Local restaurateur Spero Demakes is branching out again with a new eatery...well, it's not really new at all.
The Wardhurst Grille at 31 Lynnfield St. in Peabody has been around since 1949. The Salem News reports Demakes, who owns Matty’s Food & Spirits on Endicott Street in Danvers, is purchasing the Peabody restaurant from Peter Routses.
Demakes says his ownership will be about the only change slated for one of Peabody's more iconic eateries -- regular patrons at the Wardhurst should expect the same Greek favorites to grace the menu and pretty much everything else to remain very familiar.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
He told the Salem News the restaurant is an “institution” and he’d “be crazy to go in there and blow it up.”
Demakes, 40, is the son of the late James Demakes of Jimmy’s Allenhurst fame. The younger Demakes worked for several years in the family business and also ran the former Spero’s Sports Pub and Grill in Danvers and has a share in Sidelines in Salem.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
Routses, 68, ran the Wardhurst for many years, taking over from his father George, who first opened the restaurant 64 years ago.
Routses tells the Salem News he’s looking forward to retirement, however, and more time to spend with his wife Sue and their grandchildren.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
