TYNGSBORO — On a recent Tuesday morning, George Bousios stood behind the counter of Lakeside Pizza and Seafood, expertly slicing a handful of tomatoes.
It has been nearly five years since he could be found in this spot, but to his regulars, it’s a familiar scene.
Bousios founded the restaurant on Parham Road in 2000 and operated it until 2015, when he sold the business to new owners. But as of December, Lakeside Pizza and Seafood is back under his ownership, as a banner reading “GEORGE IS BACK” proclaimed outside the restaurant recently.
“Just that three-word statement is all anyone needs to know when it comes to that store,” said Bousios’ son, Tim Bousios, laughing.
SUN/Julia Malakie)
George Bousios of Tyngsboro, founder of Lakeside Pizza & Seafood, is back, as the sign proclaims. After selling the business in 2015, he has bought it back, much to the delight of regular customers.Now 68, Bousios said he didn’t expect to be back in the restaurant business — selling the shop in 2015 was meant to be the start of his retirement. But when he learned that the former owners were giving up the restaurant he’d built, he didn’t want to see it close or fall into the wrong hands.
He owns the building the restaurant is housed in and had been leasing it to the previous owners, he said.
“You know why I’m happy? I’m happy to see all my people coming back here. They’re happy,” Bousios said. “Everybody says to me, ‘Thank you, you came back. The food’s gonna be great again.'”
The Tyngsboro resident immigrated to the United States from Greece in 1979. He learned to cook working part time in a pizza shop in Chelmsford, he said, and later had a couple of other restaurants in the 1990s before opening Lakeside Pizza and Seafood.
For Bousios’ family, seeing him back in the kitchen is a testament to his driven, hard-working nature, according to his son.
“Just to see him really living the American dream, but more importantly not just on personal success, but the relationships he’s built over the last 40 years that he’s been in this country, is just amazing,” Tim Bousios said. “I really feel like he’s more than just the pizza-store guy.”
Tim Bousios noted that his father emphasizes making food that is both healthy and delicious, and takes the time to make many of the products by hand, from making his own pizza dough to slicing the deli meats in-house. Before Bousios left the restaurant, it was known for his seafood dinners, the elder Bousios said, but he’s quick to point out that he thinks the pizzas, subs and salads on the menu are just as good.
“Everyday, I learn. Even now, I learn. Recipes, this, that, you know,” he said. ” … I listen to other people, what they say, I change some stuff around. I make my own discoveries.”
With both of his sons now grown and in their own jobs, it’s not the same as it was when they were younger and could help out in the store more, Bousios said. He has a few part-time employees, but he shoulders a lot of the work himself — sometimes putting in up to 90 hours a week — and said he’s hoping to hire more help soon. He’s not sure how long he’ll stay in charge of the restaurant this time, but said he plans to “build up the business again.”
And in the meantime, Tim Bousios said he and his brother Tony still try to lend a hand when they can.
“It’s still something that we take pride in ourselves when we go and visit. We can put on an apron and the customers recognize us from years past,” Tim Bousios said. “It’s fun to rekindle those old relationships from when we worked there on a more consistent basis.”
In the weeks since Bousios took over, members of the “Tyngsboro Talk” Facebook page have regularly been posting about his return, sharing photos of their meals with variations of the caption “George is back.”
Seeing his regulars has been the best part for Bousios, too, he said.
“They are happy. They go crazy,” he said, laughing. “I got more hugs than they give me all my life.”
Lakeside Pizza and Seafood is located at 24 Parham Road. The restaurant is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
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