NORTH TONAWANDA — Webster Street was done “up” Tuesday afternoon for the grand opening of the newest Louie’s Texas Red Hots.
The seventh location of the franchise is co-owned by Argyrie Galanes, Stacy Galanes and Vaso Kroto — daughters of founder Louie Galanes. All four were on hand Tuesday for the grand opening, as were North Tonawanda dignitaries and several members of the media, who were told there would be food.
There was food. A lot of it. In addition to dozens of red hots offered to the grand opening crowd, other standard menu items were on display for tasting — and lots of photos. Those items included gyros and souvlaki, burgers, BLTs, rice pudding and “Roula’s cheesecake” – baked by Stacy Galanes from the recipe of her mother, Roula Galanes. There were also vanilla, chocolate and strawberry milkshakes.
Argyrie Galanes, who will take lead on the operation of the new store — each of her sisters already own stores of their own — said she liked the location so much, she moved into the neighborhood — from New York City. In fact, her father enticed her back to Western New York with the opportunity of running her own store.
She loves what they’ve done with the place — North Tonawanda, that is. “It’s really changed so much. The water in the summer and the people and the boats and the festivals, it’s like every other day there’s a festival. It’s amazing.”
She believes all the growth and excitement in the Webster Street area will help to ensure the success of the new location.
Louie Galanes himself said he had been eyeing North Tonawanda for some time as a possibility for the first franchise location outside of Erie County. There are other locations on Bailey Avenue, Elmwood Avenue, Delaware Avenue, Harlem Road, Southwestern Boulevard and Transit Road.
Their first location on Bailey Avenue at Delevan Avenue opened nearly 50 years ago on May 2, 1967. Galanes, then just 26, had recently moved to Buffalo from Greece and had worked for a couple other restaurants serving red hots.
“I came from a village with no running water. No electricity,” he said. When he got to Buffalo he employed an age-old strategy for success: “Sacrifice and hard work.”
His daughters have done the same, he said. “They started from the bottom, up” doing dishes, cooking and cleaning before they got their opportunities to own their own stores.
Louie still works the field, too, particularly enjoying the job of quality control. “Whenever I visit any of the stores, I have a hot dog most of the time.” He gets his “up.” That’s with mustard, onion, and secret sauce. He also gets cheese on his. And to wash it down? “I always have chocolate milk with my hot dog.”
Now whenever he’s in North Tonawanda, he can fulfill that craving — at least from 7 a.m. until midnight Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. That’s when the Webster Street location is open for business.
More information about Louie’s Texas Red Hots can be found at louiestexasredhots.com.
