An authentic family-run restaurant that "brought hummus" and "traditional Greek-Cypriot cuisine" to Liverpool is still thriving in the city centre almost half a century on.
One of Liverpool's oldest restaurants, Zorbas Restaurant on Leece Street first opened its doors back in 1974 and has seen the city change around it, as well as generations of customers pass through their doors. After visiting Liverpool in the early seventies, owner Haralambos Michael, known to many as Michael, decided to take his love of food and talent as a chef to transform his restaurant into the iconic business we know today.
Michael's wife, Louisa, 65, who is also originally from Cyprus, came to Liverpool a few years later and said after decades living here, the family call themselves "Greek Scousers." Louisa told the ECHO: "My husband came from Cyprus in 1972 and he went to Brighton and then he came up here to see his cousins.
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"He loved the place, he loved Liverpool and he said he wasn't going to go back down south, I'm going to stay up here. I came here ten years after.
"It was my husband's dream since he was a young lad and he wanted to call it Zorbas. Anthony Quinn played Zorba, it was filmed in Crete, it was a book written by Kazantzakis. It was a big thing.
"When I came here, the only thing was I couldn't understand some of the Scouse accent, it took me years to get to know it. Now I understand a lot of it
"Liverpool is a city of music, a city of art, it’s the place Liverpool. We've got LIPA, the Philharmonic, it's an amazing city.
"Scousers are the best people - love them. I'm a Greek Scouser, I'm saying that.
"When I go back to Cyprus, I want to come home. I love Cyprus but people change and I've been here for 42 years. I'm used to the sense of humour, the sense of happiness, Scousers are very happy people."
Over the last few decades, the city has seen a lot of change and Zorbas has been there to witness it all. Since the restaurant opened, the Michaels family have changed very little about the restaurant, including the family recipes, but they have expanded the restaurant to meet demand of customers.
Louisa said: "In the 70s, it was like a small town I would say. Not as vibrant as it is today, not as cosmopolitan as it is today.
"We’ve seen every change. The buildings are changing, restaurants come and restaurants go, a lot of takeaways we've noticed have opened. More people are coming to Liverpool as they find it cheaper.
"I'm proud of my husband being here and cooking for the customers from scratch, I'm proud of my freshness of the food and the happiness in this place. It's traditional food. My husband, he was the guy who brought hummus to Liverpool, the first person.
"Nobody knew hummus and he was approached by some people to make hummus to sell before anybody knew hummus. At the time he didn't have the money or the facilities so he didn't do it but he did bring it to Liverpool.
"We were one of the first people who brought Greece into Liverpool. I have been an ambassador for Liverpool. We are the people who brought Greek-Cypriot food into Liverpool and another place further up two years before us, there used to be a Greek restaurant there but that closed down over 20 years ago.
"We've been here the longest and we're still introducing people to the Greek-Cypriot cuisine." Louisa said in Cyprus, a lot of places are modernising the food and giving it a twist, but Zorbas are keeping their recipes the same, making everything fresh and from scratch.
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She said: "I think a lot of customers love to come here for the food and because of how welcoming we are. People walk in and say we feel like we’re in Greece, we feel like we’re in Cyprus - it’s the beach that is missing."
Popular with Liverpool's student community over the years, as well as performers visiting the city from the world of art and music, the family have had customers return to Zorbas from across the globe. Louisa said one of her favourite items in the restaurant is a book which is filled with messages from people who have come back over the years.
Louisa said: "It's amazing, when people come here and say I came here when I was 18 and when I was studying to be a lawyer. They come to meet here because Zorbas is still here and they come from all over the world.
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"I've seen customers with babies in prams and the babies in prams are now bringing their babies. I went to a communion last weekend, the girl is 12 and her dad used to come here when he was little.
"When my customers come here, they come in, I welcome them, I sit them down, I have a chat with them. There’s no way I'm not going to have a chat with my customers because my customers are not numbers to me."
Celebrating 50 years in business next year, Louisa and Michael said they are looking to retire, but want to reassure customers they're not going anywhere yet. The restaurant is technically up for sale and they would need the right people to come along, but they are also hopeful one of their daughters will come on board to carry on the traditional family business.
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Louisa said Zorbas will be here to celebrate half a century in business next year and that she can't believe Zorbas has been here for so long. Louisa said: "I'm very proud of being here for almost 50 years.
"We want to have a big party for as many people as the restaurant fits. That’s what we are hoping to do next year for our 50th."
Zorbas continues to serve generous plates of Greek-Cypriot cuisine. Everything from the vine leaves which are bought over from Cyprus to the recipes are authentic and dishes include moussaka, stifado and kleftiko and more.
For more information about Zorbas, click here.
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