Remembering George Brokalakis, the Founder of Crown Burgers

George Brokalakis died June 21 at the age of 76, and his family is hosting a celebration of his life on June 27 at the Greek Orthodox Church where he volunteered so much of his time when he wasn't running Crown Burgers. That restaurant, which he opened in 1987, will be closed tomorrow to honor his memory.

But the staff, including Brokalakis's son, Dmitiri, who now runs the operation, will be right back at work on Saturday morning: flipping burgers, putting hand-coated quarter-pound corn dogs on sticks, manually slicing and breading onion rings and prepping everything on the expansive breakfast menu (served from 9 to 11 a.m.). That's what George would have wanted, and expected.
Crown Burgers has a long and distinguished history. Two of Westword's food editors, Molly Martin and Mark Antonation, cited Crown's Royal Burger on their lists of best burgers in the area. But its roots are planted deep in the soil of Crete, where George Brokalakis was born, and Salt Lake City, where he moved in 1967 and was introduced by family members to the business opportunity of... burgers. Today the Crown Burger chain stretches across that state.

After Brokalakis moved to Denver in 1983, he opened an outpost of Crown Burgers on South Colorado Boulevard with his wife, Stella. They adopted some of the Utah menu, especially the Royal Burger, which is topped with a mound of fresh-sliced pastrami. The Royal Burger is often the first order of the day when the doors open. "Yeah, that's one of my favorite burgers," Dimitri notes. "I'm here six days a week, and I probably eat it four or five times a week." (It's even better with two patties.)

George also added a Denver touch: the flavor-packed green chile of the Holly Inn Mexican restaurants, which are owned and operated by another family in Denver's Greek community. It's all about family, explains Dmitri, who comes out of the Crown kitchen to discuss his dad's legacy.

The original Crown Burgers in Utah was started by Brokalakis relatives. "So what it is, my uncle on my mom's side of the family, my mom's twin sister, her brother, my mom's twin sister's husband and his brother opened the original one in Utah," he says. Then other family members branched out and opened other Crown Burgers. When his parents got to Denver, there were no family members here, but the Greek Orthodox Church became their family. Hence, the Holly Inn green chile.

The Greek side of the business shows up in items like a fat gyro with lots of feta cheese on top, the baklava for dessert, and a large breakfast menu that features impressively big dishes like a giant breakfast burrito and five-egg omelets. "We make sure, no matter what you get, you're full, you know?" Dmitri says, laughing. "And the omelets come with homemade hash browns and toast also. So I tell people, you get an omelet here, you're not gonna eat lunch that day, you know, just breakfast. Maybe skip dinner, too."

George was a lifelong supporter of Greek and Cretan culture, and raised his family at the Greek Orthodox Church. He even held a Cretan festival in the parking lot of Crown Burgers one year; Dmitri says that he may do it again sometime in his dad's honor.

George was diagnosed with Parkinson's and dementia a couple of years ago, but up until a few months ago he and Stella would come to the restaurant for a few hours in the morning, Dmitri says. Then his father had some other medical issues and surgery five weeks ago that he never recovered from. "It took too much out of him with everything else that he had, you know?" Dmitri notes. "So the last four months, it's been just kind of me, and then the crew of guys that we have."
Dmitri is 33 years old, but he's been a fixture at Crown Burgers since he was seven. "Well, when I was younger, it was either summer school or work. I went to summer school when I was six years old, and I said, 'I'm never going to do it again.' From seven years old, I would come in any school break or summer break, and I would help a little here and there.

"So I would wipe off the tables after customers would leave and the chairs, and then I fold the napkins," he adds. "I would do those little things. And then at ten years old, this guy didn't show up for work, and he's doing the drive-through, you know? And so at ten, I said, 'You know what? I can handle it that, please trust me.'

"I stood on a milk crate" to reach the window of the drive-through, and the counter with its register, he recalls. But today Dmitri is tall and lanky and doesn't need any help looking out at the restaurant his father created. He's ready to take charge and honor his legacy.

The celebration of George Brokalakis's life starts at 10 a.m. Friday, June 27, at Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 4610 East Alameda Avenue; anyone who ate at Crown Burgers over the years is welcome. Crown Burgers is at 2192 South Colorado Boulevard; normal hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Learn more at crownburgers.org.