Location: Ventura Harbor, California
A family-run Greek restaurant hasn't made a profit in two years and its elderly owners (who work 17 hours daily shifts) are exhausted and in danger of collapse.
Tropes
- Actually Pretty Funny: Gordon's reaction to seeing Aris (The owner's son and the restaurant's main entertainment at that point) hold a table within his teeth and spin around with it.Gordon: (with an impressed smile as Aris spins around with the table) Finally, something edible!
- Chained Heat: Ramsay handcuffed Makis and Aris to force Makis to teach his son to cook; Makis was burnt out after doing it all himself for years, but too stubborn to quit.
- Dysfunctional Family: Aris (who was technically the restaurant manager when Ramsay arrived) had made a thoughtless speech at the party (thrown by his parents) celebrating his graduation from college in which he said he wasn't interested in working at the restaurant anymore. Even though he very soon changed his mind, he hurt his parents' feelings - in particular his father's - so badly that they pretty much cut him out of any role in running the place or learning how to cook the menu. When Ramsay came to the restaurant, Aris had been essentially relegated to the role of floor-show entertainer, doing Greek dances.
- The Eeyore: Makis, the owner, let the restaurant go to seed after coming down with a severe depression due to accidentally overhearing his son say he did not want to inherit the restaurant after his father retired. While Aris changed his mind after seeing how much the restaurant meant to his father, Gordon still has to do a lot of work to get the two to make up. Thankfully, he succeeds, earning one of the most spectacularly happy endings in the history of the show.
- Happy Ending: The Greek at the Harbor (now The Greek Ventura) remains open, and remains in the hands of the Mikelatos family, as of 2022. They've even opened a sister restaurant, the Margarita Villa.
- Poor Communication Kills: The main problem in the restaurant. After seeing his father burn himself out working at the restaurant, Aris made an announcement at his college graduation party that he wanted to make something of himself and wouldn't work at the restaurant. His parents were understandably hurt by this and continued to burn themselves out at the restaurant, despite Aris having a change of heart and quality going down. The problem is that Aris didn't explain that he simply didn't want to burn himself out like his father did, and his parents didn't tell him how much his comment hurt and instead held it over his head for years.
