Greetings from TARPON SPRINGS Florida
Posted by estiator at 10 March, at 16 : 50 PM Print
Estiator meets the locals in America’s Greek capital.
By Michael Kaminer
Stores have Greek names. Dodecanese Boulevard is the main drag. The local distillery makes award-winning ouzo. And celebrated restaurants serve food from all over Greece and the islands.
You’re not in Astoria or Detroit’s Greektown. This is Tarpon Springs, Florida, the city with the biggest Greek population in the United States. You’ll hear conversations in the mother tongue on the street, hear Greek music drift from shops, see passers-by munch on baklava or loukoumades from a local bakery.
“Even today, after people have been here four or five generations, there is still a big segment of the population that speaks Greek,” Tina Bucuvalas, curator of arts and history for the City of Tarpon Springs, told Florida Today magazine.
Established around 1884, Tarpon Springs is located in Pinellas County on Florida’s West Coast, about 31 miles northeast of Tampa. Greeks arrived in Tarpon Springs around 1905. It became a global center for the sponge industry—and drew Greek sponge divers, who brought harvesting techniques from home. “They brought over Greeks. At first, 500 came in 1905, and then within a couple of years, there were 1,500, and there were a lot of boats. It very quickly made Tarpon Springs the Sponge Capital of the World,” Bucavalas told Florida Today. With the large influx of Greek sponge divers and their families to Tarpon Springs, businesses and institutions to serve them were established, including restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries, and coffee houses. Tarpon Springs maintains its distinctly Greek flavor today. Estiator met some of the locals who are helping maintain its singular character—and guide their city to an even stronger future
“Even though it’s in the middle of a giant county, it maintains a small-town feel. It’s like a fishing village.”
THE MAYOR
Since 2016, America’s most Greek city has had a Greek mayor. Chris Alahouzos was born in Kalymnos, one of the Dodecanese Islands. With his brother and father, he came to the U.S. at age 13; his mother and sister arrived in Tarpon Springs two years later, “and we’ve been here ever since,” he tells Estiator.
A longtime technology executive, Alahouzos had just retired as a general manager at Verizon when he decided to run for mayor in 2015. “It’s always a busy day in this role,” he says. “I’m always prepared, with a list of things to do, but you don’t always know what you’ll be facing in city government. It could be an emergency, a crisis, attending functions, or conducting commission meetings.”
On the evening he spoke to Estiator, Alahouzos was scheduled to lead a working session on the city’s future, including climate change—urgent everywhere, but especially in coastal Florida. “Tarpon Springs has more waterfront than any city in Pinellas County,” he says. “We have to make provisions for the sea-level rise, and we have to plan right.”
For a small city, Tarpon Springs boasts an unusual economic diversity, he says. “We have a small city of 30,000, but three business communities. Along the highway area, you see many chains. In the historic district, you have different restaurants and shops. And along Dodecanese Boulevard, you see the heart of our Greek community and businesses,” he says. “People talk Greek here constantly, just like Astoria.”
The sponge industry, still thriving, also makes Tarpon Springs a popular tourist attraction. “It’s so beneficial to our economy,” the mayor says. Where else would he send a first-time visitor? “Experience our historic downtown. Check out the Tarpon Springs Heritage Museum and the Culture Center, which was built in 1915 as our first City Hall.”
Development is important, Alahouzos says, “but so is maintaining character. So there’s a balance.” Tarpon Springs still hosts a huge Epiphany celebration in January, and the city “twinned” with the Cretan city of Hania in 2021. “It’s a way to exchange education, culture, and economic development,” he says. “I’m very proud of my city.”
THE DISTILLER
Barry Butler isn’t Greek. But he’s a hero to the Tarpon Springs Greek community—and to ouzo lovers across the country.
Butler is the founder of Tarpon Springs Distillery (tarponspringsdistillery.net), a spirits maker housed in a former sponge warehouse. In 2019, the distillery launched Papous Ouzo—the first traditional, Greek-style ouzo made and bottled in the United States.
