Taziki’s founder bringing GRK to BHM
It was after a trip to Greece with his wife, Amy, that Keith Richards fell in love with the food and culture.
It was 24 years ago that the couple spent 13 days soaking up the culture, atmosphere and, most of all, the food. When they arrived back in Birmingham, Richards went back to his job working with Frank Stitt at Bottega.
“I just felt like something was missing, and I wanted my own restaurant,” Richards said.
“I had been in management and started a couple of businesses and just loved the food business and wanted to do my own thing.”
Richards said creating Taziki’s was a challenge and they didn’t have any money, but they made it work. Now 23 years later, Taziki’s has grown to 92 restaurants across the country.
The idea for a new venture came to Richards during COVID-19 when he saw what it did to his businesses, although he didn’t lose any employees during the pandemic.
“It basically shut down our inside dining experience, and so we did a lot of curbside and pickup and some delivery,” he said. “That started part of my pathway to think of a smaller form of Taziki’s.”
GRK Street
WHERE: 5291 Valleydale Road
HOURS: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday
CALL: Orders can also be placed by calling 205-383-3193 or through their app
WEB: greekstreet.com
The concept was a smaller space focusing on takeout with delicious products similar to authentic food from Greece.
“I thought, ‘Why don’t I create a brand using Grecian delights and make authentic street food from Greece?’ So that’s pretty much what I did,” he said.
When looking for a spot, he knew he wanted it to be a smaller location, easy curbside parking and a pickup window.
“The spot we are in now on Valleydale Road, when I saw it was available, I jumped on it as soon as I could,” he said.
His new restaurant, GRK Street (Greek Street) opened July 6 in the Inverness Village shopping center, which is a short drive from his home in Inverness.
The space is 1,200 square feet, whereas most of his Taziki’s restaurants are around 2,800 to 3,400 square feet. Richards said he loves the restaurants in Greece that are tiny and jam-packed, and that’s what he wanted this space to feel like.
“I love the intensity, a lot of people inside, the music going, hearing the grill sizzling ... I need that for my inspiration,” he said. “Inside we have a map of downtown Athens. We have started pinning customer photos on it to places they’ve been.”
Richards’ daughter, Charlie, also painted a lot of the artwork. Inside seating is limited, and everything is made to go. There are also several tables outside.
Richards created a new menu based on his memory of his multiple trips to Greece. A few items at GRK Street were brought over from Taziki’s, including the hummus, whipped feta and cucumber salad.
Doing authentic Greek food just didn’t fit, so he wanted to make it approachable for the average Joe (which is coincidentally his father’s name). He worked with his culinary sidekick Raul Hernandez, who helped him get the food to match what he wanted.
So far, the beef and lamb gyro is the No. 1 selling item on the menu, followed by the marinated souvlaki chicken bowl. Richards said his favorite dish is the village salad bowl of Greek-style lamb and rice.
“After Taziki’s, we opened Baja Burger eight years ago, and the same way with GRK Street. We want it to have the same fresh, friendly feeling,” he said.
Since opening, Richards said the response has been awesome. He has future plans to open more GRK Street locations in the Birmingham area when he finds the right locations, Richards said.
For more information, visit greekstreet.com.