The Siormanolakis family has served up plenty of pizzas to Burnaby residents for more than 40 years, but that will come to an end this March.
The family owns Romana restaurant, which opened in the Heights 41 years ago. This week, they announced on Facebook that there were major changes coming for the business.
The restaurant's lease is up at the end of March, and the Siormanolakis are putting the business up for sale, according to Jenny Siormanolakis, who manages the restaurant's public relations.
"It's a little sad but we kind of knew one day that this day would come. It's a little bit more emotional than I thought it would be," Jenny said. "I mean, just writing yesterday on the Facebook page, it was a family thing. We didn't know who would push send."
The neighbourhood has changed dramatically since the family restaurant first opened, when there were only four or five restaurants between the PNE and Port Moody. Now, they get plenty of foot traffic and are well-known in the area, Jenny said.
But her parents, Poppy and Eugene Siormanolakis, are ready to take time for themselves and their family, she added.
"My parents have worked very, very hard, and they're very tired, and it's time to move on," she said. "We know that Romana is an institution, and it couldn't be there without the support of so many people in Burnaby and the community."
The seven-day-a-week restaurant has been run with the help of everyone in the family, right down to the Siormanolakis' granddaughters, who sometimes act as weekend hostesses.
"I've worked there since 1987," said Jenny, who has another job as well. "I was washing dishes at 11 years old."
While the family may be leaving the business behind, they intend to stay connected to the community they've created, she said, adding her parents may have a new career on the horizon.
"We're going to continue on hopefully with our trip to Greece with our customers, and maybe this is the future for them, maybe they'll want to do the traveling to Greece and take tours to Greece, and do the food and wine and agritourism, and show off their country," she said.
The family would like to sell to someone who is willing to take on the successful business they've created, Jenny said, but they're prepared to leave at the end of March even if that doesn't happen.
"I think ideally we'd want someone to come in and take the name over, and work as hard as we did, because you can reap the rewards. Hard work brings you everything in life," she said.
The neighbourhood is the ideal place for a family restaurant, according to Jenny.
"Burnaby Heights is definitely changing, there's so many families out there," Jenny said. "All the surrounding businesses, particularly in the last year, on this end of the Heights are all family based.
"It's too bad this area wasn't like this 40 years ago when we opened,' she added.
The family is pushing through the Christmas rush and connecting with their long-time customers in the next couple of months, Jenny said.
"We're going to keep chugging ahead through Christmas, January, February," she said. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of people wanting to mass order and take food and freeze it.
"We're going to be looking at pumping out as many pizzas as we can."
