“Restaurant brings Greek experience to area”

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Restaurant brings Greek experience to area Posted: 03 Jan 2011 05:58 PM PST January 3, 2011 A new Lake Zurich restaurant features authentic Greek food. Menalon Restaurant, 500 Ela Road, is owned by John Lardas. "It's all authentic. They even butcher their own meat. Everyone has been putting their heart into this place, making sure everyone is satisfied," said Francine Lardas, John's daughter-in-law and a restaurant manager. John's sons, Andy and Danny, work at the restaurant along with his daughter Helen, grandson Andreas and granddaughters Gianna, Didi, Jeannie, Sam, Tabby, Deana and Andriana. Andy is Francine's husband and Deana is their daughter. John Lardas has owned three restaurants in the Chicago area but this is the first to have all authentic Greek food. The other restaurants were family style with some authentic dishes, according to Francine. "It's ingredients that's been handed down from generation to generation," Francine said. When the weather is warmer they plan to use the deck to create an authentic Greek ambiance. "We're trying to take (the customers) to Greece," Francine said. "(John) visits Greece a lot so he has always stayed with the culture." The restaurant opened Dec. 13. "When they (customers) walk in I want them to have the best experience because I would want the same when I walk into a place. I want them to have the best experience as they walk in, as they sit down and are served and I want them to enjoy their food and as they're walking out I want them to be satisfied and content with everything," she said. Inside there's a wall statue depicting heads of Greek warriors. It had been in John's home since Andy was six-years-old. It's the first time the statue left the house according to Andy. The building used to be an Italian restaurant and has been redecorated with blue and white paint. There are also two large paintings on the wall that were sketched by hand. One represents the Menalon mountains and the other is a depiction of John that was taken from a photograph of him dinning with friends. The new proprietors also like the location. "It's nice because it has the downtown area close by," Francine said. She hopes the restaurant will help bring business to Lake Zurich's downtown. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner. It has an upstairs area that can be rented for parties. Hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Sunday. For more information call (847) 540-8100. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

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