The Sweet Greek café owner, Melissa Glyptis Simpson, has been keeping Milton on its toes with talks of a new location, which began circulating after she closed her shop at 5237 Willing St. late last year.
Now, Glyptis Simpson is ready to share what she’s been working on – a Greek café five times the size of her original shop, now located at 6776 Caroline St. She has big plans for how to use the extra space.
While Glyptis Simpson has owned the Caroline Street building, formerly leased to Gulf Medical Services, for some time, she saw an opportunity to move into the space herself when she received notice that her tenants were vacating.
As her business had began to grow and she saw the demand for Greek baked goods at the Willing Street location, she was faced with a problem: a lack of space to bake and store all the orders she was receiving.
“There was no way I could keep this (bakery) up in the space we were in,” she said.
Now, not only will she have much-needed room for growth for in the kitchen, but additional space for making coffee beverages, selling ice cream from Southern Craft Creamery, lounge seating, table seating, conference rooms, party rooms, offices and some retail space.
Glyptis Simpson began to think bigger than just her business and imagined a space the Milton community at large could benefit from as a third space to work, meet and play.
“I want to be proud of it, and I want the city to be proud of it,” she said.
Glyptis Simpson has spent six months reimaging the building to offer brand-new herringbone floors, decorative chandeliers, and hand-painted murals by local artists that tell Greek stories close to her heart.
She hopes to open the doors on July 4 with limited offerings, such as just her coffee menu, but will continue to expand the building’s features over time.
“The idea is to build into this,” she said.
Due to the expanded kitchen space, she will also be able to offer savory items in addition to her Greek sweets, such as soups and sandwiches, as well as offering beer and wine.
Part of Glyptis Simpson’s business model is to put intention into every detail, and she plans to do the same with more of her lunch offerings, which will feature recipes close to her heart and rooted in her family’s history.
She will continue to offer the baked goods her shop has become famous for, with Grecian desserts so authentic she still has her family’s handwritten recipes written in Greek to prove it.
The décor will also reflect her Greek heritage, with photographs, murals and wall art telling the stories of Greek traditions.
She feels that the new space will serve a wide variety of people, offering needed spaces for those working on the run, hosting events or killing time while their child is at a rehearsal or practice.
While the remodeling process has taken longer than expected, she is most looking forward to seeing the familiar faces who frequented her previous location, who feel less like customers and more like family.
“It’s almost like Mom getting her kids back,” she said of seeing her customers again.
While construction is still underway, follow The Sweet Greek on social media for real-time updates and information.
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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: The Sweet Greek is making its triumphant return to downtown Milton, bigger and better
Reporting by Brittany Misencik, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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