Stamatis works hard to serve hungry residents
Stamatis Stadharas may be hard to get in touch with at his home. In fact, it seems his restaurant at times is his home.
He arrives at Stamatis Family Restaurant, at Weaver’s Corner Shopping Plaza, at 4 a.m. every day except Sunday to prepare for the upcoming day. He should open at 6, but usually opens at 5:30 for the contractors. He works until about 9 p.m., maybe taking a break between the lunch and dinner rush to take a nap.
“It’s not a big deal. I’ve been doing it for 11 years,” Stamatis said with a shrug and a thick Greek accent.
It’s that work ethic that has allowed Stamatis Family Restaurant to succeed after all these years, serving Greek-American favorites at good prices.
Stamatis and his wife came to America from Greece 23 years ago to build a better life. Stamatis, a chef by trade, worked at a restaurant in Port Charlotte for 12 years before decided he wanted his own place.
“We came here and we had nobody. No family or anything. We’ve worked hard all these years and finally found this place,” Stamatis said. “I love the area, I love the people.”
He found his current location at Weaver’s Corner, but had an uphill climb as the previous owner had built a not-so-good reputation.
It was tough sledding for a couple years, but Stamatis changed the menu and slowly built a steady clientele that has remained to this day, gaining new followers along the way, as well as several Reader’s Choice awards in 2012 an 2013.
Breakfast is the big money maker, with specials as low as $2.99. Lunch and dinner usually starts at $7.99 with the early bird specials.
And it’s all made from scratch, which is why his makes his soups and gravies well before the crack of dawn.
Stamatis’ wife works in the morning and takes care of the kids after school. His oldest daughter works there when not in college.
But Stamatis is always there, and plans to stay there as long as he can, providing great Greek and American fare.
“The restaurant business is a tough business, but if you can hold on for a few years, you’ll do O.K. if you have good service and good prices,” Stamatis said.
Stamatis Family Restaurant is open from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed in Sunday. During the summer it closes at 3 p.m.
For more information, call 652-9999.