LYNN — Brothers Deli owner George Markos said that he will likely work around 72 hours straight preparing more than 200 turkeys in anticipation of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner, when he and his staff will serve anyone who steps foot in his restaurant a free meal.
Markos, who was staring down the barrel of a tireless week of non-stop cooking, baking, and preparing hundreds, if not, thousands of meals kept an ear-to-ear smile on his face throughout the conversation. Markos proudly wore his “Straight Outta Brother’s Deli” T-shirt as almost every restaurant patron he locked eyes with approached him and stopped to chat.
“The same customers have been coming here since ‘79, when they first opened Brothers Deli,” Markos said. “They grow with us— now talking about 43 years [later] now their dogs, kids, family, everyone will go in and pick up an order—”
He paused as another customer walked in and made a B-line for Markos, who stood up, shook his hand, and engaged him in small talk, asking about his children. Sitting back down, Markos’ smile widened and he spoke about how much he loves Lynn.
“It’s amazing— it’s something I hope everybody gets to experience,” Markos said. “This is a big gift for me, my family, my people, they come around just to greet you. I don’t think I could live anywhere else but Lynn because I love the people here. People in Lynn are the exception — you can’t find any other city like Lynn where we have all these people here and we all have known each other for years.”
Markos left his parents to move from Greece to Colorado in 1975 as a 14 year-old. He stayed with his uncle for a year, but left for Boston at 15 to find work at a restaurant called “Big Ben’s.” In 1980, one year after the deli opened, Markos moved to Lynn and started working at Brothers. From 1986 until 1996, Markos, who moved back to Boston, worked for the Victory Program, and St. Francis House, cooking Thanksgiving dinner for those in need.
“If I can’t help people who don’t feel good, then I’m nobody,” Markos said. “Who are you going to help first? The people who need something.”
When Markos’ father, who he described as a man who “worked to survive,” at one point laboring tirelessly as a street fruit vendor to support his family of seven, died in 1992, Markos, in honor of his father’s outlook on life, ramped up his charitable services, and brought his Thanksgiving dinner program to Lynn a year later in 1993.
“My father died, and I said ‘what should I do?’ because I’d always done small stuff— people would come in, I’d give them a plate of food […] people used to do these things when we had nothing. They would take from our plates, and put it on somebody else’s plate, and when food wasn’t enough, my father would say ‘come over,’ and instead of seven people, we’d be 12 or 13,” Markos said.
Since 1993, Markos’ free Thanksgiving dinners at Brothers Deli have grown significantly. In recent years, Markos said that, on average, 700 to 1,000 people stop by his deli for a Thanksgiving meal, prepared by himself, his staff, and a team of hardworking volunteers.
“We stay up for like 72 hours, sometimes close to 80 hours, with no sleep at all. One time, I went to sleep in my car when I was tired at 4:00 in the morning […] I slept for 45 minutes, and I wish I never did, because I woke up with a stiff neck,” George said.
This Thursday, anyone in search of a free, warm, and complete turkey dinner can stop by Brothers Deli at any time. Although doors open at 8 a.m., Markos said that he will open his doors earlier if needed, because he does not want anyone waiting in the cold. This year, Brothers will be offering to-go meals intended for patrons to take home to their families in-between work shifts.
Markos said that despite the long hours and hard work he puts in each year to prepare for Thanksgiving, he feels obligated to give back to a community that supports him and his business all year long.
“I have obligations to do this, because that’s what the people did to make me have a better life. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be able to make it. They come here year-round, they support me year-round, so once in a whileI have to do the same thing,” Markos said. “You can’t take too much, you’ve got to give. If you take too much, your pockets are going to have holes in them, you’re going to lose everything.”
