Grand Rapids Press 01/23/2011

Copyright © 2011 The Grand Rapids Press $$edition February 3, 2011 1:51 am / Powered by TECNAVIA

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2011

MICHIGAN AUTHORS, ILLUSTRATORS WIN BEST BOOK AWARDS, H2

RABBI AL LEWIS H3ADVICE H4 / PUZZLES H5

BRIDES H6-H7

H

RUTHBUTLER

COLUMNIST

BIO BOX

Five things to knowabout PeterChristopoulos:

Christopoulos came�to America in 1955owing an uncle, RedLion restaurants ownerSam Koukios, $385 forthe boat ticket fromGreece.

He changed the name�and concept of hisoriginal Dog n Suds toMr. Burger because,he says, “I knew morethan they did.”

Homemade soups�at Mr. Burger arefrom recipes ofChristopoulos’ wife,Maria.

Christopoulos once�taught his cousins theimportance of drinkingmilk by flexing his armmuscles with a stickin his elbow joint andchallenging them topull it out.

His favorite thing at Mr.�Burger after all theseyears: A burger.

‘Parents are people — peoplewith children …”

So goes the old “Free to Be” songthat alerts the world that parents aresometimes stunned to be grown-upsand are mostly doing the best theycan.

Teens are children, but they’realso people. People, if they’relucky, with parents who probablyare driving them crazy. Peoplepreparing to enter a world theyhope they can handle, even conquer.They need a break, too.

But every time a hormone landsupon the child once known asadorable, parents look to the skyand ask: “What do you do whenyour child’s a teenager? Have alienstaken over?”

They don’t really expect ananswer. It’s as if saying it out loud

will release some pressure, restorecalm and assure them all this isnormal.

Or maybe they want a how-to list.How do you handle the outbursts?Or the silence? The monosyllabism?The know-it-all-ness?

What happened to the cute kidwho wanted to go everywhere withMom and/or Dad? Who thought atrip in the car or a walk in the parkwas about the best thing ever?

Experts say the teen years offergrowth spurts just like when theywere toddlers and changes came

almost daily. Can’t walk, can walk;can’t talk, talks nonstop; wantsto be held, wants to do it “all bymyself!”

Only now they’re taller and(almost) licensed to drive. You onceput a gate up so they couldn’t falldown the stairs; you baby-proofedthe house. What do you do now?

In their hearts, parents know kidshave to grow up and leave home.Few want a 35-year-old child doingwhat she or he did at age 14. Onyour dime, in your basement.

Preparing for separationTo prep for leaving, they have to

strut their separateness, test-drivetheir decision-making. Also, theirretorting skills.

Whew, sometimes that can reallysting, the things they say in the

throes of whatever’s been tossedat them this day: school, social life,maybe knowing a friend has been anidiot, furious at you for agreeing oneof their friends is an idiot.

So what can it hurt, parents, toconsider a few rules of thumb forthese shark-infested waters — nevermind which of you is the shark —and maintaining your sanity.When feeling rage, don’t engage.�Let the moment pass; deal with itwhen heads are cool. This is mucheasier said than done. Perhapsresurrect the time-out chair — forthe parent?Remember Bill Cosby’s line: “I�brought you into this world andI can take you out!” Don’t — butknow some might think you could.Look at their preschool photos.�Cute then; still there.

Finally — and mostly — three�words: Bite your tongue. Realizeyou can’t possibly make everypoint, win every discussion. I hearfrom more experienced parentsthat this never changes. Exceptas your kids get older, and thechoices they make get more major,you have to bite even harder.And to the dear teens who see

all as an attempt to make their livesmiserable? Two tips:Things will get better. It’s rare that�an adult honestly longs for middleor high school days. Those who doare either lying, peaked really earlyor are darn lucky.Parents love you. Really. They’ll�bite their tongues, if you biteyours.

E-mail: butlerview@gmail.com

THE SUNDAY PROFILE: RESTAURANT CHAIN OWNER PETER CHRISTOPOULOS

Christopoulos arrived for an inter-view at the latest addition to his fam-ily’s 43-year-old restaurant empire,The Filling Station at 4750 Alpine Ave.

