JOHN G’S RESTAURANT OWNER JOHN GIRAGOS DIES; HE ‘CREATED A LANDMARK’
By Willie Howard
Palm Beach Post
Jan 22 2010
FL
LAKE WORTH — John Giragos took a big risk when he closed his dry
cleaning business in Detroit and moved to South Florida looking for
a warmer, safer place for his wife and five children.
The year was 1972. While visiting friends in Palm Beach County,
Mr. Giragos drove to Lake Worth Beach, where a for-lease sign in the
Ocean View Restaurant caught his eye.
He signed the lease, unplugged the jukebox and opened for business
in December 1973.
The family-run restaurant has served breakfast and lunch seven days
a week in that location at the Lake Worth Casino ever since.
Mr. Giragos eventually changed the name to John G’s on the Beach —
a name recognized by generations of oceanside diners who often line up
outside the door waiting for a chance to eat breakfast or lunch in the
wood-paneled restaurant known for simple, well-presented food. Among
the offerings: cinnamon nut French toast, Hawaiian omelettes, salads
and fish-and-chips .
Mr. Giragos died Wednesday while surrounded by his family at JFK
Medical Center after suffering a stroke Saturday. He was 81.
Sons Jay and Keith Giragos and daughter Wendy Yarbrough have worked
at John G’s since they were teenagers. They own the restaurant now
and have no intention of closing it — except on Tuesday for their
father’s funeral.
"We’re not going anywhere," Yarbrough said today as a crowd of lunch
customers lined up on the sidewalk outside the entrance. "Look what
he’s left us."
The son of Armenian immigrants who landed at Ellis Island and found
their way to Detroit, Mr. Giragos grew up working in the dry cleaning
business. Cold weather and crime that required bars on windows of the
Lynn Ferry Cleaners eventually spurred him to move to South Florida
with five children and an Irish setter in tow.
Regular customer John Lang said Mr. Giragos always made him feel
important — even when he was a long-haired surfer coming in from
the beach.
"He treated everybody with respect," Lang said. "He was a true
gentleman."
"John was a natural," John G’s fan Mark Scheinbaum wrote in a short
tribute sent to Lake Worth City Hall. "He knew how to connect with
people and turn good products — be they dry-cleaned sweaters in gift
boxes or a little restaurant — into great landmark brands."
Lake Worth City Commissioner Suzanne Mulvehill said she has met people
from all over the world standing in line outside John G’s. (Mr.
Giragos was known for serving coffee and chocolate-dipped fruit to
customers waiting in line on Sunday mornings.)
"He created a landmark," Mulvehill said. "People have moved to Lake
Worth because they came to John G’s."
Yarbrough said her father’s careful attention to customers and food
led to his success.
"If there wasn’t a lid on that cup of soup, the waitress was in
trouble," she said. "Those little details all add up."
After retiring 16 years ago, Mr. Giragos enjoyed dining out, traveling
with his wife and golf — though he rarely missed the opportunity to
drop by John G’s to spend a few hours talking with customers at the
cash register.
"He appreciated the customers," Keith Giragos said. "He was proud of
his family. We all worked for him, and the team came together."
In addition to his three children who run the restaurant, Mr. Giragos
is survived by his wife, Tess Giragos of Lake Worth; daughters Ann
Grippo of Fairlawn, N.J., and Sheila Soileau of Merritt Island;
as well as 10 grandchildren.
A funeral Mass is planned for 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Luke Catholic
Church in Palm Springs.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made in Mr.
Giragos’ name to Hospice of Palm Beach County.
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