Aberdeen’s Westburn Park is now home to a new street food unit as Just Greek has opened its hatch.
Located adjacent to Westburn House, it has taken roughly 12 months for co-owners Lefki Christodoulou and Spiridon Varvatakos to transform the catering unit which was purchased from a supplier in Inverness.
Officially opening to the public on Tuesday (June 6), the main product at Just Greek is authentic Greek gyros.
However, it will also serve a range of burgers, fries with a variety of toppings, salads and vegan and vegetarian options.
A taste of Greece in Aberdeen
Spiridon and Lefki previously owned Golden Grill, a street food van which is located in Bridge of Don Industrial Estate and offers a mixture of Scottish and Greek dishes.
This business will be taken over by new management in the near future.
Just Greek, Spiridon says, “is the natural continuation” of the duo’s previous name.
“We were taken aback by the local people’s love for the Greek food we offered at Golden Grill,” the head chef added.
“Customers kept mentioning how our Greek gyros were bringing back memories from their holidays in Greece. Therefore we wanted a more centrally placed venue that would focus more on Greek food.”
Spiridon, who now resides in Aberdeen, has been passionate about cooking since the age of 11 and went on to pursue it as a career once finishing school.
The 41-year-old has since worked in several restaurants and hotels in both Greece and Scotland, including Miller & Carter in Aberdeen, before pursuing his dream of starting a street food venture.
“Street food is a crucial part of Greek culture,” Spiridon says. “This unit gives us the opportunity to offer restaurant-quality food at affordable prices.
“I wanted to bring something I truly love to Aberdeen and share a piece of Greece with people here.”
Main dish prices at Just Greek range from £3.50 to £16 while sides are priced from £1 to £8.
The menu features hot breakfast rolls, grilled halloumi, a triple meat burger and vegan pita, to name a few dishes.
Service with a ‘friendly Mediterranean attitude’
Spiridon emphasised that a lot of time was spent perfecting the look of Just Greek ahead of its launch. He said: “It took us almost a year to have it ready.
“We are based at an important park so we needed to make sure our venue fits in with the surrounding environment and that it is equipped appropriately for the kind of food it will offer.
“That is the main reason for the delay.”
The co-owners are already hoping to expand the team by recruiting one or two more employees. And they intend on giving back to local service heroes.
Spiridon went on to say: “We are looking forward to welcoming back our customers and meeting many new ones that will certainly be tempted to try our food.
“Due to the location of Just Greek, we are hoping to serve not just the local residents and users of the park, but also the workers and patients at the nearby hospital.
“As a recognition for their hard work and sacrifices they have to make, we have decided to offer a 15% discount to NHS staff as well as fire service, police and coastguard staff.”
Lefki added: “We will strive to offer real authentic Greek food served with Mediterranean herbs, spices and olive oil.
“Customers will certainly appreciate our friendly and chatty Mediterranean attitude and our passion for the produce we are offering.”
Just Greek is open from 10am to 3.30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 10am to 6pm from Thursday to Saturday. The unit will also be open from 10am to 6pm on Sundays come August.
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