A Leeds takeaway boss has admitted how “stressful” it has been opening their own business as their monster sized wraps have been flying off the counter with “65-foot queues” down the road, to the point where they’ve had to get their friends to help their staff to meet the demand.
Greek married couple Anisa Karapanzou and Stavro Goskova, 40 and 41, opened Pitta Fan in Roundhay Road, Oakwood, at the beginning of December, last year. They’ve spoken about the “very hard” challenges the business has faced, while serving out their authentic Greek gyros and pastries.
The couple have lived in Leeds for five years, raising their children Alexandros and Kevin, 11 and 3. Anisa has recently finished a course to become a teaching assistant and Stavro has been a chef for 25 years.
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Anisa recounted their grand opening day when they had to have their friends rush down to help because their shop was “full of customers” and there was a “65 foot” queue snaking down the road. They’d put together a marketing strategy which had proven far too successful.
They were selling their food on opening day (December 6, 2022) for 50 percent off. But with only two members of staff behind the counter, they'd severely underestimated the demand.
Anisa said: “There was a queue of about 20m [65 feet] outside the shop. I think this was the best marketing strategy we could have done. But it was challenging. We didn’t earn money that day, but everyone remembered us, exactly what we wanted.
“My god, there was a lot of cooking. Even though we had the staff, we had to get friends to come and help out. It was stressful but we were happy as everything we were doing was successful.
“Our friends are chefs and waiters, so they knew what to do. I had to take a really deep breath when I saw them. Oh my god, the shop was full of customers and there was the queue outside. We called them and in five minutes, three of them went inside the kitchen and were amazing. It was such a nice feeling.”
This came after a series of challenges for the new business, just to get up and running. After acquiring the building in Roundhay Road, they realised they wouldn’t be able to open for a long time.
The building was previously an office for estate agents Preston Baker - so they had to apply for planning permission just to change the use of the building.
Anisa said: “This has been very very hard, we were having to wait around for six or seven months.”
Then it was a challenge to find the right suppliers as the couple were determined to get all of their ingredients from Greece. And then they had to completely redesign the inside of the venue, “this was also hard, just to decide the colours and the first steps,” admits Anisa.
She said they wouldn’t have managed without Greek architect Eina Kosma, who has been their “angel”. They've also thanked their now five members of staff, who they say are all highly trained in food hygiene.
The couple, based in Roundhay, also take great pride in the quality of their food and get the ingredients delivered via lorry all the way from Greece.
Speaking of their huge gyros, notably the triple decker, Anisa said: “It’s the amount and size that you will get in Greece. They’re exactly the same.
“We’re trying to provide the exact same experience. And everything is coming from Greece. The flavours, the meat and quality is all the same as in Greece.”
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