Home Grounds: Ten Years Later: How One Family Built Cupitol into the Heart of Evanston

By: Mikey Griglak, Staff Writer & Shade Bullock, Co-Editor in Chief

Christos Georges was a teenager when he left Greece. He came from Levidi, a small town in Peloponnese, in the south, and arrived in Chicago not knowing what came next. Once the family settled in the south suburbs, his father opened a diner, and that was where Christos grew up. Those years behind the counter would become the foundation for everything that followed.

Incredibly sticky bun french toast. Credit: Cupitol Instagram

Decades later, he owns four Cupitol locations across the Chicago area, running them alongside his daughter, Stellia, who co-founded the concept with him, and his two sons. Together, they have spent ten years turning a corner spot on Grove Street into one of the most beloved gathering places in Evanston. His son, Elliot, who manages the Evanston location, says none of it feels accidental. “Without my dad and my sister, none of this would have been possible,” he said. “I’m very proud of our family, very grateful.”

That pride runs deep, and so does the instinct. “It’s kind of a cliché of Greeks owning restaurants,” Elliot said with a laugh. For the Georges family, it was never a question of whether they would stay in the restaurant business. The only question was what they would build next.

Christos eventually branched off from his father’s diner and built his own concepts, including Elly's Pancake House that still operates throughout the Chicagoland area and Phoenix today. The pivot to Cupitol came when Christos and Stellia were driving through Evanston one day and noticed a gap. There was no real local coffee shop. So they built one. The café they envisioned centered on specialty espresso, fresh pastries, and all-day food, and the location they chose was no accident either. Stellia grew up attending Lincoln Elementary in Evanston. For her, Evanston was not a calculated business decision. It was familiar ground.

Streeterville was originally supposed to be the first location, but the decision to open in Evanston instead turned out to be one of the best the family ever made. “Opening this one first helped us build that culture,” Elliot said. “The neighbors talk to each other, walk together. It’s very hand in hand.” That sense of connection became the standard Cupitol has tried to carry into every location since.

All three of Christos’s children now work in the business. Elliot came to Cupitol after a stint in finance that he does not look back on fondly. “In finance, you’re kind of just there, just a number,” he said. “Here, actually speaking with people every day, people are creating relationships, rather than crunching numbers on a screen. I think that’s what lifestyle is.” His brother came from logistics and joined during COVID, a difficult time to enter the industry, but one that only deepened his understanding of the business.

Ten years in, Evanston has repaid that investment. Elliot talks about regulars who come in four to seven times a week, people the staff knows by name, whose lives they follow in passing. “They see us grow and we kind of grow with them,” he said. Elliot credits the loyal morning crowd that showed up every day at 7 a.m., pushed tables together, and kept the place alive. The family has built ties with the Evanston Scholars Gala, Evanston Township High School, and Northwestern athletic and Greek life groups, and Elliot describes those relationships simply. “They support us, we support them. Like a village inside of a town.”

The food has stayed true to that original vision: strong espresso, flaky croissants, fresh juices, and sandwiches worth coming back for. Elliot's current drink order is a strawberry matcha made with a house-crafted syrup, or a brown sugar vanilla latte, and a banana bread loaded with chocolate is new and already earning its place. Several syrups, including strawberry, brown sugar, and caramel, are all made in-house. "Quality and consistency," Elliot said. "The concept works. That's what is important to our success."

Credit: Cupitol Instagram

What comes next is still being written. The new Old Orchard location, which opened about a year and a half ago and os the only one serving dinner, is the newest experiment. But the core will not change. “We think we have a winning concept,” Elliot said. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

To mark the 10th anniversary, Cupitol is giving out free mini croissants on July 16th, with a second celebration planned for the fall when students are back. What started as a single location on Grove Street has grown into four across the Chicago area, and the Georges family is still running every one of them. Ten years in Evanston, and they are just getting started. Read More Restaurant Reviews: Return on Ingredients: Lunch Catering Power Rankings Eating Evanston: Sea Ranch Sushi + Pour

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