Popular family restaurant in downtown Mooresville to close after 32 years: ‘Bittersweet’
George and Helen Georgakis said customers have become more like family at their longtime Trackside Restaurant in downtown Mooresville.
The couple hope they’ll all stop by this week so they can thank them — one last time.
They’re permanently closing their popular family restaurant on Saturday, June 22, after 32 years to retire.
“I want to see everybody and thank everybody for all the memories,” Helen Georgakis said in a news release Sunday announcing the closing. The restaurant at 233 S. Broad St. will be open 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday.
Rise Café to open
Family-owned Rise Café in Huntersville’s Birkdale Village will open its second breakfast-and-lunch restaurant in the Trackside building.
“After 32 or 33 years, it’s time to retire,” Helen Georgakis said. “We’ve been ready for a while.”
George and Helen Georgakis are from Greece and have been married 52 years. They have two daughters and four grandchildren.
Helen originally worked as a seamstress as they raised their family. Her husband has spent most of his life in the food service industry and owned the Acropolis in the Eastland Mall food court in Charlotte from 1975 to 1983.
The Acropolis featured George’s family recipes from Greece and counted wrestler Ric Flair among its most loyal customers, The Charlotte Observer reported in 2010.
After selling the Acropolis, George opened The Plantation Restaurant on South Boulevard in Charlotte, operating it for three years.
Helen and George were considering opening a restaurant in uptown Charlotte when a woman also from Greece mentioned Mooresville to them. “Where’s Mooresville?” the couple asked.
The woman’s brother still owns the building at 26 S. Main St. that formerly housed a Hardee’s. George and Helen ended up leasing the building for their original Mooresville restaurant. It’s across the railroad tracks from their present location, which once housed Greg’s BBQ, then Sam & Syd’s Place.
“We did good from the first day we opened,” Helen Georgakis said. “Lake Norman Magazine called our salads mountainous.”
Closing after so many years and memories is bittersweet, she said at the restaurant last week.
“We have girls who worked for us when they were teenagers, and now they’re married with kids and come in here. One of our waitresses here now worked here when she was a teen.
“I will miss our customers and all the people who work for us,” she said. “I’m going to miss them all.”
Trackside Restaurant
Location: 233 S Broad St, Mooresville, NC 28115
