Vandals smash 10 windows at newly opened Greek restaurant Hellenic, video shows
When the staff of the popular Greek restaurant Hellenic arrived for prep early Saturday, they were greeted with bad news.
An unknown vandal or vandals smashed 10 windows at the newly opened restaurant located at 10436 W. Atlantic Boulevard in Coral Springs.
“CSPD responded quickly, and thanks to our incredible neighbors (even with smoke bombs and attempts to hide), there is footage,” chef Nikol Zarbalas wrote on Facebook. “I have full faith that whoever did this will be caught and prosecuted.”
Video shared on social media shows nearly a dozen windows had been partially broken overnight. Staff got to the restaurant early on March 21 to set up for a baby shower when they discovered the damage.
The local restaurant and foodie community has rallied to help Hellenic rebuild, with multiple fundraisers starting — one from a friend of Zarbalas and another from a South Florida eating club, Red Meat Lovers.
Together, the fundraisers have pulled together thousands of dollars for the repairs.
Hellenic opened at its current location in January after a previous iteration of the restaurant, then called Hellenic Republic, closed in The Walk.
The restaurant has drawn crowds since its soft opening earlier this year, but the setback didn’t stop them from continuing food service over the weekend.
Video taken by Evan Darnell, who runs the Red Meat Lovers Club and started one of the fundraisers, shows a packed dining room inside Hellenic after the incident.
“We have to help, it’s what we do. It’s personal,” Darnell said in a video shared to Facebook. “I know that this restaurant is giving. They came to our event in March without knowing who we were, and they helped. So it’s our turn to help them back.”
Community was a major reason why Zarbalas, a well-known South Florida chef even before Hellenic, has held onto this restaurant despite her experience flipping other eateries.
She said she wanted a place to teach her five kids about the restaurant business and grow.
“It’s amazing to see the community response, not just to the restaurant itself, but to me, personally,” Zarbalas told the Coral Springs News in January. “I’ve built a brand, and the brand isn’t just food. It’s community, it’s love, it’s that feeling where you come into somebody’s space and it feels familiar to you.”