Opa: Olive Branch celebrates 25th anniversary of hard work, quality food

John, Joni and Gabe Galanakis, and the rest of their family, can look back and have a clear picture of the traits they’ve needed to get the Olive Branch off the ground and thriving at its current level 25 years after it opened – their hard work and selfless sacrifice.

John and Joni raised six children, five of them born in Iowa, and have become veterans of the restaurant business, owning a bar in Creston upon arriving in Iowa and later moving in 1992 to open their latest endeaver, which originated next door in the ground floor of the now revitalized and restored Hotel Greenfield.

Gabe started working at the Olive Branch as a teenager who still had a lot to learn, though he was willing to learn and eventually did.

“At 14, he started waiting tables,” Joni remembers. “Everyone loved him. I’m proud of him.”

Perhaps the reason everyone loved him was Gabe’s willingness to do whatever was asked and to treat others well, the two main traits the family has always needed in conducting business.

“The secret is treating your employees like you would family because you do dishes and everything with them,” Joni said.

It extends to customers, too.

“We do a lot of special things for customers,” Gabe said. “Like, if they want something that isn’t on the menu we’ll try and find something for them as close to what they want as we can.”

John came to America from Greece in the early 1970s on an oil tanker. They wouldn’t let him off when they docked, so he jumped off.

He walked the streets of New York City for a few days before he found a restaurant where people outside were speaking Greek. Eventually, after he worked at that restaurant, John was working at the Hilton and found himself promoted from dishwasher to cook after he was honest that he had found a wallet outside on the street with $2,000 in it. Though he hardly spoke any English, they taught him.

Once the family opened the Olive Branch, it later moved to its current location, which is the original home of the Adair County Free Press. Near the kitchen area is where the press once sat. The front seating area now is where the Free Press offices were, as were large tables where layout happened.

The recipe the Galanakis family has used for success hasn’t changed since it was first written when John came to America. Gabe’s younger brother, Mario, also has used it as he’s started his sports bar in Creston. Gabe went to Creston to help his younger brother, who is a former Iowa Hawkeyes wrestler, get his restaurant off the ground, creating menus, and so on. Gabe is currently adding items to the Olive Branch menu and is excited to debut them soon.

“We’re not afraid to do dishes or to scrub floors. That’s how my kids were raised and that’s how John taught them to do it,” Joni said. “You’re no better than anybody else just because you’re the owners. You work just as hard as anybody else. That’s the way we all are. I’m proud of my kids, they’re hard workers.”

Once employees see Gabe and his parents working hard, the rest takes care of itself and the business can thrive more freely.

“It starts from the top. If they see you’re working, your customers appreciate it. If a dishwasher or waitress doesn’t show up you’ve gotta do both jobs. It’s hard work, but that’s small businesses.”