Andy’s Club: 50 Years and Counting
It’s been 50 years since Andreas “Andy” Konstantos Bolos turned a small bar on the north side of Ogden into Andy’s Club.
Today, the restaurant still serves up Greek specialties like souvlaki, gyros, spanakopita and dolmathes. It also has a long-time reputation for juicy steaks. Last year, Chelsey and Blayne Griffis bought the restaurant. They’ve kept it pretty much the same, while adding a few new menu items.
Chelsey, who has worked at Andy’s for 16 years, says it’s like the theme song from the “Cheers” TV show “where everybody knows your name. We get a lot of new faces, but most of the people coming in are on a first-name basis.”
“There are people who have been coming here for 30 years who don’t even look at the menu, because they already know what they want,” said Blayne Griffis.
For a restaurant, 50 years is a huge accomplishment, when you consider the many Northern Utah restaurants that have recently gone out of business.
I heard about the new ownership from DeAnn Armes’ excellent website, The Ogdenite. For a recent Standard-Examiner story, I sat down with Blayne and Chelsey, as well as George Koloveas, who owned the restaurant from 2003 to 2023, and Beverly Nelson, who has waited tables at Andy’s for 45 years and counting. It was fun hearing about the history and heritage.
Andreas “Andy” Konstantinos Bolos was born in Nestani, Greece in 1936, according to his 2017 obituary. He immigrated to the United States in 1951, at age 15. Andreas also served in the US Army, and was deployed to Korea on a peacekeeping tour.
Bolos bought the small building at 501 N. Washington Blvd. in 1968. By that time, it already had a bit of history. Some accounts say it was a speakeasy during the Prohibition era, and there’s an old photo from when it was known as Joe’s Chicken Inn.
When Bolos first bought it, “it was a beer bar,” said Chelsey Griffis. Beverly Nelson remembers her parents attending dances in the basement.
In 1974, Bolos turned it into the first private club in the Ogden area, according to George Koloveas. At the time, Utah liquor laws required customers to apply for a “social club” membership and pay fees in order to be served liquor. Bolos started with a simple menu and added more Greek specialties.
Back then, some customers came on horseback, since much of the surrounding area was still farmland, said Nelson. She also remembers it as more rowdy, with lively dart games and skirmishes over the pool table.
An early lunch menu lists “Andy’s Special Steak,” with salad and toast, for $2.95. A skewer of souvlaki (also referred to as “shish kebab” by George Koloveas) was $1.85, served with salad, fries and Greek bread. For $1.10, you could buy a hamburger, a “Yiro” burger, (made with gyro meat), Greek burger, or a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
“In the ‘80s, Wednesday night was Steak Night, and you could get two full steak dinners for $8.50,” said Beverly Nelson said. “When Andy owned it, you could only get your steak one way – medium rare. But after George bought it, he started giving people a choice.”
George Koloveas, also a Greek immigrant, started working at Andy’s in 1991, and bought the club from Bolos in 2003.
“I decided to keep the same food, because everyone knew this was the place for Greek food,” said Koloveas. “People knew what they wanted, and they came here for the shish kebabs and steak.”
Ogden has long had a Greek food presence, since the early days as a railroad town. And the Greek Orthodox Church’s annual Greek Festival helped familiarize people with Greek cuisine.
Koloveas added more menu items, and today you can also get non-Greek entrees such as grilled chicken breast, salmon, and fish and chips. Everything is cooked to order. Steaks, cut in-house, are rubbed with a house seasoning.
One of the signature entrees is the Andy’s Combo — an 8-ounce steak, a large skewer of souvlaki, a Greek-style meatball, bread, a dolmathiki (stuffed grape leaves), rice or fries and pita.
“Many couples will split it, because it’s so large,” said Griffis. “The souvlaki stick is about a full pound of meat.”
When asked about his favorite dishes, Koloveas said it wasn’t just about the food, “It was the people I know.”
Since the building is on the high-traffic Washington Boulevard, passing cars have run into the building three different times over the years, Koloveas said.
One night, he was leaving, but parked at the front door and came back into the office when the crash came.
“I ran out, and two kids were racing, and hit the building,” he said. “We had to pull five kids out of the cars.”
In 2009, Utah law did away with private clubs, and Andy’s became a restaurant that didn’t need a membership. The pool table and dart board era stopped.
“Once we turned into a restaurant, there were so many rules that went with it, that it was too hard to keep doing pool and darts,” said Griffis.
An interesting fact: Takeout is about 30 percent of the business today, and the takeout window helped the restaurant survive the Covid shutdown and social distancing. People can order takeout through the website now.
After 20 years of ownership, Koloveas decided to hang up his apron. Chelsey Griffis had worked there 15 years, starting at age 21. She gradually took on more responsibilities, and had been managing it for about six years.
“So buying the restaurant was a gradual, organic decision,” Chelsey Griffis said. “ I can’t see myself doing anything different. I’m grateful that George transitioned me, because there’s a lot to learn. We have a good crew, and we’re tight-knit.”
Since taking over, she’s added more desserts. And she jumped on the “hot honey” trend, with a hot honey feta dip. The hot honey is drizzled over the melted feta cheese dip. Then a kitchen torch is applied “to give it a nice toasty top,” she said. It’s served with pita wedges for dipping.
She also added kids meals, since more families are coming in. They offer a catering menu and are doing more catering.
Blayne and Chelsey said despite rising food costs, they are trying to keep menu prices the same.
“Everything on our menu uses ingredients that are also used for something else, so there’s not a lot of waste,” Chelsey said.
Blayne Griffis kept his day job, but also works at Andy’s since they took ownership. He said many long-time customers have their traditional habits. On Sunday mornings before the restaurant opens for brunch, they line up in the parking lot to be sure to get their favorite table.
“The environment here is pretty cool.”
Location: 501 N. Washington Blvd
Contact: https://andysofogden.com; (801) 782-9972
Hours: Closed Mondays. Open Tuesday-Saturday from 11 a.m.- 9 p.m.; Sunday 10:30-3 p.m.
Prices: Entrees: $12-25.