OUR STORY
GREEK ROOTS.
TEXAS RAISED.
BUILT IN ROCKWALL.
Onassis is the story of two cultures, a community that showed up when it mattered most, and a restaurant built to make an evening out feel like something again.
KOSTAS LAZANAS
CHEF + OWNER
WHERE IT STARTED
“I GUESS YOU COULD
SAY I'M A
GREEK REDNECK.”
My father immigrated to America from Greece. My mother is from Texas. I grew up equally proud of both sides of that story even if I didn't speak Greek or necessarily look like what people expected a Greek restaurant owner to look like.
But I always longed for a connection to my Greek roots. For me, that connection became food.
I taught myself to cook, learned from my Greek grandmother's recipes, spent years in restaurant kitchens, researched the dishes I didn't know, and eventually started putting a little of myself into them.
In 2013, that journey became Opa! Greek Taverna in Rowlett, Texas.
2020
WHEN OUR
COMMUNITY
SHOWED UP.
Like so many restaurants, 2020 brought Opa! Greek Taverna to a place I never imagined. I was a young chef and small-business owner with three children depending on me, and for the first time since opening the restaurant, I genuinely wondered if we were going to make it.
So I picked up a camera and told people what was happening.
The video took off. What happened next is something I'll never forget.
Our community showed up.
They ordered food. They shared our story. They told their friends. They supported a local restaurant when we needed them most and reminded me just how much a restaurant can mean to the community around it.
We made it through.
And somewhere in the middle of all that uncertainty, I started thinking about what might come next.
“THE COMMUNITY THAT HELPED US KEEP ONE RESTAURANT ALIVE GAVE ME THE COURAGE TO BUILD ANOTHER.”
-Kostas Lazanas
2021
ONASSIS
IS BORN.
Rockwall had already been home for more than a decade. My wife and I moved here when we got married in 2009, and when the opportunity came to open another restaurant just a block from our home, it felt like the right place to take a chance.
But I didn't want to build another Opa.
The food would share the same roots, but Onassis needed an identity of its own a different room, a different energy, and a little more freedom to evolve.
I wanted a restaurant where Greek food could live alongside a great bar. Where you could come in for dinner, order a dirty martini, share lamb chops, stay for another drink, and finish the night with an espresso.
A place that wasn't simply about eating.
It was about making an evening of it.
WHY ONASSIS?
Aristotle Onassis was never known for doing things quietly. He was a shipping tycoon, a risk-taker, and a man who seemed to live life entirely on his own terms.
There was something about that spirit that fit what I wanted this restaurant to become a little rebellious, a little indulgent, and never afraid to go against the grain.
Here in Rockwall, surrounded by the lake and the community we call home, the name just felt right.
DINNER SHOULD FEEL
LIKE AN OCCASION.
THE EXPERIENCE
COME FOR DINNER.
STAY FOR THE NIGHT.
Onassis was built for the kind of night you don't want to rush.
Start with a cocktail at the bar. Order a few plates for the table. Stay for another round. Finish with an espresso or something sweet.
The food may be rooted in Greece, but hospitality is at the heart of everything we do. Whether you're here for a date night, dinner with the family, drinks with friends, or simply because you don't feel like going home yet, we want Onassis to feel like a place you can settle into.
Good food brings people to the table.
Good hospitality makes them want to stay.
GREEK FOOD
CRAFT COCKTAILS
LOCAL TAPS
GOOD COMPANY
WHAT MATTERS MOST
YOU'RE NOT JUST
A TABLE NUMBER.
At Onassis, hospitality isn’t a department it’s who we are. We care about the people who walk through our doors, whether it’s your first visit or we already know your order.
We’ve watched families celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, and new beginnings around our tables. We’ve seen first-time guests become regulars and regulars become friends.
This restaurant exists because a community once showed up for us when we needed it most. We haven’t forgotten that.
BUILT TO SERVE.
BUILT TO LAST.
OUR TABLE IS YOURS
COME HAVE
A SEAT.
Onassis was built around a simple idea: good food, good drinks, and the kind of hospitality that makes you want to stay awhile.
Whether it’s your first visit or your hundredth, there’s a place for you at our table.
We’ll take care of the rest.
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