{"id":60815,"date":"2025-11-22T15:32:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T15:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/60815\/"},"modified":"2025-11-22T15:32:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T15:32:19","slug":"these-greek-family-restaurants-became-houston-icons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/60815\/","title":{"rendered":"These Greek family restaurants became Houston icons"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this episode of \u201cEat Like a Local\u201d<\/a>, host Chris Shepherd learns the history behind two long standing Houston restaurants that offer a delicious reminder of the Greek immigrant influence on Houston\u2019s culinary roots.<\/p>\n

Christie\u2019s Seafood & Steaks | 6029 Westheimer Rd. Houston<\/p>\n

At Christie\u2019s<\/a>, Houston\u2019s longest running restaurant, Maria Christie tells Chris the story behind the restaurant that was founded in 1917 by Theodosios Christofidis, a Greek immigrant who Americanized his name to Theodore Christie. <\/p>\n

Mr. Christie got his start selling fish sandwiches and Gulf shrimp along Galveston\u2019s waterfront. In the 1930s, he moved to Houston, building a restaurant on South Main Street. Having no children of his own, Christie eventually offered the business to his longtime employee James Priovolos (Maria\u2019s father) on the condition that James would change his last names to \u201cChristie\u201d. James agreed and the restaurant passed into the hands of a new generation. <\/p>\n

James and Alexandra Christie (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)The Christie family (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Today, James\u2019 wife Alexandra Christie and their children carry on the legacy and continue to serve Mr. Christie\u2019s famous fish sandwich and Gulf shrimp alongside Greek inspired dishes like shrimp santorini and taramasalata dip – a whipped Greek Caviar that Chris says should be sold by the quart!<\/p>\n

Enjoy seafood, steak, and the flavors of Greece at Christie’s. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)Chris Shepherd shares what to order at Christie’s Seafood & Steaks. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)Cleburne Cafeteria | 3606 Bissonnet, Houston <\/p>\n

Chris\u2019 next stop is the Cleburne Cafeteria <\/a>where everything is made from scratch and every day feels a little like Thanksgiving. <\/p>\n

The Cleburne was opened in 1941 by Anabelle Collins and Martha Kavanaugh with their homespun Southern recipes. When the ladies were looking to sell in 1952, Greek immigrant Nick Mickelis purchased the cafeteria and its original recipes. <\/p>\n

The original Cleburne Cafeteria building (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)In 1952, Greek immigrant Nick Mickelis purchased Cleburne cafeteria and its original recipes. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

Today, Nick\u2019s son George Mickelis runs the restaurant, carrying forward both the scratch-made homestyle menu and the welcoming, community spirit the cafeteria has become known for in Houston.<\/p>\n

Chris Shepherd sits down to hear the history and enjoy the food of Cleburne Cafeteria. (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

With over 20 entrees and 25 salads and sides offered daily, Chris has more options than he could possibly imagine. He selects a few dishes – and George serves up a few more – as he goes through the cafeteria\u2019s hot line. Chris digs into one his favorites – carrot salad, and some items he\u2019s never had before like the daily special – French Spaghetti (one of George\u2019s dad\u2019s creations). <\/p>\n

Chris can\u2019t leave without trying a few slices of pie as an homage to his grandfather. Watch the video to hear how cafeterias played a sweet role in their relationship!<\/p>\n

Save room for dessert at Cleburne Cafeteria! (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)Chris Shepherd shares what to order at Cleburne Cafeteria. (Note, they’re open 6 days a week and closed on Saturday.) (Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n

\u201cEat Like a Local with Chris Shepherd\u201d<\/a> is your guide to the best food in Houston. Watch new episodes Saturdays at 10 a.m. on KPRC 2.<\/p>\n

Season 3 of \u201cEat Like a Local\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this episode of \u201cEat Like a Local\u201d, host Chris Shepherd learns the history behind two long standing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60816,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[9044,9043,49,584,56,58,57,354],"class_list":{"0":"post-60815","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-chris-shepherd","9":"tag-eat-like-a-local","10":"tag-food","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-houston-headlines","14":"tag-houston-news","15":"tag-restaurants"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}