Mike's Grabs Bigger Slice of the Pie

Bobby Giagkos, owner of Mike's Pizza, a longtime restaurant in downtown Fairfield, said Mike's has wanted to expand for a long time, but couldn't because the storefront next door was always occupied.

But the departure of Q Nails from 1560 Post Road gave Mike's the chance to expand just as Colony Grill, a new pizzeria, is scheduled to open in a 1520 Post Road building that was formerly home to Fairfield Stationers.

"All the plans are in place. Everything is ready to go. We're just waiting for the permits," Giagkos said in a phone interview today. "By the end of June, it should all be done...We're really excited about it. We've been wanting to do it for a very long time."

Giagkos said the whole pizzeria would be remodeled and that its appearance, which hasn't changed since the 1970s, would be updated.

The town's Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday granted Giagkos' request to expand Mike's Pizza without adding five required parking spaces. The vote was unanimous, town officials said.

Giagkos said Mike's Pizza's current space was small and kind of cramped and that the expansion was designed to allow the pizzeria to include tables for two instead of only tables for four. Mike's Pizza has eight tables, all of which seat four people; after the expansion, Mike's will have 16 or 17 tables, Giagkos said.

"It will be double the tables, but not double the seating capacity. There'll be a lot more room," Giagkos said.

The expansion, which will add 220 square feet of dining space, also will make it easier for walk-in customers to place orders and to pick up take-out orders, Giagkos added.

Giagkos said he's not worried about Colony Grill opening up nearby at the end of May, saying Fairfield has 31 pizzerias and enough customers exist for everyone. "It might take a little bit of everybody's business, but I don't think anyone will go out of business because of it," he said.

Giagkos noted that a lot of pizzerias already are within two blocks of Mike's - Domino's Pizza is in a parking lot next door, Captain's Pizza is around the corner on Sanford Street, the Nauti Dolphin is at the Fairfield Railroad Station's New Haven-bound side and Pizza Works is at 1512 Post Road.

"There are 31 pizzerias in town. Why would we be worried? It's a big pie," Giagkos said.

Mike's Pizza, which opened in 1974, has done well for 36 years because it's always been family-owned, Giagkos said. Giagkos is the nephew of Eleftherios Jordanopoulos, a longtime owner of Mike's, and became Mike's owner about seven years ago.

"We've always been in there - making the dough, making the sauce, serving the people, and we have strong ties to the community," Giagkos said. "People who are married with kids used to come after school in high school and middle school. It gets carried on from generation to generation."