Tributes have been paid to South Bristol’s legendary cafe owner George Zographou, who has passed away.
George’s Cafe, in East Street, has become a Bedminster institution since the Greek-Cypriot first opened the cafe in early 1970. His family and friends are now inviting the people of South Bristol to gather outside the cafe next week for a farewell.
After setting up the cafe in early 1970, it soon gained a reputation for serving up affordable and hearty meals. The popular venue managed to survive four recessions, the closing of the tobacco factories and the transformation of East Street over four decades.
George gradually handed over the running of the cafe to his son-in-law Vasili Soteriou, in a process that took a few years from 1988, but the name - and his influence - remains to this day. In February 2010, when family and friends gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the opening of the East Street eaterie, George told the Bristol Post about those first early days.
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“The first week I opened, I took £90 but my overheads were nearly £98 so I started at a loss,” he remembered. “But the next week, I made £15 and I gave £5 to my wife, £5 to myself and £5 I put in the bank to cover the bills. In the fourth week, I made £33 profit and thought to myself ‘we’re going to be OK’,” he said at the time.
One of the key reasons for the success of George’s over the years were the staff - who stayed for decades and knew everyone in Bedminster. In 2010, the chef at the time was 73-year-old Lola Yianni, who had then worked at George’s for 36 years, and that 40th anniversary celebration also included Julie Leslie, then 60, who had worked as a waitress at George’s for 22 years before retiring the Saturday before.
She said working there was like ‘one big happy family’. The cafe marked its 50th anniversary just before the Covid lockdown, and continues to serve the people of Bedminster and the wider South Bristol in the way George began all those years before.
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A spokesperson for the Bedminster BID team said everyone on East Street was ‘devastated’ by George’s passing, and everyone there was sending their love to his family and friends.
“We are devastated by the passing of one of East Street's finest and longest-serving café owners, George Zographou,” a spokesperson said.
“He founded George's Cafe and the family run business has been serving the people of Bedminster for over 40 years before handing over to the current owners who have stayed true to George's vision. A true BS3 institution and I'm sure the people of Bedminster will always remember George and everything he did for the community.
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“His family are inviting the public to gather outside the cafe on East Street on the 15th March between midday and 1pm to come and say farewell to George,” she added.
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