By William Smith
Community Editor
Mike Alexandropoulos still remembers the plane ride from Greece as he, his brother, and their parents immigrated to America in 1967. Mike was 4 years old at the time. His brother, George, was 6. Their English consisted mostly of basic salutations.
“I remember staying overnight in Chicago, and then we got on the Amtrak the next day and came to Burlington,” Mike said. “(Mike’s parents) came to America to start a new life.”
Eventually, that new life would become an icon of the Burlington restaurant industry. Napoli Pizza and Restaurant, a beloved mom and pop diner known for its unique pizza, is one of the first active Burlington landmarks newcomers learn to identify.
But Mike’s father, Nichoulas Alexandropoulos, didn’t open Napoli Pizza until 1972. Nicolas’ brother, Dino, had made it to America before him, and operated George’s Pizza on Main Street.
Nichoulas, who was a shoe cobbler before leaving Greece, started working for his brother at George’s Pizza after arriving in America. Then, he worked a few other jobs, including a stint at Chittenden and Eastman Co.
He even briefly moved the family to Cedar Rapids before moving back to Burlington. By then, George’s Pizza had been bought out by the Union Hotel, which occupied the same building on Main Street. Nicolas wanted to open his own pizza place by then and struck a deal to rent some space at the Union Hotel.
In 1972, Napoli Pizza and Restaurant opened its doors inside the Union Hotel at 303 S. Main St. Mike was 8 years old. And he was ready to work.
“I remember walking home from school and going to the restaurant the very first day after school,” he said. “It was an exciting time in my life. I started working.”
Learning the grind
Mike’s life revolved around two principles after that: finishing his homework and helping at the restaurant with his brother.
“It was tough for my parents. We were little, and they would open at 11 (a.m.) and close at 2 in the morning,” Mike said. “They had long hours.”
The later hours accommodated late-shift railroad workers, who would often stay at the hotel. The menu was about the same as it is today, though more limited, Mike said.
“It was pretty much our life. You would get off of school and come to work,” he said. “We would do our homework at the restaurant.”
A new location
Four years after opening Napoli Pizza, Nichoulas started looking at locations outside of the Union Hotel.
“At the first place, we only had 15 tables, so it was pretty small,” Mike said.
When the opportunity arrived, Nichoulas purchased the building at 115 N. Third St.. The restaurant is still serving in that location today.“It hasn’t changed much,” Mike said. “We used to have partitions in the middle, but we took those out and opened up the floor. It’s relatively the same.”
That same year, Nichoulas and his family became U.S. citizens. A year later, Mike graduated from high school.
“(Obtaining citizenship) was a pretty great moment in our lives,” Mike said.
Mike became more involved with the restaurant after high school. By 1984 or 1985, he was certain that he would work there for the rest of his life. At the age of 58, Mike is still making pizzas.
“In 1998, myself and (George) bought the business from dad,” Mike said. “In 2003, (George) and his family moved to Colorado. I bought his part of the business out and became the sole proprietor.”
The food
Mike won’t reveal the ingredients of the locally famous pizza sauce or gyro sauce. When asked, he cites the Mississippi River as a source for the Napoli flavor — usually with half a smile on his face.
“A lot of people ask why the pizza is the way it is,” he said. “I tell them it’s the water from the river.”
Everything from the pizza dough to the sausage is homemade. Pepperoni is never a menu option because the restaurant doesn’t have the tools to process it, but the restaurant has about everything else.
Depending on who’s in the kitchen, the banter between the employees, which is usually spoken in Greek, can get loud enough to carry to the restaurant floor. A lot of times, Mike said, it’s usually just loud talking and joking. Sometimes, the words can get a little pointed. But since it’s all Greek to the patrons, no one except Mike’s family is ever quite sure what the tone of the kitchen conversation is.
“Greek people are a little louder than other people,” said Mike, who usually speaks in a hushed, polite tone.
Family is the heart of the business
Although Mike is the face of the restaurant, he stresses that it’s the family who keeps the place running. His wife, Lisa, is a big help. His mother, Demetra, was a constant presence at the restaurant until recently.
The employees, many of whom have worked there for years, are part of that family, too. Josh Anderson, who has worked at Napoli since the mid-1990s, stepped up to run much of the day-to-day operations when Mike broke his leg in a camping accident a few years ago.
“He’s like a brother to me. He’s part of this family,” Mike said.
When restaurants across the state were forced to close on St. Patrick’s Day in 2020 due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it affected the entire Napoli family.
“To make things safe, we closed for three months, and then after that, we just did carry-out orders. That worked out really good,” Mike said.
A balance of life and pizza
Take-out orders were a staple of Napoli Pizza long before the pandemic. With each passing decade, Mike shipped more and more frozen pizzas to former patrons who moved outside of Burlington. Then, he was shipping the pizzas to their kids, and their grandkids.
“I love watching everyone grow up. Some days, I feel like I’m still 8 years old. Some days, I feel like a teenager,” he said.
Mike, who has a stepdaughter with his wife, along with a newly born grandchild, appreciates those sinuous social connections more as he grows older. He’s watched as many of his longtime customers grow old and eventually die. He grieves for them.
“You miss those people,” he said. “You build a bond with them.”
As Mike gets older, he is learning to bring more balance to his life. Before the pandemic, Napoli was open seven days a week. Once he reopened after the initial pandemic closure, he cut those hours to five days a week.
“Working 100 and 110 hours a week is pretty hard. There’s not much of a life,” he said.
Mike recently purchased the former Kresge building on Jefferson Street, but he’s not sold on the idea of moving in there. He likes the mom-and-pop atmosphere he’s fostered for decades on Third Street.
He’s not thinking about retirement, either, at least not yet. Mike only has his mind on two things right now: pizza and family.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we’ll keep going as long as we can,” he said.
