Bringing a taste of Greece to Stroud, Mr Souvlaki has opened its second Gloucestershire venue at Five Valleys Shopping Centre.
Inspired by his grandfather — a successful street food outlet owner in America — founder Ilias Alexeas chose the food market at Five Valleys for his latest eatery, having opened his first Gloucestershire venue in Cheltenham back in November 2022.
Describing Mr Souvlaki's food as authentic but not old-fashioned, the menu features Greek classics such as gyros, halloumi fries, Greek salad and the eponymous souvlaki, made using genuine Greek ingredients from recipes passed down by his mother and father.
Ilias said: 'I was really missing Greek food and that’s where the idea for Mr Souvlaki came from, I want to share those original recipes that my grandfather prepared but with a modern twist — we want to compete with the best Greek restaurants for our flavours and authenticity.
'I always say that this is street food, it isn’t fast food. It’s really important that the quality is there and that’s one of the reasons I love the Stroud Five Valleys market — people value authentic and good quality food. It’s a great atmosphere and I’m really pleased to be growing the business here.'
Five Valleys centre manager, Erica Malpass, added: 'We are so pleased to welcome Ilias and his team to our market, Mr Souvlaki looks fantastic, and the food is great. We’re really lucky to have another great family business joining our line up of traders here in Stroud.
'We’re currently giving our seating area a bit of a facelift and creating more space for the growing number of diners that we have.'
Five Valleys Shopping Centre has been undergoing a £30 million transformation over the last six years, with owner Dransfield Properties creating new retail and office spaces, a new medical centre, relocating Stroud Library and welcoming Montpellier Legal to a new office building. There are plans to open up space for executive apartments, too, with the latest phase of works having begun in September 2024.
Five Valleys Food Market is open from 10am to 5pm Monday to Thursday; 10am to 8pm Friday; 10am to 5pm Saturday; and 11am to 4pm Sunday.
