Daphne's Greek Cafe: ex-pro soccer player scores points, gains fans by sharing love of native fare with general public

Nation's Restaurant News, Jan 31, 2005 by Dina Berta

Daphne was the young beautiful daughter of a river god. She was pursued by many admirers but she rejected every lover, including the powerful son of Zeus, Apollo. When Apollo persisted in his quest for her love, Daphne became frightened and prayed to her father to rescue her. Whereupon, her father told her that he would protect her by transforming her into a laurel tree on the bank of the river.

"Apollo then took from her branches and made a wreath as a memory of her beauty and his love for her. Apollo appropriated the laurel wreath, since called Daphne in Greek, for champions and those who strived for excellence in their chosen fields."

--Daphne's Greek Cafe promotional material

A love as intense as Apollo's was the impetus for George Katakalidis to venture into the restaurant business. But in Katakalidis' case, it was love for his native Greek food.

Born in Greece but raised in Canada, Katakalidis came to the United States as a professional soccer player. The New York Arrows recruited him out of high school. He later played for the San Jose Earthquakes and finally the San Diego Sockers before a toe injury ended his athletic career in the late 1980s.

Noticing that San Diego had no flourishing Greektown like that of his hometown of Toronto, Katakalidis had an idea.

"I thought someone should open a really good Greek place," he recalls. "I was unemployed, so maybe that someone was me."

From the beginning, Katakalidis envisioned a fast-casual concept that offered inexpensive, high-quality food, made to order quickly. He brought that vision to life with Daphne's Greek Cafe. In 13 years 50-unit Daphne's has become the leading fast-casual Greek food chain in the Western United States by broadening the appeal of an ethnic cuisine through good service and fresh, flavorful food, Katakalidis says.

When he started, his executive chef was his mother. He took her recipes as well as recipes from his aunts and uncles to develop the menu. But looking to give Daphne's a contemporary and modern image, he lightened up many traditional Greek dishes, which are usually heavy in oils and spices.

Daphne's signature dish is the chicken-and-steak kabob, featuring flame-broiled skewers marinated in lemon, herbs and spices, and served with a Greek salad, rice pilaf, pita bread and tzatziki sauce.

Another popular item is the Fire Feta, a creamy feta with four varieties of peppers and 14 seasonings that is added to salads, sandwiches and combination plates.

"We've taken the heaviness out of the food and made it incredibly flavorful," Katakalidis says.

A Daphne's salad with the spicy feta cheese mixture is a favorite of San Diego Union restaurant reviewer Maria Hunt. "It adds a neat dimension to a Greek salad," she says.

Lunch ranges between $6.50 and $7 per person and dinner between $8 and $9. Like many fast-casual concepts, Daphne's also offers wine and beer on its menu.

Katakalidis has tweaked and refined the concept over the years. The San Diego-based chain quickly moved away from the blue-and-white traditional look of most Greek restaurants. The current design has a modern European look with warm colors.

Daphne's began 2005 with 50 units in California and Arizona, outnumbering such competitors as 27-unit Opa! Souvlaki, based in Calgary, Alberta, and four-unit Louis Pappas Market Cafe, based in Tarpon Springs, Fla. Daphne's also has picked up the pace on its growth, opening 10 new stores in 2003 and 17 stores in 2004. Twenty new stores are planned for this year.

"Daphne's has no comparable [quick-service restaurants] to equate them with," says Randall Hiatt, president of Santa Monica, Calif.-based Fessel International, a restaurant consulting firm. "They are setting the barometer for what quick-casual Greek should be."

As an ethnic restaurant, Daphne has one big obstacle: educating the public about Greek food, Hiatt says, and Katakalidis agrees.

Once the stores can get customers to try the food, they take off. The average annual sales per unit are $850,000, Katakalidis says.

"When we open our units, they have a tough time in the beginning," he says. "It's still ethnic, and there is still a huge learning curve associated with it. It's not burgers. It's not Mexican food."

Unfamiliarity with the food is less of a problem in Southern California, however, where the majority of the chain's units are located and Daphne's is better known. But as the chain spreads out, education and execution are critical, Katakalidis says.

Capitalizing on the motion picture, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which introduced Greek American culture to the general public, Daphne's throws a Big Fat Greek Fundraiser for most of its store openings. Donations from invited guests are given to a local charity in the community, said Julie Lanthier Bandy, director of marketing.

Charity events are one way to draw people in and introduce them to Daphne's, Bandy says. Employees at new stores sometimes visit neighboring businesses and offer them free appetizers. The chain also may do a direct-mail campaign targeting the surrounding community of a new store.