E319: Greek Fusion in Port St. Lucie

Think Greek's journey from a family-owned food truck to multiple restaurant locations showcases their authentic generational recipes and innovative Greek fusion cuisine. Rosanne shares how they've expanded from their original Port St. Lucie Boulevard location to a new Stewart spot with a full bar and outdoor patio, all while staying true to their family's Greek heritage.

• Started in 2014 as a food truck traveling throughout Florida
• Opened first brick-and-mortar location in Port St. Lucie in 2018
• Recently expanded with a new location in Stewart on US 1 and Cove Road
• Features both authentic Greek classics and fusion items like loaded Greek fries and Greek quesadillas
• Created unique signature dish "Yuripitakia" that appeared on Food Network
• Offers vegan options to ensure everyone can enjoy their food together
• Emphasizes regional variations in Greek cuisine similar to differences in American barbecue
• 100% family-owned with recipes passed down through generations

Visit Think Greek in Port St. Lucie at 644 Southwest Port St. Lucie Boulevard (between Cameo and Del Rio) or in Stewart at 6075 Southeast Federal Highway near Cove Road. You can also check them out online anytime at thinkgreekfl.com.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Benjamin John.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome back to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Hey, are you in search of agood restaurant to get a good
place to eat?
Well, I know of a place closerthan you think.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing Roseanne with Think
Greek here in Fort St Lucie.
How are you doing, roseanne?

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Good, how are you?
Thank you so much for having meon today.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, absolutely, and I'm doing.
Great Thanks for asking and I'mexcited, for I think a lot of
the community knows who you are,but there's a lot of new people
here as well that might notknow about Think Greek, so let's
just start with that.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about the business?

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Yeah, perfect.
Well, we started in 2014 as afood truck and we literally went
all over the state of Florida.
We're originally from New York.
We came down, we saw that foodtrucks were big and that there
weren't any Greek food trucks,especially in this area.

(01:14):
So we started a food truck.
We went all over Florida In2018, we found our location on
Port St Lucie Boulevard purelyby chance and we've been in that
location since 2018.
And we recently just opened upa new location in Stewart on US

(01:37):
1 and Cove Road.
So now we are in Port St Lucieand in Stewart and we also have
our food trailer for caterings.
So we're thank you.
We're 100% family owned, Ourrecipes are generational and

(01:58):
authentic and we also do like aGreek fusion menu.
We also do like a Greek fusionmenu, so we take the flavors
that we grew up with and we putthem into items that people are
familiar with.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Nice, yes, so that's awesome.
Sounds like you guys areexpanding and you know I can.
I can give a testimony to thefood being really good.
I've eaten there before.
Really good, okay, well, yeah,it sounds like you kind of
answered my next question alittle bit, but let me.
Let me ask it anyway and see ifwe missed anything.
How did you get into thisbusiness?

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Well, the owner, stella, she, she's first
generation Greek American.
So food and family andtogetherness, and that's

(03:00):
something she was brought upwith.
And when she saw that, hey, youknow, this is an opportunity,
we can do a Greek food truck,she's like I'm going to take
what I've learned from my familyand then and do the classics,
and then I'm going to take theflavors and turn them on their

(03:21):
heads and do something totallyout of the box so we could set
ourselves apart.
And that's what we've beendoing since the food truck.
And you know, people haveresponded well.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Very cool.
Are there any myths ormisconceptions in this industry
that you found?
No.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
Um, when it comes to, when it comes to Greek food, um
, there's a lot of differentways that people do Greek food
and I'm not sure if you wouldcall it a myth.
Um, but definitely amisconception is that Greek food
is all the same and you can goto one place and get it this way

(04:03):
and come to another place andexpect the same exact thing.
Go to one place and get it thisway and come to another place
and expect the same exact thing.
But I kind of like to explainit like American barbecue.
You go to one part of Americaand it's a vinegar-based
barbecue.
You go to another part, it'smore of a dry rub.

(04:23):
So each part of Greece has adifferent style of cooking.
Even in Italian food, you go toNorthern Italy, red sauce is
not prevalent.
You go to Southern Italy, redsauce is prevalent.
So that's a little bit of amisconception that people come
and they're like but I didn'thave it this way at another

(04:45):
place that I've eaten in NewYork or Chicago.
Well, that's because maybetheir family or they are from a
different part of Greece than weare and, um, you know, it's a
little bit of a misconceptionthat everything is the same and
it's not.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
Yeah, yeah, I could see that, um, yeah, and there's
not enough of those, those typeof food trucks or that um
culture of food.
I guess you would say Um, andso I'm glad that you guys tapped
into that.

