Spiros Aliagas; Restaurateur Had Iron Fist And Soft Heart

When Spiros Aliagas came back to Seattle in 1974 after searching vainly for work up and down the West Coast, people told him that he'd fare no better here, a city then mired in a recession.

Mr. Aliagas paid them no mind. With a little money and a dream of owning a restaurant, he opened a pizza parlor on Seattle's Queen Anne Hill.

The venture paid off. By the time he died of cancer Wednesday (Dec. 1) at age 56, Mr. Aliagas was a millionaire several times over, and owned five restaurants and property throughout Seattle.

Born in the small village of Kastraki, Greece, Mr. Aliagas came to the United States in 1963 "with nothing but dreams and optimistic expectations to succeed," said Zarina Kokkovas, 37, who had known Mr. Aliagas since she was a child.

Finding no opportunities in California and Alaska, Mr. Aliagas opened the Olympia Pizza and Spaghetti House on Queen Anne Hill in 1974. Over the next 20 years, he opened four more restaurants in Seattle and Lynnwood: two more Olympia restaurants and, later, Spiros' Pizza and Pasta.

Mr. Aliagas never married and lived in a modest house on Queen Anne Hill, saving and investing his money in shrewd business plans that reaped windfalls. He enjoyed political discussion and traveling, said Kokkovas, and went to the Soviet Union and China during the Cold War.

But his life was his restaurants and the people who worked in them. And he handled both with an iron fist but a soft heart.

"He'd yell and scream, but he didn't mean anything by it. It was just his way of communication," said Lief Moi, 38, a contractor from Seattle who first started working for Mr. Aliagas when he was 13. "He'd yell at you and then, two minutes later, he'd say `Let's go out and get a cup of coffee.' "

Said Chris Walls, 36, another former employee, "He fired me like eight times, but he'd always ask me back because he knew that I knew the work. . . . Basically, every kid on Queen Anne Hill worked for him at one time."

Over the years, Mr. Aliagas quietly paid for his employees' college books, tuition and car payments and gave out cash loans and paycheck advances. Mr. Aliagas once remodeled the basement of his home so that Moi could stay there while attending classes at the University of Washington.

"He's like my dad," Moi said. "In high school, he would make me work every Friday and Saturday night to protect me from getting involved in drugs.

"We fought like crazy, but we loved each other."

Mr. Aliagas is survived by a sister, Sophia; his brother George; nephews Christos, Athanasios, Athanasios and Dimitris; and a niece, Vaitsa, all in Greece.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that remembrances be made in Mr. Aliagas' name to the House of Hope Charity, an organization run through St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church of Seattle, which brings people from Greece with cancer to the United States for treatment. The church's mailing address is 2100 Boyer Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98112.

Joshua Robin's phone message number is 206-464-8255. His e-mail address is jrobin@seattletimes.com