Evangelo is back in the kitchen

WASILLA — Evangelo's Restaurant has its original owner back.

Evangelo Lambernakis recently returned to his iconic Italian establishment. He sold his restaurant with the intention of retiring but he was eventually asked to come back.

"I don't want this place to go down. From a sales point of view, I don't expect it," Lambernakis said.

Lambernakis reclaimed the restaurant in September and quickly got to work with his staff to get it back to the same level of quality locals have grown familiar with over the last four decades. He said they were all warmly welcomed back by the community and everything is going well.

"Customers love it. Customers love that we are back because they know the service, the quality, the food, and of course we brought back the original recipes," Lambernakis said.

Lambernakis grew up in the restaurant industry. His love for cooking came from working in his parents' restaurant in Greece from a young age.

Lambernakis said that he eventually made his way to New York to attend culinary school around the 1970s and learned a lot of valuable things that meshed well with his experience.

"I love to cook. I love to serve and make people happy around me," Lambernakis said.

By the time Lambernakis made his way to the Mat-Su Valley, he was well prepared to make a name for himself in the local restaurant industry.

Lambernakis started the Country Kitchen in the early 1980s (which is now the Mat-Su Family Restaurant). He established the original Evangelo's restaurant near Wonderland Park not long after that. For a time, he ran three different restaurants, including the Settlers Bay Lodge. He eventually sold the other two restaurants and moved Evangelo's to its familiar location off the Parks Highway.

"My vision was a high quality dining experience," Lambernakis said. "I knew it was going to succeed… We are not a very fancy restaurant but we are very family oriented with upper scale."

Lambernakis said that he takes pride in his Greek heritage and his U.S. citizenship. He has supported numerous local school programs, first responder groups, and nonprofits like Valley Performing Arts over the years. He said that he loves the community his children grew up in.

"I invest a lot in the Valley," Lambernakis said.

Lambernakis said that he would like to visit his family in Greece more often, especially when he finally retires. He said it's beautiful there.

"If you go, you'll never want to come back," Lambernakis said.

Lambernakis said that it's currently unknown how long he will stay at the restaurant before attempting to retire again. He said he's just focusing on doing what he can to keep the restaurant going and making it better than ever.

"We have no intention to give up or anything like that. We'll go on and we'll go strong," Lambernakis said.

For more information, call 907-376-1212.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com