This very month, June 2025, Souvlaki Boys will celebrate nine years of business. But that’s not all they’re celebrating: they’ve just won the title of Outstanding Specialised Retail Business in the Inner West Local Business Awards. “It was a very humbling experience to win for the fifth time in six years – it’s out of this world!,” says Nick Alepidis. “It’s been an absolute blessing, and it goes out to all the customers and staff who make all of this possible.”
Souvlaki Boys opened in 2016, a couple of doors up from where they currently are in Marrickville. “Before that, my dad [Greg] owned another souvlaki shop; he started the game in 2000-2001. Once we moved here, a lot of his customer base followed and through social media our customer base grew to another level, plus our wholesale,” Arthur Alepidis explains.
“We do a lot of wholesale, supplying fruit shops and delis. We’ve got a wide antipasto range, traditional Greek olives, fetta, haloumi — all great finger foods for a barbecue. We’ve also got spanakopita, in large and finger size. We’ve got a wide range of products. When we look for a good brand out there [in the market] and know it’s a good brand – we try it ourselves here and we see that it sells here – we try and support everyone who supports us,” Arthur says.
Of course, the drawcard remains the souvlaki. “When my dad started, he wanted a different style of souvlaki; he wanted the right cuts of meat. A friend convinced him to use lamb backstrap, which was mostly unknown at the time, and that’s how he made a name for himself. We’ve been known for our lamb backstrap over the years. It’s known as our go-to,” Arthur says. “But to be fair, the one that I really like the most is the pork belly which I recommend to a lot of customers, but some people can’t handle the fat. That’s my personal favourite; on the barbecue it’s very nice.”
“Me, traditionally, I just like my meat straight off the barbecue. If I’m going to put it in a wrap, I’m traditional: the pita bread, tzatziki, some onion, and a bit of tomato. But it’s always good straight off the barbie,” Arthur asserts. “You want to have a good heat but not too much heat because it burns the outside [of the meat] but doesn’t cook the inside. Chicken obviously needs double the cooking time of the lamb. But the lamb doesn’t need too much, maybe 10 minutes max, because you don’t want to overcook the backstrap as it will get a little hard. Same with the pork.”
People come from all over Sydney to visit Souvlaki Boys. The good news? They’re slowly branching out into other areas, including Canberra.
Website: www.souvlakiboys.com.au
