A Viral Video Saves Chandler Greek Restaurant: Customers Line Out the Door, More Than $21,000 Raised for Its 72-Year-Old Owner
A short video has sent Greek's Grill, a family restaurant in Chandler, Maricopa County, Arizona, to lines-out-the-door popularity. According to multiple reports, the restaurant has been run since 2010 by Fred Najour, 72, and after 16 years in business it was struggling to stay afloat. Local creator Robert Schrott, who posts as Robby, visited for a meal and shared the restaurant's story on social media. The video spread quickly, customers began lining up outside, and a fundraiser Schrott started ultimately raised more than $21,000, delivered to Najour by check.
In an interview with The AZ Insider, Schrott said he had never eaten at the restaurant before and went for the first time at a follower's suggestion. He said Najour told him the business once did well but was now barely getting by, and that Najour himself was not on social media. Schrott posted a video of the visit; by his account at the time of that interview, it drew about a million views on Instagram within 12 hours and more than 800,000 on TikTok. He later said on the Johnjay and Rich show that combined views across the two platforms had passed 2.5 million.
Within days of the video spreading, business surged. Sunny Skyz reported that customers lined up outside the restaurant, that Najour's son Nathan had to call in extra help, and that Nathan's friend Anthony Cyrus showed up to wash dishes and run food to tables. Reports also said Najour at first had no idea who Schrott was, or what TikTok was. In his radio interview, Schrott said Nathan had been working a second job to help his father pay the staff.
Schrott organized the fundraiser on GoFundMe; the campaign page says he is working with Nathan to deliver the funds to his father, to help keep the restaurant going through its difficult stretch. The AZ Insider reported that by November 9 the page showed $16,862 raised toward an $18,000 goal, with a separate $1,000 cash contribution from a follower. Reports on November 11 put the total above $19,000. Local station 12News then reported that Najour had received a $20,000 check, with donations topping $21,000 in all. The restaurant is at 610 N. Alma School Road, Suite 26, in Chandler's Waterfall Shopping Center.
Source: Sunny Skyz
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 资料图：一份希腊烤肉（gyros）拼盘，Haydn Blackey摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons，已裁为1600×900，彩色；非涉事餐厅实拍、非该店出品画面。/ File photo: a gyros platter (photo by Haydn Blackey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons), cropped to 1600x900; not a photo of the restaurant or of its own dishes.
