All Hail the Queen
Posted by estiator at 15 August, at 19 : 47 PM Print
COVER STORY
Chopped alum Alexandra Velis Jones rules with Portland’s Souvlaki Queen.
By Michael Kaminer
Even before they see her tightly edited menu or taste the beautifully prepared food, customers sense something’s different at Souvlaki Queen, the compact shop that chef Alexandra Velis Jones opened in May in Portland, Oregon.
Hand-painted lettering on her storefront window, in downtown’s stately 1927 Broadway Building, echoes classic Portland signage. Rock posters line the walls, with vivid art from the Velvet Underground, Nirvana, and Tupac Shakur. And plates are more artfully composed than diners might expect at a fast-casual spot.
“Anthony Bourdain said that when you eat someone’s food, you know who they are,” says Velis Jones, who was raised by a family of restaurateurs in Ogden, Utah.
“The design of this space is purely, organically mine. Growing up in my parents’ restaurant, you’d hear Eminem as the line cook was taking out the garbage in the back. In my restaurant, I have that in front. It’s Portland edginess, but not overly. It’s about being yourself and authentic. And when people come through the door, they will know something about me.”
Along with her musical taste and design chops, what customers will learn about Velis Jones is her fierce dedication to local sourcing, a deep bond to Greek tradition, and an equally strong dedication to keeping it relevant and fresh. Some may also recognize her from 2023 appearances on Food Network’s Chopped, where she made baklava.
“Downtown Portland has always had a history of diversity, including Greeks and Greek restaurants, though there are fewer lately,” she says. “I found this spot downtown with the intention of paying homage to the Greek community that came before. It’s a smaller space, with ten seats, and we get a lot of office workers. We have a big food-truck scene in Portland, and I’d considered that. But the universe had this spot for me downtown, and I got to open this brick-and-mortar place.”
Online raves have followed, though a few customers have needed guidance around Souvlaki Queen’s offerings. “Just this past weekend, I had three people say, ‘I don’t know what souvlaki is.’ It proved to me we have an underserved Greek food scene here in Portland. They asked about gyros. I said, ‘No, I’m creating an Athenian-style place. This isn’t just Mediterranean.’”
Part of her mission is sharing the pleasure of food with the widest audience possible. “It’s not just about money. It’s about people appreciating Greek culture, especially when I see how many people don’t know about the food,” she says. “There is some re-educating of customers that we have to do.”
With that in mind, she says, “I’ve tried to keep the menu affordable, serving fresh Greek food with a Pacific Northwest twist, like using Oregon hazelnuts in our baklava, Oregon lamb in our dolmades, and local microgreens to top our Village Salad. It’s these touches that make it a little different.”
One of the few ingredients to come from a longer distance is olive oil, which Velis Jones procures from Pulitsa. “It was really important for me to have Greek olive oil,” she says.
While Souvlaki Queen is Velis Jones’ singular creation, her recipes are “100 percent from family. My mother created the souvlaki recipe, and the baklava follows her preparation. She would add orange, not rosewater, to the mix,” she says.
Along with chicken or pork souvlaki, the menu features shrimp saganaki over Greek rice; spanakopita; Greek potato salad; and traditional fakes, or lentil soup. Pita is house-made.
The pastrami-and-beef Nick’s Burger, an occasional special, is named for her father. Velis Jones’ late parents ran 27th St Grill/The Grill, a Greek restaurant in Ogden, a city of 90,000 in eastern Utah.
“I grew up in those restaurants,” she says. “I didn’t like to go to preschool, so my mother would put me on the counter and let me sprinkle oregano on the souvlaki. She did everything with her hands, and I learned that from her.”
After attending culinary school in Utah, Velis Jones moved to Portland in 2011. “I remember walking downtown and falling in love with all the hand-painted signage,” she says. “When the sign painter mocked up the sign for Souvlaki Queen, I told him that was the feel I wanted—just like Portland when I moved here.”
Velis Jones worked as a catering chef at the Pickled Fish restaurant in Long Beach, and chef de cuisine and executive chef at Shelburne Pub in Seaview, both in Washington state. She then joined the team at farm-to-table institution Meriwether’s, now closed.
Starting in 2016, she helped run the kitchen at Nong’s Khao Man Gai, a highly regarded modern Thai restaurant in Portland. “Working there taught me a lot about merchandise and having a concept,” she says. “It influenced a lot about how I’m running my restaurant now.”
Nong’s online store sells logoed T-shirts and hoodies, along with bottled sauces; Velis Jones plans to launch Souvlaki Queen’s own line of baseball caps and T-shirts.
While planning Souvlaki Queen, she also studied izakayas, the casual, small-plate spots beloved in Japan. “Keeping it small means that I can run it myself,” she says.
Son Ari, 13, often helps in the restaurant. “He reminds me of my dad. My father used to call and say, ‘How’s business?’, and his father used to do that. My mother wasn’t Greek, but she loved the culture so much that I think she had FOMO—she tried so hard to pick up the recipes and traditions. We were all baptized Greek Orthodox, and my kids were, too.”
Velis’ father was born in the coastal town of Akrata, and a 1999 visit there changed her life. “It’s still a small town. When we arrived, everyone stared at us—that’s how small it is,” she laughed. “When I graduated high school, I visited my great-aunt, who still lives there. She has a lemon grove. I slept in my grandfather’s childhood home. I realized then what I wanted to do with my life. I felt a familiarity in a place I’d never been, and for the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged. It was always so weird living in Utah and not being Mormon. Once I went to where my family was from originally, it felt like home.”
Today, while Souvlaki Queen’s reputation grows, Velis Jones is just starting to think about next steps for the business. “Other locations might be a possibility. With the concept I have, and the very curated menu, it could work as something franchised. Right now, I’m focused on building a customer base. But I see potential for growth in the future.”
She hit just one hiccup en route to Souvlaki Queen’s opening in May. “The restaurant part was good to go, but getting all the permits was something else,” she says. “I didn’t realize just how much I needed to do, and I missed one permit. The guy asked if I had a food-service permit, and I had to close one day after being open for a week. I had to turn away customers. As a small-business owner, you don’t want to stop.”
With all she’s learned, what advice would Velis Jones give her younger self?
“Keep trying,” she says. “You’re going to need thick skin. Keep standing up for yourself. Keep trying all the crazy things. Do everything that makes you uncomfortable. Being comfortable makes you complacent. Learn from your mentors. Know when to shut your mouth. Keep going and love yourself, even when the road gets tough. And stay confident. You have to love yourself before you can make your dreams come true.”