NW, offered a cup of coffee and intro-duced his wife and business partner,Maria.

“Where should we sit? Here?” He

guides us to a booth not far from thecash register, and Maria nestles innext to him. It’s immediately clearChristopoulos may drink coffee, buthe doesn’t need it.

It’s also clear Mr. Burger and Mrs.Burger go together like a hamburgerand a bun.

The couple talk about the trials oftaking over this latest restaurant, aformer Red Hot Inn that had beenconverted to the popular, but fatiguedandmoney-losing Filling Station. Theprevious owner had some good ideasbut little restaurant experience, theChristopouloses said, often complet-ing one another’s sentences.

On the advice of loyal customers,they didn’t make many changes tothemenu— at least not yet. But thereare plenty ofMr. Burger touches hereand there.

It works like a Mr. Burger (whichworks a lot like the old Red Hot Inn)with its cafeteria-style line that allowsyou to pick up a piece of pie, order,grab a drink and grab a seat whileyour meal is made.

The investments are in less-obviousplaces — there’s a new hood in thekitchen, the new roof and the thor-ough cleaning the place received.

There’s more discipline among em-ployees, better management and Ma-ria’s homemade soup recipes.

Now, the place is making money.Success — there’s that W word

again.“Business is like a marriage,” he

said. “You’ve got to put your time inand be on top of it. You can’t let go.”The path to the vinyl restaurant

booth where they’re talking wasn’tan easy one.

Fleeing communismPete Christopoulos fled Greece in

1955. Communist revolutionaries hadtakenmost of his family’s possessionsas part of a post World War II insur-gency that nearly tore the countryapart.He arrived in America with “less

than nothing” he likes to say. His onlypossessions were in a small suitcasehis father made by hand— an item hehas to this day.

Working the night shift behind thegrill, behind the mop and behind theregister at Red Lion, he learned therestaurant business from the bottomup, picking up fluent English alongthe way.

SEE CHRISTOPOULOS, H3

BY CHRIS KNAPE

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

P eter Christopoulos spells success with a W.Generations of Grand Rapidians who regularly

sink their teeth into a freshly cooked Mr. Burgerwill understand where he’s coming from.

“Success, it doesn’t start with S. It starts with W — asin work,” Christopoulos explains in a lively voice tingedin a distinctive Greek accent.The W word is one that has long driven Christopoulos

— a self-made man with an all-American immigrantsuccess story.The 75-year-old started Mr. Burger in 1970 after buying

the old Dog n Suds Drive-In on Lake Michigan DriveNW three years earlier.He drew up the bow-tie-clad burger logo, adapted the

menu and molded the concept to fit the local market.He doesn’t just own the place. He is Mr. Burger.

Parents, kids and hormones:What could possibly go wrong?

MR. BURGER

PRESS FILE PHOTO

Flipping burgers: Peter Christopoulos takes a turn behind the grill in this 2003 photo at his Mr. Burger store on Lake Michigan Drive NW, one ofseven restaurants he operates in the Grand Rapids area — six Mr. Burger eateries and The Filling Station.

New in town:WhenPeter Christopoulos,center, arrived fromGreece in 1955, helived with relativesin Grand Rapids andshared a room withcousins Deno Fotieo,left, and ThemisFotieo.

“Success, it doesn’tstart with S. Itstarts with W— as in work.”

— Peter Christopoulos

Grand Rapids Press 01/23/2011

Copyright © 2011 The Grand Rapids Press $$edition February 3, 2011 1:55 am / Powered by TECNAVIA

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THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2011 H3

Until we moved to GrandRapids in 1972, I had never

seen people publicly prayin a restaurant, and I wasdisturbed by it. I thought ofprayer, verbal or otherwise,as a private matter (exceptin the synagogue, churchor mosque). As I preparedto bite into my sandwich, Ifelt uncomfortable watchingothers pray.Within a few months,

I noticed lots of peoplepublicly praying, in everyconceivable arena — even inan arena. And I began to likeit and to accept the invitationof my lunch or dinner partnerto “offer words of prayer”before we ate.

