Valparaiso University - Beacon / Record Yearbook (Valparaiso, IN)

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o . . . where do YOU eat? Maybe you are one of the 1,410 persons who were on meal plan spring semester ... or perhaps on a fraternity meal plan . . . or cook- ing with a group of friends .., or fending for yourself. The Beacon survey responses indicated a vari- ety of ways of coping with this basic human need. Not surpris- ingly, more females than males Chose to cook for themselves - but everyone had a comment on the meritswdemerits of meal plan. Food's a necessity, whether you eat iClockwise from top left, opposite pagei ... at McDonald's H. with a friend in the Union in a hurry .,. at Miller's candy bins .i. in Alumniis basement a bizarre combination of foods or at home in the dorm. Where Do You Eat? 27

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V.U. junior Joanne Bynoe, be- low, shares a Creek's pizza with freshman sister Carolt Mike Kar- amesines, right, owner of Creek's Pizzeria, displays the product that was voted the best in Valpo. Grcclfs llWhat's one of the first things a freshman asks the R.A.? 'Where do you get your pizza from?' And what do they say? . . . 'Greek's. ' According to Mike Karamesines, owner of The Greek's Pizzeria, that initial recommenda- tion develops into a four-year love affair for many V.U. students. And a campus-wide survey conducted by the Beacon confirms the fact that Greek's is the place for pizza in Valpo. But Greek's wasn't always the students' fa- vorite. As a matter of fact, Creek's wasn't always Greekls. . - For 17 years Mike's parents operated a little restaurant, called the Tropicana, at 454 Green- wich. In 1969, when they retired, he took over the business and gradually converted it into a pizzeria. It wasn't an easy road to success. lll used to go 25 or 30 days without a day off when we started, says Mike. It took a lot of persever- ance and sticking with it v but it's finally paid off. We've got a profitable business now, and every year has become better and better. Mike emphasizes that it's the pizza that t -, fawn t , pizza voted best in llalpo draws customers to Creek's. At a place like ours, you know you're coming to eat the pizza, not to look around, he says. But even if I had 10 restaurants, they'd all be small. You don't need a $500,000 place to be successful. Mike's conquest of Valpo certainly proves that. An additional measure of his success, though, is the close customer relationship he has developed. We've made a lot of good friends here, at V.U. in particular e friends who keep in touch wherever they go, he says. Alumni come back for homecoming and make it a point to stop by and visit. That's when it all really pays off. Like the list of friends, Greek's business con- tinues to grow year by year. I went to graduation a couple of years ago, says Mike, and looked at the front row of seniors. I said to myself, 'My God e all of them are my customers. What am I going to do next year?' . But it just keeps getting better and better. e lulie Liesse