George Zographou, the original owner of the legendary George’s cafe in Bedminster, died this week, aged 80.
His death marks the end of an era for a much-loved local character who started his popular cafe on East Street in the 1970s.
Kosta Sala, who used to work for George, and his team are mourning the loss of the man whose name is above the door but they say they will now run this Bedminster institution to continue his legacy.
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As with so many businesses in East Street, George’s has suffered a drop in trade due to Covid restrictions and the recent start of a two year roadworks programme nearby.
This once bustling street is a sad shadow of its former self and footfall has reduced dramatically.
I visited George’s only a few days before the news of the original owner’s death and it was certainly the busiest place on East Street on a wet Saturday morning.
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Young mums with their kids grabbed tables alongside elderly couples who have been eating here since it first opened.
There was also the usual Saturday morning huddle of hungover students guzzling ice-cold cans of Coke with their restorative ‘George’s Bumper Breakfast’ - two sausages, two slices of bacon, two eggs, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, black pudding, hash brown, chips and toast for a very reasonable £8.90.
In the background, there was the reassuring hiss of steam from the coffee machine and sizzle of bacon from the kitchen behind the counter.
They really don’t make places like George’s anymore. In the time-honoured style of greasy spoon caffs down the years, the tables and chairs are fixed to the floor, the lighting bright and the menu enormous.
Aside from the breakfasts and bacon butties, there are omelettes (all made with five free-range eggs), filled jacket potatoes, salads, burgers and a range of ‘meals’ including steak, chips, peas, salad and mushrooms for £11.90 and battered cod, chips, peas and salad for £6.90.
The three-page laminated menu is so extensive that you could probably visit George’s every day for a month and order something different each time.
There are five different breakfasts on offer, from the ‘standard’ (£5.80) comprising two rashers of bacon, a sausage, egg, slice of fried bread and beans, to the aforementioned ‘George’s Bumper Breakfast’.
We both went for the more modest ‘all day’ breakfast at £6.90, washed down with a mug of strong, brick-coloured tea (£1.60) and a thick strawberry milkshake (£2.30).
The food is cooked to order and took around 10 minutes to arrive, by which time the cafe was getting busier mid-morning.
The all day breakfast comprises a sausage, rasher of bacon, fried egg, beans, two hash browns, chips and toast.
There will be fry-up purists who will be aghast at the presence of chips but I’m all for it. What better vehicle to dip into your fried egg and mop up the beans?
And what great chips they are, too. Hand-cut rather than frozen, golden and crisp-edged with fluffy centres. They were better chips than many posh restaurants serve.
The bacon was thickly sliced, salty and slightly blackened from the griddle - a good thing - and the hash browns crisp and steaming hot.
OK, the sausage wasn’t going to win any prizes for its provenance or high meat content but there’s always a place for a crinkly-skinned, pappy banger when it comes to mopping up sauces and egg yolk.
It was simply one of the best cooked breakfasts I’ve had in a city well served with fine fry-ups.
In the week that its original owner sadly passed away, this long-running, hard-working family business deserves to be supported more than ever.
Personally, I can’t wait to go back. I already have my eye on that £3.80 bacon and egg sandwich.
If it’s anything like the fantastic full English they serve, it’s bound to be a benchmark butty.
George's, 111 East Street, Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 4EX.
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