Glad to be invitedToday, participating in

public (and inclusive) prayerfeels good and natural for me.After much reading about thepositive effects of prayer andhealing, I feel appreciative tobe invited into the process.It creates a necessary

pause, expression of gratitudeand recognition that eatingis much more than the act ofsustaining the physical body.I have read and appreciated

studies that have shown thepositive effects of prayersby people who were simplygiven the name of anindividual recovering frommajor cardiac surgery. Theywere praying for people theydid not know — they hadonly the patient’s first name,and the patients could beanywhere in the world.Dr. Larry Dossey (“Prayer

is Good Medicine”)demonstrated that people forwhom prayers were offeredhealed sooner, required lesspain medication and livedlonger.I enjoy imagining what

message and meaning mightbe conveyed if thousands ofpeople decided to stop andpray, not only at meals but atother times during the day(and without a tragedy as themotivation).This idea is not novel

and has long been part ofJewish, Christian and Islamic

teaching, but those whoactually observe it in the U.S.are few.It is easy for me to pray

in the morning and at night,but it’s a discipline for me atother times. Yet, each time Istop, ground myself and pray— I experience a renewedenergy and perspective aswell as gratitude (sometimeseven in the midst of anunpleasant task or difficultsituation).

A calming forceThis form of prayer

becomes a centering andcalming practice.Sometimes my prayers are

worded in a traditional Jewishformula and, at other times,I may begin with the phrase:“O universe in which I liveand which lives in me, I …”I have learned much from

the many different peoplesand beliefs that have greetedme in West Michigan, andI pray I will always remainopen to this rich diversity.

Rabbi Albert M. Lewis is the authorof “Soul Sounds: Reflections onLife,” available at soulsoundsbook.com.

CONTINUED FROM H1

Foreightyearsorso,hesharedasmall roomwiththeboysof theFotieo family, relatives whotook the young man into theirhome and treated him like ason.Grand Rapids attorney

Themis Fotieo says he re-members the day Christopou-los showed up, not speaking aword of English.“I was 4 years old and I re-

member I came downstairs,and there was this young mansitting in my kitchen with mymother, and we, my brotherand I, were introduced to himas my cousin, and he huggedus,” said Fotieo, who considersPete Christopoulos more of anolder brother than a cousin.

Young loveA few years later, Christo-

poulos caught word that a girlfrom his village in Greece, anorphan named Maria, had ar-rived in Grand Rapids. Shecame to the United States withhelp of her uncle and began at-tending Aquinas College.By 1963 theymarried, spend-

ing the early days of their part-nership laying the groundworkto start a family and to controltheir own destiny.In 1967, the couple bought

the old Dog n Suds. Pete finallygot out of endless late-nightshifts at Red Lion.In 1970, the dropped the Dog

n Suds name — they wouldhave to pay no royalties andcould run the place the waythey saw fit.The changes worked, and

Mr. Burger’s reputation grew— so did Mrs. Burger’s.“Maria remembers going

shopping at Herpolsheimer’s(a long-time downtown depart-ment store) and everybodysays, ‘Hello, Mrs. Burger,’”Christopoulos said.Through it all, they raised

three children — Helene, Jim

and Andrew — who grew upin the restaurants’ back roomsdoing homework, drawing,playing Lego’s and, yes, wash-ing dishes.

FundamentalsWhere storied names in the

local restaurant business, in-cluding longtime competitorMr. Fables, disappeared, Mr.Burger persevered by focusingon fundamentals.Jim Christopoulos has those

fundamentals hard-wired intohis psyche.“You focus on the basics,

quality service, cleanliness andvalue—you build on those,” heexplained. “How you deliverthat may change. But the basicsdon’t really change.”An attorney with an MBA

and a resume that includes 14years working at The WhiteHouse and on Capitol Hill as abudget analyst, “Jimmy” Chris-topoulos returned to GrandRapids three years ago andnow serves as general managerof the company.He and his wife, Vas, former

chief of staff for New Hamp-shire Sen. Judd Gregg, gave upthe high-profile world ofWash-ington politics for the chanceto start a family and help outthe family business.“I worked for the Republi-

cans. I worked for the Demo-crats. Now, it’s a time to workfor myself. That’s basicallywhat it boils down to,” JimChristopoulos said.Andrew, who is in culinary

school at Grand Rapids Com-munity College, also hopes tohave a role in the company.

