The couple got brainstorming about what to call the new eatery. In 1985, the couple’s major breakthrough came when they were tipped off about a space opening up in a food court at First Canadian Place on King St., located not far from the Epikourion. Soon however, the Epikourion was out of the woods and Helen and Jimmy founded the Penelope Restaurant in 1982 across from the Princess of Wales Theatre on King St. One thing Eleni wouldn’t do was allow Jimmy to mortgage the family home in Scarborough in order to give the Epikourion more breathing room. He lost 60 pounds because of all of the stress,” his daughter Toula said. With Helen helping out by preparing meals and handing out drinks, Jimmy poured his heart and soul into the Epikourion, working seven days a week for long hours. That’s how the Epikourion Restaurant began in 1977. He memorized the menu and gave his approval.
He had to go to New York and check out the concept of an eatery. When Boots closed its cafeteria, Jimmy met the famed Reichmann brothers, of Olympia and York fame, who advised him that he could step in, get space and the chance to set up a restaurant in First Canadian Place - on one condition. The pair swapped photos, Helen liked what she saw and married Jimmy, who was a shepherd tending to the care of goats and sheep at the family farm in Greece. The love affair between Helen and Jimmy was an arranged marriage by their parents. She died April 6 at 75 after a long hardship with renal problems. Sadly, the business will have to do without the matriarch and one of the original founders. Yes, from poverty to riches, that’s the success story of Jimmy The Greek, which has grown to more than 56 locations in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. “My father and mother came from extremely humble beginnings,” their daughter Toula Antonopoulos said. If you have ever been in a food court in a business tower or a shopping mall, you invariably have seen the Jimmy the Greek sign.īehind that man, Dimitrios (Jimmy) Antonopoulos, was an inspirational woman: Eleni (Helen), his wife of 53 years.īoth of strong stock with no education or money when they came to Canada, Jimmy and Helen’s entrepreneurial spirit ended them up in the food industry, the staple employment of so many Greek immigrants.