Today we’d like to introduce you to George Hatjopoulos.
George, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In the 1960’s, My father, being an immigrant, came to the United States from Greece in search of the Dream! He knew that he was capable of something better, so with a hard work ethic and a goal of his own business – he took the journey.
With no more than a few dollars in his pocket, Triandafilos Hatjopoulos knew that he must learn the American language if he was to survive. Not only did he learn the language, he did so by working 80-100 hours a week at his factory job in order to save enough to partner with his fellow Greek friends to open their very own Pizza place.
It was at this new business venture where he learned how to communicate by words and most importantly with his passion to cook. It wasn’t long before he built the business and saved enough money to buy his very own pizza place, and that’s where the success blossomed and the American dream slowly became a reality.
“Everything for my kids and nothing for me”
This was my mother and father’s mentality and mindset as they built their business and began making enough money to eventually move their three children (Irene, George and John) out of our third floor apartment, in a very rough neighborhood, and into a new home in the nicer side of town.
Give my kids everything that we didn’t have
Teach them how to work harder than anyone else
Show them the importance of money
Put them all through college to give them opportunity
Pay for their first cars and all of their weddings
That’s what Triandafilos and Susan Hatjopoulos did for their kids. Now our mission is to do what they did “tenfold”!!
THE BIRTH OF GRILL ADVANTAGE
Having our current successful restaurant of over 30 years. We have managed to win numerous awards including “Best Breakfast”, “Best Italian Restaurant”, “Best Caterer” and “Best Lunch” for multiple years running.
Although these accomplishments and awards are amazing and great. There is nothing that compares to the feeling of solving a major problem in our restaurant, testing that solution, and putting it to the ultimate challenge in our kitchen which basically runs 24/7. Furthermore, having the blessed ability to patent it, develop it and penetrate the market with successful results! We never thought in a million years that we could take an idea from nothing and bring it National within 2-3 years of launch. All this on a boot strap budget that has been self-funded by our father and our restaurant for over 9 years.
THE SPARK THAT GREW INTO A FLAME
Agni is the name of our company which is the Ancient Greek word for “Flame”. A befitting name as you read on and understand the reason why Grill Advantage was ever conceived.
It all started several years ago as we had to deal with several “Flue Fire’s” in our flat top grill during the busiest hours at our restaurant Bellingham Palace. These flue fires started, not because we were careless, but because of an engineering flaw found on a large majority of manufacturers griddles. A “Low factory backsplash” is to blame for every single flue fire in our restaurant and in the industry.
The flue is located at the furthest part of the griddle behind the backsplash of the griddle. The backsplash is only 3″-5″ high, which attributes to food and grease items falling over the backsplash and into the flue area of the griddle. It is in the location that food and grease items accumulate and dry. Over time these items carbonized and ignite into flames. These fires are unpredictable and very dangerous. They can only be extinguished by using cups of salt, baking soda, milk or a fire extinguisher. Most, if not all of these fires are never reported, but instead remain a danger and a threat to the business owners and the public. These fires are responsible for over $115 million dollars in property loss in the US alone.
SOLUTION
Our father discovered one day that necessity truly is the mother of invention. So he though hard and long about how he would prevent these fires from happening in our restaurant. The solution… A piece of stainless steel that would attach using a clip- not a drilling or permanent method- to attach to the existing backsplash and bring it from 3″-5″, to about 10″-13″ in height in order to prevent anything from falling into the flue. It was a simple solution, that truly worked. As the saying goes, “Simplicity is Genius”. So we worked extremely hard to keep the design simple, but from an engineer’s standpoint, functional and precise. It is then that we felt that in addition to something great (the main invention), there is always that extra component or accessory that takes it from good to great!
INTRODUCING THE ACCESSORIES
The Grill Advantage backsplash extender, began to develop into a well-constructed design that has a sliding hat track system which attributes its ability to universally fit most griddles makes and models. It stands at 13.5″ in height and is constructed from durable 304 grade stainless steel with a UL mark for safety and sanitary reassurance.
The something extra comes from our unique accessories.
SHELF ACCESSORY, 1/6th PAN HOLDER ACCESSORY & NEW 1/3 PAN HOLDER ACCESSORY
The Shelf Accessory sits atop the Backsplash extender on what we call the “Accessory Staging Area”. The Shelf Accessory is used to help organize the griddle and create efficiency and better ticket times in the kitchen. Simply place griddle accessories such as spatulas, steam covers, steak weights, tongs, etc. onto the shelf to instantly utilize 100% of your griddles precious cooking surface space.
The 1/6th & 1/3 Pan Holder Accessory works in the same manner and allows the user to take the1/6th and or the1/3rd pan off of the cooking surface and place it where it is accessible and within reach. This ability to take 1/6th & 1/3rd pan’s off of the griddle surface has also been proven to prevent food from being thrown away due to overheating and also cross contamination (i.e. raw chicken drippings accidentally falling into the 1/6th pan of butter, sauces or proteins). Not to mention that when these pans sit on the hot griddle surface, over time they develop pin holes and are discarded as a loss.
The problems inherent in present-day grill operation has only compounded in the last few years. Grills have advanced in techniques and have grown in numbers, while traditional approaches to fire safety have been unable to keep up. Analysts, corporations, and the insurance companies have all acknowledged that existing technology is insufficient. The availability of Grill Advantage is the killer weapon in the ongoing war against grill fires and restaurant fires.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I always say that if I knew how difficult this journey would have been (patents, developing, testing, rejection after rejection), we probably wouldn’t have ever started. With that said, this has been the absolute most amazing experience in my life and my brother and father’s life. So at this point, now that we’ve gone through most of the difficult challenges, we wouldn’t change a single thing and look forward to the next achievements and milestones yet to come.
Please tell us about Grill Advantage & Bellingham Palace Pizza & Restaurant.
Grill Advantage does what no other company has done. We have 3 patents on our unique product line that when attached to existing griddles, adds Safety, Efficiency, Organization and the ability to vertically create more space for the grill operator. In the restaurant and food service industry, every second counts and being organized and as efficient as possible is the absolute key to success! That’s what Grill Advantage was built on coming from a family who has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years! We’ve knocked on doors and over the years have penetrated the market and gotten our product into mom and pop restaurants, hotels, casinos, resorts, franchises, food trucks and even in the president’s kitchen (yes, the WH.)
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Believe it or not, it was going to work with my father at his pizza place and sweeping the floors & cleaning pizza pans. It made me feel special and as if I was helping and contributing to the restaurant and the staff.
Pricing:
- 24″ Backsplash Extender $355
- 36″ Backsplash Extender $455
- 48″ Backsplash Extender $459
- 60″ Backsplash Extender $509
- Shelf Accessory $150
- 1/6th Pan accessory $50
- 1/3 Pan accessory $89
- Grill Sidebar $99
Contact Info:
- Website: www.grilladvantage.com
- Phone: 15083693102
- Email: george@grilladvantage.com
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