Personal touch key to success for Prime Steakhouse, Opa!

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 21, 2005 by Carolyn Walkup

Operators of two unrelated independent dinnerhouses vouch for personalized guest service as a major component of their success.

Both restaurants are located in Chicago suburbs, where almost all of their surrounding competitors are chain restaurants. They are 4-year-old Chicago Prime Steakhouse in Schaumburg, owned by the Kalkounos family, and the new Opa! Estiatorio in Vernon Hills, owned by the seven-unit Zoe Restaurant Group.

Although their concepts differ greatly, both restaurants are run by career operators who grew up in the foodservice business. At least one owner is almost always present whenever the restaurant is open.

"We are hands-on," noted Stelio Kalkounos, who owns Chicago Prime Steakhouse with his brother and parents. He began working at his parents' former restaurant, The Prime Table in another suburb, when he was 13, washing dishes and bussing tables.

Even though he now is an owner, Kalkounos still busses tables, fills water glasses and does whatever else he sees is needed when he's working the floor. He also visits tables at appropriate times to establish rapport with guests, many of whom come back repeatedly.

"Our guest count was up 8 percent last year," he said, adding that he's set a goal to raise that 8-to 10-percent higher this year. He said he learned a lot about goal-setting when he took a respite from the family business to work for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises and Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse in Chicago.

Coincidentally, both of those Chicago-based multiunit companies now operate competitive steak-focused restaurants nearby. "But they haven't taken anything from our growth," Kalkounos insisted.

Other competitive companies with nearby suburban outposts include Morton's of Chicago, The Steakhouse and Shula's Steak House. While Chicago Prime Steakhouse has a somewhat similar menu, it offers several dishes that Kalkounos claims his restaurant originated.

Those dishes include hot appetizers, such as Thai buffalo shrimp and Cajun scallops with tasso ham: prime cuts of prime rib that customers can order ahead of time: a choice of five toppings on many steaks; and soup or salad included with the entrees. Checks average between $55 and $60, lower than those of most other prime steakhouses.

In spite of paying record-high prime beef prices in the last couple of years, Kalkounos has been able to hold profits steady or ahead of the previous year by running a tight ship. Steaks are butchered on premises, holding down food costs, and managers are given incentives for working extra hours, which avoids a need to expand staff. He uses direct marketing, particularly e-mail, instead of more costly media advertising.

Building relationships with concierges of some 40 nearby hotels also has boosted business. "My father says you can spend less money on advertising and achieve your goal by increasing guest satisfaction," Kalkounos said.

At Opa! in Vernon Hills, located some 20 miles north of Schaumburg, Chris Georges, co-owner with his brother John, is building a new business with the only Greek restaurant in the immediate area, employing many of the same philosophies as the Kalkounos family's. Even grand-opening advertising strictly was word-of-mouth, facilitated by a core customer base of area Greek-Americans.

"It's tough to compete against the chains," Georges said. "They are well-financed and well-organized, and they have the systems. We have lower overhead than the chains; we use our personal labor. We're wearing a lot of hats.

"We can do the day-to-day operations as well as they can," he added. "Our service is more personal; a lot of people know me now. The food is our point of differentiation, and we are price-conscious." Dinner checks average $19, and lunch averages are about half that amount. Signature dishes on the dinner menu include saganaki, or flamed Greek cheese; char-grilled marinated octopus; avgolemono soup, a traditional soup of egg, lemon and rice: crispy pan-fried cod with garlic spread; souvlaki, or wood-grilled kebabs with a choice of meats; and roast leg of lamb.

"I think this area is ready for a Greek restaurant; people don't have to go downtown any more for Greek food," Georges noted. Many non-Greek customers are familiar with Greek cuisine from dining in Chicago's many Greek restaurants or vacationing in Greece, he noted.

Among Zoe Restaurant Group's other concepts are two more in the same suburb: Portofino, an Italian dinner-house; and Henry's, a casual American restaurant.