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
Uh, all right.
So who are your targetcustomers and how do you attract
them?

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Well, our target customers is anyone who likes
delicious food, Anyone who wantsto try something, anyone who
wants to do classics, like theclassic spanakopita or pasticho
or moussaka, that want ahomemade meal that has been

(05:55):
passed down for generations.
Someone that would appreciatethat.
But also people who want to eatoutside the box, like they want
to eat something different,like our yuripitaka that were on
the Food Network.
You will never find thoseanywhere else because it's
something we came up with on thetruck.
You will never find thoseanywhere else because it's
something we came up with on thetruck.
Just one day, we were sittingthere and we were like, what if
we put all these ingredientstogether and stuffed them with a
wonton and fried them, and whatwould that be like?

(06:20):
And you know we came up with itand since 2016, we've had the
yuripitakia on our menu andthat's something that we're
really proud of.
But you could also find likeloaded Greek fries or like a
Greek quesadilla or Greek nachos.
You know we do like to playwith the flavors.
We also, as you know, we have anice vegan menu and we're

(06:45):
playing on those Greek flavorsand putting and changing them to
a to incorporate, you know,other dietary preferences or
restrictions because, when itcomes down to it, Greek culture
is about everyone comingtogether and eating together.
Now, people, you know, havepreferences and restrictions, so

(07:09):
the way that people can eattogether is us offering
something for everyone.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Nice.
I love that Yep Coming together.
If that's what it's about, thenthat's a good message there, no
matter what the culture is.
Thank you All right.
So let's switch gears a littlebit here.
Can you describe a hardship ora life challenge that you've

(07:36):
been through that has made youstronger?

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Oh boy, wow.
You know getting a business offthe ground is never easy.
You know you have naysayers,you have.
You know, why are you doing itlike this?
Why aren't you doing it likethis?
You have people always tryingto put their opinion or their on

(08:02):
what you're doing, and it'sjust sometimes it's difficult to
move past those comments,especially when you know we are
family owned.
It's it's myself and Stella, um, and I.
You know it's the two of usthat run, uh, in store and
behind the scenes and, um, it'sdifficult, I'm not going to lie.

(08:26):
It's difficult, you know youget, you get discouraged
sometimes, but you have tobelieve in yourself and you have
to believe in your product, andwe do.
And we believe.
We believe in our, um, ourrestaurants, we believe in our
employees, um, that you know weare giving the best that we

(08:47):
possibly can.
And you know, sometimes youknow we have to be like oh all
right, let go, let let it happenbecause, because, it'll, it'll
work out, it'll work out,everything works out.
In the end, Um kind of a let goand let God.
Situation Um, but yeah it gets,it gets, it gets frustrating.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, I like the let go messagethere, cause it it always,
always, uh, always does seem towork out, doesn't it?

Speaker 3 (09:19):
Yeah, I mean sometimes not in the way you
thought it was going to work out, but in the way that it needed
to work out.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Right, exactly, I can agree, all right.
Well, uh, roseanne, how can ourlisteners learn more about
Think Greek?

Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yes, so they can always visit us 24 hours a day,
seven days a week atthinkgreekflcom.
They can come visit us in PortSt Lucie at 644 Southwest Port
St Lucie Boulevard, rightbetween Cameo and Del Rio, or
they can come to our newrestaurant in Stewart, 6075

(09:59):
Southeast Federal Highway.
Our closest major intersectionis Cove Road.
That new restaurant's a littlebit different than our Port St
Lucie restaurant, a littledifferent vibe.
We have a full bar.
We have, you know,entertainment on some nights.
So we have a little patio thatpeople can sit outside.

(10:20):
The beautiful weather is coming.
But definitely check us out,either in Port St Lucie or in
Stewart.
We would love to have some newfaces and welcome back some old
faces to come and visit us.

Speaker 2 (10:36):
All right.
Well, there you guys have it.
Roseanne, I really appreciateyou being on the show.
It was good to see you, thank,you.

Speaker 3 (10:43):
Nice to see you again .

Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, I wish you and the business the best going
forward okay.

Speaker 3 (10:49):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPPortStLucycom.
That's GNPPortStLucycom, orcall 772-303-1036.