call 408.978.8006.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
