New Greek eatery opens in Winter Garden Village

WINTER GARDEN  If baklava, gyros, pitas and other Greek classics speak to your inner foodie, Winter Garden Village at Fowler Groves’s newest restaurant is right up your alley.

Little Greek Fresh Grill is now open in place of the old Red Mango frozen yogurt shop, and although Hurricane Irma threw some roadblocks in the way of its opening, the restaurant is now ready to serve customers.

Andrew Tate, owner and general manager of the Winter Garden location, first got into the business after seeing one of his best friends jump on board with Little Greek. 

“Since I was young, I always wanted to invest in a franchise, but originally I wanted to invest in Jimmy John’s because I grew up in Illinois,” Tate said. “Kyle was working for Little Greek and telling me about the brand. I went to check out the food and absolutely loved it. I like it because it’s a full-service kitchen with a fast-casual type concept.”

Although Tate did not have much background in the restaurant industry, he saw the concept as fun and different and knew he wanted to be a part of it.

“I did some research and started talking to area developers,” he said. “They knew about this plaza, when I was first looking at places and identifying locations in Orlando.”

After looking at various locations and then seeing his friends who live locally become active in the community, choosing the Winter Garden location was the next step. It’s been a process of seven to eight months in the making, he said, but watching his dream come to fruition and being able to serve the Winter Garden community is something special.

The food at Little Greek is all cooked to order — but with a fast-casual counter service. The restaurant has a full-service kitchen in the back, and everything from potatoes to rice pudding to soup is made from scratch. The bakery items come from Hellas Bakery in Tarpon Springs, a Greek wholesale bakery.

Popular menu items range from skewers and chicken breasts to pitas, gyros, dolmades and potato salad. There is also a range of healthy options, such as Greek salads, as well as the restaurant’s famous Greek dressing.

And although Tate and his parents were prepared to open the restaurant last week, Hurricane Irma had other plans. The first couple of truck orders and produce to be delivered went bad, and soft-opening hours also were affected. 

Additionally, Tate did not expect the volume of excitement from the community he has received. When the restaurant reopened for a few hours post-hurricane, the demand was so high that it ran out of some products.

Now, it’s all about playing catch-up and ensuring things go as smoothly as possible. Little Greek opened for its first full day on Monday, Sept. 18, and a grand opening is planned for sometime in mid-October.

“We were out of some items that take a long time to make, but everyone was extremely nice and well-received,” Tate said. “Everyone was understanding. I got to go around and meet people who are active and involved in the community, and I’m glad to be out here and be a part of it.”