“There wasn’t a traditional ouzo in the U.S., which had to do with how ouzo was regulated,” he tells Estiator. “When the law changed, we became the first to sell traditional ouzo here.” Founded in 2013, the distillery found its first success with an Appalachian-style moonshine. Ouzo came next as a salute to its community. “It’s all about where we’re located,” Butler says.
It’s an understatement to say Greek-Americans have embraced Papous as their own. The ouzo recently became official ouzo of The Order of AHEPA, “the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes, with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe,” according to its site. “The local chapter invited me to join, and I learned a lot,”
Butler says. “They’ve held meetings at the distillery. When we learned the local AHEPA House was having maintenance issues, we started donating $5 from the sale of every bottle of ouzo to its upkeep.” With AHEPA’s 100th anniversary approaching, Tarpon Springs Distillery has also created a commemorative bottle with a collectible hangtag.
Next for Butler and his crew: Building out a cocktail bar next to the distillery. Now that Florida allows to-go alcohol sales, “we can sell cocktails made with our own liquors, and we’ve come up with recipes for every liquor you can imagine,” he says.
However big the distillery gets, Butler says it will call Tarpon Springs home. “Even though it’s in the middle of a giant county, it maintains a small-town feel,” he says. “It’s like a fishing village.”
THE RESTAURATEUR
Just two years old, Alati Food & Drink (alatifooddrink.com) is a newcomer to Tarpon Springs’ lively dining scene. But under owner Evi Stanev, it’s already become a local hotspot for its sleek decor and creative Greek fare.
“I’m from Bulgaria, but I was married to a Cypriot and fell in love with Greek cuisine,” Stanev tells Estiator. “When I got the restaurant in 2020, I rebuilt everything, created a beautiful new kitchen, introduced a new menu, and launched with a new name.” Alati, of course, means salt—or “salt by the sea,” proclaims Alati’s site.
Stanev, who travels to Greece regularly for inspiration, is aiming for a departure from the typical Greek fare in American restaurants, she says. “Greece is so different right now, and people don’t want the old Greek cuisine,” she says. “I’m trying to do something more modern, with a new vision of dishes. The goal is to take it a step higher.”
Her formula has been a hit with locals; in fact, Stanev opened a second Alati location in nearby Clearwater last year. The Tarpon Springs original, located in the SpongeDocks retail complex, seats 300 inside and outside, and hosts weekend DJ nights. Its menu boasts “a lot” of Greek spirits and a good selection of Greek wines, Stanev says. Stanev is considering a third location, likely in St. Petersburg.
“When you do something with love, it’s a good thing, and you will make it,” Stanev says. “I love all my staff. It feels like a family with them. That’s really important to me.”
THE HEAD CHEF AND GENERAL MANAGER
Two migrations, a year apart from each other, changed Tarpon Springs.
In 1969, Bob and Maria Karterouliotis immigrated from Sparta to Chicago. After founding a successful bakery chain, they moved to Florida, launching Hellas Bakery in Tarpon Springs in 1983.
Meanwhile, in 1970, a very young Manny Psomas moved from New York to Tarpon Springs. After working in his family’s restaurants for years, he joined the Karterouliotis’ growing enterprise.
Today, Hellas Bakery and Restaurant is a Tarpon Springs institution and a national powerhouse. On the wholesale side, Hellas’ 10,000-square-foot facility produces exquisite baked goods— including 450,000 pieces of baklava daily—for clients like Taziki Kitchen. “We’re the largest baklava producer in the country,” Psomas says.
On the retail side, the bakery and nearby Hellas Restaurant have become beloved hangouts for locals and tourists alike. Psomas, now general manager and head chef, is the public face of Hellas. He often appears in local media, touting the Hellas brand, Tarpon Food, and the joy of Greek food. “I showed them some hidden talents when they hired me, and we grew together,” he says. The Karterouliotis children still run the business, including eldest son Nick, daughter Bessie, and son Gus. “Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” Psomas says.
With its menu of traditional Greek comfort food, the restaurant draws visitors like the Prime Minister of Greece and politicos like New York’s Nicole Malliotakis. “The mayor eats here all the time, too,” Psomas says.
Tarpon Springs “is the closest you’ll get to Greece without going there,” he says. “But as I tell people, this is also the real Florida.”
