Aristo’s restaurant can be described as simple but elegant, offering a taste of authentic Southern Greek cuisine. In March ’09, the Deseret News reviewed Aristo’s, referring to the restaurant as the “jewel on the crown” amongst locally owned Greek restaurants. To truly appreciate Aristo’s you must understand the essence of Cretan cuisine. It is simple, earthy, and robust fare, often cooked with wine, olive oil and Mediterranean spices. Aristo’s has been voted “Best Greek” by City Weekly readers for five consecutive years, and has been featured in many cooking segments on local television, national magazines, and local newspapers. Aristo’s core values are in family and community, that is why it actively supports and sponsors many non-profit organizations. In addition to supporting nonprofits, Aristo’s strives to conduct business with as many local and family-owned purveyors as possible. When sourcing imported Greek products, Aristo’s only deals with privately held, family- owned operations.

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Owner

His strong work ethic, personable nature, and sense of cultural and familial roots made Aristo (whose given name is Aristides), a natural for the restaurant industry. Making people happy with good food is simply in his blood. At the age of eleven, he had already begun his foray into the food and beverage industry cooking shish-ke-bobs, knishes, and funnel cakes in NY’s Coney Island. By age 15, he was working large catering halls as a server. Following his early high school graduation, Aristo moved to Salt Lake City where he learned the ropes of the restaurant industry from his mother’s side of the family who already owned and operated restaurants in the Wasatch Valley. After five years in Utah and ten years of industry experience Aristo opened his first restaurant at the age of 21. Today, six years later, Aristo operates his successful Greek restaurant and has Aristo branded products in over 70 grocery stores in Utah.

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All the reasons why Aristo’s doors are open today can be attributed to his parents, George and Ekaterini Boutsikakis. Aside from raising little Aristo, they provided the same dedication that initially went into this small business. George can still be found at the restaurant in the early hours of the day, cooking the lamb dishes, which require time and intricate detail to prepare. When not at the restaurant, George can be found harvesting his home grown Horta for your dining enjoyment. Ekaterini or Mama, as referred to around the restaurant, lovingly prepares all the dolmathes, spreads, Mousaka, Pastitsio, and Spanakopita. Mama also performs quality control inspections to make sure both Aristo and the Chef follow her recipes exactly. Mama is hard at work in the kitchen making the Galaktoboureko with the finicky fillo dough and the Rizogalo, which is simmered over an extremely low flame on a daily basis for the restaurant.

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Chef/Manager

Francisco joined Aristo’s in August of 2003 shortly after the restaurant opened, bringing more than 15 years of experience from the Los Angeles culinary scene in Italian and fresh seafood restaurants. His natural talent, creativity, and strong work ethic make Francisco an ideal and invaluable asset to Aristo’s organization. Francisco is dedicated to serving authentic dishes prepared with care and attention to detail, using only the freshest and highest quality ingredients.