It was fate for the Leoutsacos family when they first opened their Greek-influenced food truck, Poutine on the Ritz Street Grill—located at 5479 Yonge Street in Innisfil, last spring.
Maria Leoutsacos and her husband William love to cook but they never thought they’d be doing it for anyone other than their friends and family.
“We would take drives around Innisfil and go to the beach, just doing things on the weekend,” said Maria. “We would drive by and always see this food truck and we always wanted to do something along the lines of opening something to do with food because we love cooking. We’d always see this food truck and it was never open and my husband and I thought it was a really cool spot and that we’d like to buy it if it ever went up for sale. Summer goes by and a couple weeks later all of a sudden we see a for-sale sign. It was meant to be.”
After trying to track down the owner for weeks, the Leoutsacos frequently called the Esso station nearby trying to get more information.
“Finally, one of the girls that worked there found us the contact info,” said Maria. “We called the owner and met him, and it was like right then and there that we made a deal and bought it. It’s been amazing ever since, the people in the area have been so welcoming and positive.”
Still working his regular job, William chips in when he can, with their kids, Michail and Helene, also helping out when they’re not in school. But for the most part, Maria is captain of the ship and is hopeful they’ll be ready to open for the season at the beginning of May.
“We can’t wait for the season and to open up again because people have been messaging us non-stop,” she said. “It’s nice to know people are looking forward to us getting back as much as we’re looking forward to opening up.”
Maria and William have both had a passion for cooking since they were children, but Maria says she’d be lying if she said there weren't nerves at the beginning of their foray into the professional cooking world.
“Both of us grew up around big Greek families and we’ve always been involved in cooking, but it was scary at first because you’re thinking 'now I’m not just cooking for friends and family,'” Maria said. “Now I’m cooking for people who might not like my food and could go online and criticize you. That was scary but it’s also so exciting and it’s fun to put a menu together and see what people enjoy and get that positive feedback. It gives you a boost of confidence knowing that people are actually enjoying what we’re cooking them.”
The plan wasn’t always to serve both Greek cuisine and poutine, but due to issues with changing the name of the food truck, that’s what happened. Having the ability to offer both healthier choices and classics like poutine has become the biggest draw of the food truck.
“When we first bought it, we couldn’t even change the name because there are rules in Innisfil that if you’re buying a food truck you’re buying the actual name,” she said. “If you change the name you have to wait for a location to come up. When we bought it, we had all these name ideas, and we wanted to do Greek food. Instead of keeping the name and serving only Greek food even though ‘poutine' is in the name, we decided to do both. Everyone loves being able to get poutine and souvlaki.”
Not knowing what to expect last year as they opened, the Leoutsacos family was blown away by the immediate support from the people of Innisfil and beyond.
“People just showed up and it was all positive,” Maria said. “Ninety-nine per cent of people loved it and told us it was amazing. We had regulars that would come every weekend. There was a woman coming from Richmond Hill with her boyfriend who lives in Aurora, and they said they made us their stop. Every weekend she would come and would bring us flowers, corn, and all these items to show us she appreciated us. It was all so awesome to see people coming from a distance just to grab some food we made.”
The uniqueness of the food options, paired with the portion sizes and Canadian ingredients, have quickly turned Poutine on the Ritz Street Grill into a popular spot.
“Parents would tell us they’re glad there’s a spot to come to that’s not just French fries and hotdogs,” said Maria. “People are always telling us how massive our servings are, and in my head, I’m always worried they’re too big! But this is what I would want to get if I went somewhere, just a massive amount of food and not pay a whole bunch of money and know I’m getting quality."
The truck sources all its ingredients from Ontario and Quebec.
"We try to keep everything local. We don’t believe in going out of the area, we know supporting local helps the area," said Maria.
With last year being their first time opening, and opening later than they would have liked, the Leoutsacos family is champing at the bit to serve food this season.
“Last year we were hoping to open earlier but we had to get inspections done,” Maria said. “We purchased it in April (2021) and gutted the inside and were up and running after about two months. It’s exciting because now we’ll get the full season when we could only do about four months last year. Now we’re going to get to do it right from the beginning of the season and we’re looking forward to it.”
Check out Poutine on the Ritz Street Grill's website here and Facebook page here.
