Today we’d like to introduce you to Konstantinos Stavlas.
Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
My story starts as a baby in Crete, Greece. My mother and father came to America when I was a baby. It was a culture shock for my dad. He ended up moving back to Greece while my mother stayed here to pursue a future for my older sister, older brother, and me. As a kid, I grew up in Newport News, Virginia. Many nights it wasn’t safe for us to play outside after school. So most evenings, I would stay in the kitchen and watch my mother cook. Once I graduated high school, I joined the United States Marine Corps. Being an immigrant, the only job I could get was infantry.
After 14 months of Iraqi deployment, I finally got my American citizenship. With an honorable mention and a lot of motivation, I became a physical therapist. Then I realized I could have been better at science, back at the drawing board. Finally, I met my future wife in college. We ended up getting engaged and pregnant while we were still attending school. A few months before my wife’s final year in engineering, my mother underwent a 2-month coma due to COPD. This was from her smoking tobacco due to stress from my deployment. For the 2 months that my mother was in a coma, we had over 16 doctors tell us that she would not make it. It was a shock that would forever change my views on life itself. Between the two Iraqi deployments and my mother in a new country, raising 3 greek kids was eye-opening enough, nope. Once I almost lost my mother, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I would always hear how people thought these Mediterranean stores had amazing food. Then I also thought, how could those people have fantastic food when they haven’t tried my mother’s food—day-and-night difference? We moved from Virginia and immediately started a food truck while my sister also started a food truck spreading my mom’s cuisine through the triangle area.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been far from a smooth road. We bought a truck that no part existed for it anymore. Once our truck is down, it takes months for them to make new parts. Every time our truck breaks downward down for about 3 months. We also bought a manual truck, and I can’t find an employee that drives a manual to save my life. Plus, if they stall out, We will be out for 3 months while they make a new clutch for us out of scratch.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with what you do?
A former Marine has worked in restaurants and delis for over nine years. This experience has allowed me to build customer relations and understand what it takes to manage and keep a business running. I have gone on two Iraq deployments with the Marines. This experience allowed me to become very familiar with putting together a disciplined team and showed my ability to think out plans to complete tasks at hand strategically. This experience also helped reassure the ability to break down any obstacle and find avenues to solve the problem. I also have completed over 40 credit hours of college-level business direct classes. My detail, hard work ethic, standard of excellence, and passion for cooking, having been hand-trained by a Greek Chef in creating the finest palate of flavors.
So, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you before we go? How can they support you?
Just try anything on our menu. The food will do the talking.
Contact Info:
- Website: Eatstavis.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/eatstavis?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM=
- Facebook: Facebook.com/eatstavis
- Twitter: Twitter.com/eatstavis
- Yelp: Yelp.com/eatstavis
