Gus Kanarios once said the worst day of his life was when he closed his 40-year-old Gus’ Chalet restaurant in Akron.
That was in 2014, and his family had encouraged him to close. He was 80 and there was no one to take over the business.
Mr. Kanarios died Monday. He was 83.
Mr. Kanarios had spent more than 50 years in the restaurant business when he closed Gus’ Chalet, a favorite spot for local politicians as well a place where families would gather.
Some of the restaurant’s customers cried on May 10, 2014, upon learning it was the place’s last day.
“Like a lot of immigrants, my father was a builder,” Mr. Kanarios’ son Michael said, and the Tallmadge Avenue restaurant “was his creation over the course of decades.”
The restaurant sustained the family, Michael said: “He put us [his children] all through school ... the restaurant was the foundation that our careers were built on.”
Mr. Kanarios, who lived in Munroe Falls, emigrated from Greece in the early 1960s. He and his wife, Aliki, married for 50 years, raised four children.
Mr. Kanarios learned the restaurant trade from local brothers Nick and Charlie Anthe before opening his own place, Gus’ Chalet, in 1974.
The menu didn’t change much over the years, with entrees including beef, poultry and pasta dishes, as well as Greek specialties.
Early on, Mr. Kanarios began giving customers relish trays and his complimentary Gus Toast — a cheese toast that became locally famous.
His son Angelo echoed twin brother Michael, noting their father put his children through college, footing the bill for undergraduate as well as graduate degrees.
Angelo has a law degree and is a lawyer in Florida; Michael has an MBA and is an executive at General Motors Corp. in Michigan. Their sister Niki Galatoulas works in information technology at FirstEnergy Corp. in Akron and sister Evie Kanarios lives in Greece.
“He was a very generous man,” Angelo said. “I really looked up to my dad. He was my hero.”
Angelo said while his father “was old school, he was very modern at the same time,” learning from the Anthe brothers and then striking out on his own, building a business that would survive for 40 years.
In an interview shortly after the restaurant closed, Mr. Kanarios acknowledged that business had slowed. The long winter had pinched sales. But he said, the place still enjoyed some busy weekend nights. And he said more than once, “I paid all my bills.”
At the restaurant, Mr. Kanarios “was very gregarious,” taking time to visit with customers, recalled Angelo, who, like his siblings, worked there before beginning his career.
“He just loved people,” Angelo said.
Angelo and Michael worked a variety of jobs at the restaurant. Michael recalled that when they worked as maitre d’s, their father would tell them: “Anybody who walks in the restaurant, you treat them like they own the place.”
Mr. Kanarios was involved with the local and state restaurant associations and was an active member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church of Akron.
Mr. Kanarios is survived by his wife, Aliki, and their four children.
Calling hours will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Donovan Funeral Home at 17 Southwest Ave. in Tallmadge.
The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, 129 S. Union St., Akron.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.