The Tsaprailis family has been in the restaurant business for over thirty years. Their first restaurant, The Valley House on Vidal Street, was a busy spot serving eggs, sandwiches and burgers. In 1992, they bought the Old Country Steak House on London Line and renamed it The Brigantine. Five years ago, the restaurant was renovated and renamed Big Fish Steak & Lounge. Alex, the Tsaprailis' oldest son, worked with an architect and designer to get the right look. "We wanted a great floor plan, a beautiful bar and an updated, cool look. Atmosphere is important but our focus remains outstanding food and service." And why name it Big Fish? "It's memorable and way easier to pronounce than The Brigantine." Even little kids can pronounce it.
Alex started in the family business at the age of fourteen. He worked his way up the line from dishwasher to busboy to waiter and then to owner. Big Fish continues to be a family-run business. Alex and his sister Stacey run the front of the house, while their middle brother, Gus, runs the kitchen. His parents still come in the morning to open the restaurant and get things going. "Working with family can have its challenges. Some days you want to kill each other but most days it's great. I trust my family. There is always one of us in the restaurant."
"People don't have to travel out of town for a great meal. We specialize in steak and seafood. All our beef is certified angus beef. And we've got the fish lovers covered too. Our ahi tuna is one of our most popular entrees." Big Fish offers both lunch and dinner menus. They also host functions and parties with a set menu in their banquet rooms. Alex ensures that the wait staff is knowledgeable about the menu and how the food is prepared. "I want to make sure that everything that comes out of our kitchen is top quality and that our service is excellent."
Marketing a restaurant is always challenging. "While we are on social media and do other forms of advertising, our best advertising is word of mouth. That's why we focus on great food and service. If we do our job right then people will come back over and over." For Alex, the most rewarding part of the business is the people he meets everyday and the friendships that he has developed. "When you come to Big Fish, you know I'm going to come to your table to greet you and perhaps even sit down. I talk to everyone. I want to ensure that they had a great meal."
In the end, it's clear that the Tsaprailis family loves what they do. "The fact that we are a family-run business makes us unique. Now my nieces and nephews are here too. My parents taught us a great work ethic and I want to pass that along." Big Fish is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner at 1717 London Line.
Elaine Hayter came to lend a hand with the Sarnia-Lambton Chapter of the Kidney Foundation and stayed because of the friends she has made. Hayter, the senior development manager of the Foundation, joined the organization in 1986 as a volunteer and later joined the board. I started helping out with
Gary Burdett started Burdett Electric Ltd. in 1973 and has installed lighting fixtures in countless homes and businesses throughout Lambton County. However, the builders that he worked for found that there were never enough lighting options available locally. Burdett saw this opening and started Twi
At 15 years old, Tammy Maure started part-time as a cashier at a local Big V Drug Store in Windsor. During that period, she was exposed to the practice of pharmacy. That experience proved to be the motivation needed to aspire to a...
Don Nesbit bought The Cobbler Shop, located at 1143 Confederation Street, from his father, Don Nesbit Sr., in 2011. The original shop opened in 1991 and was located right across from our current location. He started out by repairing shoes, luggage and sports equipment and selling shoe care products.
John McCharles has called Petrolia home for more than 50 years. He moved from the Kincardine area to Petrolia in the late 1960s to attend school and work in the funeral business. He left the funeral business to work for an ambulan...
As a teenager, Don Smith worked part time at another local funeral home. When I was finishing high school, the owner asked if I had considered getting my funeral director's license. I liked doing what I was doing, and at that time it was a year of college followed by a year of apprenticeship, s
Student Kirsten Vandenheuvel was all set to work her summer job in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Suddenly the job disappeared and Kirsten needed to come up with a Plan B. "I was scrolling through Facebook and came across an ad for something called Summer Company," Kirsten recalls. "That
In March 2007, Dr. Lenka Kucerova and Don Conant opened MedAesthetics, a cosmetic medicine clinic. They leased a beautiful space on Exmouth Street with four treatment rooms and invested in two gold standard lasers. They quickly ou...