Kozzy's Grille

At age 6, Kostas Bakoulas used to stand balanced on a step stool, stamping paper bags with the logo and address of his family's eatery. "I started working there when I started walking," he says with a laugh. "As a child of an immigrant, that's just what you do." Kostas says he couldn't see himself doing anything else, and today he proudly runs his own restaurant, Kozzy's Grille. In 2011, readers of The High Point Enterprise named Kozzy's Grille the Best New Restaurant.

Almost everything at Kozzy's Grille is made fresh to order and never frozen in a vat of nitrogen. Though this may be a result of sparse storage space, it's a benefit to customers, who line up for gyros doused in tzatziki sauce made from Kostas's father's recipe as well as grilled chicken marinated in a blend also concocted by his father. Kostas's own favorite is the Kozzy-style gyro, served with french fries wrapped inside the pita, just as it's done in his parents' home country. Kozzy's Grille keeps an open kitchen, allowing Kostas to get to know his guests as he sears meats with aplomb.