Small Business Highlight: The Grecian Gourmet Taverna
Updated: Aug 17, 2022
The Grecian Gourmet Taverna is a family-owned business that serves authentic Greek family recipes in the heart of Memphis. I had the pleasure of talking with Grecian Gourmet’s owner, Corrine Knight, about how the business started. Being Greek means having a big family, and having a big Greek family means cooking a lot of food, so food came naturally to Corrine and her parents. They began by selling food at markets and local grocery stores in 2016 and soon grew big enough to need a retail kitchen. But by Fall 2017, they were looking for a more permanent place, and that’s when they found their current location. Corrine’s mother and father were the original owners and they always had plans to transition ownership to Corrine, but Covid sped that process up. Since January of this year, Corrine is the sole owner of Grecian Gourmet. Because of time constraints, they don’t do markets anymore, but you can find their products at these locations: South Point Grocery, High Point Grocery, Miss Cordelias, Curb Market, Busters, SupeLo, Cash Saver on Madison and Curbside Casserole.
I asked Corrine what she loves about running a family-owned business. She said, “Just being able to always put family and life first, and being able to give that to my employees in return. I always say that I'm not in this to be rich, but to be able to enjoy my life while doing something I love.” Running a small business is not for the faint of heart, but running one while also having a family is something else entirely. This speaks volumes to who Corrine is as a person. She cares deeply about people and she knows that people need to be taken care of so they can do their work to the best of their ability.
Another question that I had for her was what is her favorite item on the menu. “Kotopita is by far my favorite thing. It's currently only on our catering or pre-order menu, but it is SO GOOD. It's basically a Greek Chicken Pot Pie. It's the absolute best comfort food ever. It takes you right back to being a child.”
The last question I had for Corrine was what she loves about being a Memphis small business. “I love this city…A huge thing for me is spending as many dollars as we can locally-- we buy our pita from local market made for us twice a week, buns from a local baker we met at a farmers market, container labels from Flexible Label Group (a woman owned and operated local company), when I buy lunch for my staff I go to Bedrock, Southpoint Grocery, Little Italy, or The Green Beetle.” Being a small business in Memphis, you are very much a part of a community and Corrine really takes that to heart. Supporting other small businesses around you boosts the local economy and also builds a stronger community. And that’s what we want to do at The Profit Link, build bonds between us and the Memphis small business community through these blogs, but also in the work that we do everyday.
Corrine’s future goals are to rapidly expand into more retail locations and also expand in their local market. She also wanted to let me know that they are hiring right now!
It was so nice to be able to connect with Corrine and get to know more about her business. You can find The Grecian Gourmet Taverna on 412 South Main St. in Memphis, TN. And you can also try their cuisine at other local retailers that I listed above. You can follow them on Instagram, @greciangourmet and at their website www.thegreciangourmet.com. You can follow us at www.theprofitlink.com and on all social media platforms at @theprofitlink. And if you want to find more small businesses to support in and around Memphis, you can read about them on our blog www.theprofitlink.com/blog.