On Feb. 18, a Livingston County News article announced that the Geneseo Family Restaurant, known to most as GFR, would close its doors on Sunday Feb. 21.
“Geneseo will always have my heart,” Ted Tsoukalos, owner of the restaurant, said.
There are disadvantages to owning and running a business in a college town though, he explained. “The thing with a college town … it’s wonderful to have you guys, that’s what makes Geneseo,” Tsoukalos said. “But when college classes are over with, pretty much the town goes dead.”
According to Tsoukalos’ wife Kris Tsoukalos, the restaurant opened its doors in Geneseo in February 1998 under Ted Tsoukalos’ parent’s ownership. From there, the business grew into the community landmark it is today.
“We had a restaurant in Batavia and [our landlord] said there was a small space here [in Geneseo], and if [my] parents are interested, [they] would come down and talk. So, [my parents] went down, and it’s pretty much history ever since,” Ted Tsoukalos said.
The restaurant became a staple of the community, with the students even re-naming it to make it their own.
“The name ‘GFR’ came from the students,” Kris Tsoukalos said. “A waitress heard that it was being called GFR and told Ted, and Ted just loved the idea to call it GFR … the idea just really grabbed, it came from the students.”
Ted’s parents were immigrants from Greece, and they came to the United States in the 1960s. They settled in Rochester and opened a restaurant there. Ted has spent most of his life inside of a restaurant.
“[Ted’s] first memory of the restaurant, was when he was five years old,” Kris Tsoukalos said. “They propped him up on milk crates and he was doing dishes.”
After more than 20 years, the restaurant had to close due to pandemic-related financial hardships.
“If it wasn’t for COVID-19 I would still be there, but I just got behind rent, this and that,” Ted Tsoukalos said. “It just got way, way too overwhelming.”
According to Kris Tsoukalos, staffing shortages were another reason for the closing. “[Ted] was having a hard time finding staff for the kitchen”, with some staff finding other jobs by the time the restaurant had reopened after closures due to COVID-19.
The shutdown has impacted much of the community. As the news reached Twitter, a Geneseo student created a GoFundMe that has raised $7,325 as of Feb. 23.
In an email statement to The Lamron, alumni Annabelle Anich, ’20 and former member of Blue Wave women’s swimming and diving team, spoke of the team’s commitment and love of GFR.
“Being able to go to GFR the morning of a swim meet was more than just a way to fuel up for the long day of competition we had ahead of us,” Anich said. “It was very important for us to spend time with each other outside of the water and getting breakfast together before a meet helped to remind us that we aren’t just a team, but also a family.”
Anich went on to express the importance of GFR to the Geneseo swim team.
“Within that hour, we could destress and get rid of any pre-race nerves and get excited for the competition,” Anich said. “The team is big on tradition, which is why we are so close no matter how many years fall between our graduating classes. Continuing this tradition kept us in touch with the Geneseo community.”
Besides sports traditions, GFR holds important memories for many other Geneseo students.
“I feel like GFR was a big part of the Geneseo community and I am going to be very sad to see it go,” biology major senior Paige Warmuth said.
As for the future, Ted Tsoukalos is looking ahead.
“There is a plan B,” he said. “I keep it at that.”