Today, there are sixMr. Burg-er locations (the latest openedin Hudsonville in 2007), plusThe Filling Station.An electronic board outside

The Filling Station proudlyproclaims it to be “part of theMr. Burger family,” althoughthe place maintained the auto-motive motif and many otheritems not typically found onMr. Burger’s menu.There’s even a “Mr. Fabulous

Burger” held over from previ-ous owners that is based on theformer Mr. Fables burger.“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,”

Christopoulos said. “It worksfor us.”

Willingness to adaptPete Christopoulos’ willing-

ness to look at new ideas andadapt to what works is a bigreason for the restaurants’ lon-gevity, Fotieo said.Fotieo, who had worked at

a variety of restaurants in hisyounger years, recalled lookingat the blueprints when Chris-topoulosmade plans to rebuildthe Lake Michigan Drive Mr.Burger in the early ’70s.“He sat me down, opened up

the blueprints and wanted meto look at the service line forany ideas I had.Whowas, I? Justa teenage kid,” Fotieo recalled.“He didn’t care who I was. Hewanted to see what I thought.That’s why he got ahead.”Christopoulos readily con-

cedes building the businesstook a lot of time away fromhis family and personal life.When asked about hobbies

outside of work, he doesn’tcome up with any.Jimmy Christopoulos said

his dad has long enjoyed deerhunting, but that’s about it.Pete and Maria now have

a place in Clearwater Beach,Fla., where they spend portionsof the winter. They enjoy eat-ing out, but have no interestin golf.Business is never far away.He had just finished a phone

call with themanager of one ofhis restaurants whenThe Pressreached him in Florida for afollow-up interview.“As I toldyoubefore, thereare

no co-pilots in the restaurant

business. I’m always captain-ing the ship. You depend onyour people, but nothing runsby itself.”The Christopouloses have

been back to visit Greece andconnect with family members,but America is home.“It’s always nice to come

back here to the old USA; youcan’t beat it.”That’s the attitude that al-

ways struck Fotieo about his“big brother,” Pete.“Whenever anybody is talk-

ing about Pete, theywould com-ment about how successful heseems to be,” Fotieo said. “Hejust seems to look up in the skyand say, ‘God bless America.’”

E-mail: cknape@grpress.com

CHRISTOPOULOS‘I’M ALWAYS CAPTAINING THE SHIP’

Participating in publicprayer is a natural

PRESS PHOTO/DARREN BREEN

Family photo: Andrew, left, Jim, Pete and Maria Christopolous pose for a photo inside The Filling Station, 4750 AlpineAve. NW, the family’s most recent acquisition. The Christopolouses, who also own six Mr. Burger restaurants, also have adaughter, Helene.

ALBERTLEWIS

COLUMNIST

COURTESY PHOTO

In the kitchen: The early days of Mr. Burger were lean and Christopoulos rarely took a dayoff. Only a handful of items on the original menu sold for more than $1.

COURTESY PHOTO

A new name: The first Mr. Burger was converted from an old Dog n Suds drive-in on LakeMichigan Drive NW. Christopoulos changed the name — and designed the logo himself — toavoid paying royalties. The restaurant was later replaced with a new building.

Where it all began: Mr. Burger’s formula for success, goodfood at affordable prices, hasn’t changed since this 1970 adran announcing the opening of the first location.

PRESS PHOTO/DARREN BREEN

His right-hand woman: Maria Christopoulos, left, talks withcounter person Kelsey Gould at The Filling Station.

ONmlivehome: Mlive.com

PHOTOS:� View a gallery ofphotos of Peter Christopoulos, aka Mr.Burger, at http://bit.ly/sundayprofile.