Gus Bisioulis knew he found the right location for his new restaurant, Athenian Greek Cuisine, as soon as he walked through the door.

“I thought, God bless America, this will be the nice Greek restaurant I’ve always wanted,” he said, getting emotional at the memory. “For 30 years, I prayed I would find something like this. And then I found this place.”

In early December, the 80-year-old restaurateur visited the former Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant near the busy intersection of Interstate 65 and U.S. 30 in Merrillville, Indiana. Later that month, Bisioulis and his business partner, Andreas Andreou, formally closed the deal.

“The paperwork got delivered on my birthday. A gift from God,” Bisioulis said in his thick Greek accent, crossing his heart out of habit. “I cried then. I cry now. Forgive me. It was one of the best days of my life.”

Bisioulis, who lives in Lemont, has owned 13 other restaurants in the Chicagoland area, including in Chicago Heights, Arlington Heights, Glenview, Palos Heights and Calumet City. He still owns Maxwell Street Grill in South Holland.

“When I was a young man in Greece, everybody said, ‘Go to America, you’ll find money on the streets,” he recalled. “The first day here, I looked on the streets. I never found one dollar. I had to work for it.”

Bisioulis shared his story on a busy Friday evening at Athenian Greek Cuisine, where he greeted customers as if they were close family members from the old country. He respectfully kissed the hand of a priest when he entered.

“Hello, hello, welcome, welcome,” Bisioulis told customers, as if this was his first restaurant. He initially planned on opening his dream eatery in the Greektown neighborhood of Chicago. Fate had something else on the menu for him.

“This place turned out to be my dream come true,” he said, waving his hand toward the bright blue sign outside the restaurant. “I dreamed of this since I arrived in America.”

In 1966, Bisioulis left his home near Tripoli, Greece, in a small village surrounded by mountains. “There was no opportunity there,” he recalled with a sigh.

There was mostly poverty and hardship. During the Nazi Germany occupation in World War II, and the subsequent Greek Civil War, food of any kind was scarce. He never forgot the joy that a simple meal could give a family. This realization would feed his own family for decades to come.

“Those were hard years, but my dad persevered and started dreaming,” said his daughter, Joanna Stavrakos, who lives in North Carolina. “We are so proud of him and all he’s endured and accomplished.”

In his late 20s, Bisioulis sold his business in Greece and boarded a ship delivering oil to America. At the Port of Houston, he jumped from the ship, swam to shore, and began his journey to Chicago, where relatives lived. He spoke little English, had no money and feared he would get caught and sent back to Greece.

“I thought police were looking for me,” he said. “They never looked.”

Bisioulis began working at a restaurant in Glenview, first as a dishwasher, then busboy, short order cook and chef. He worked long hours. He saved his money. He dreamed of someday owning his own restaurant. In 1969, it came true.

“When I arrived here, I was nothing, a zero,” he said. “This country is where you can work hard, be honest and raise a family. It made me everything I am today. God bless America.”

Bisioulis never forgot this blessing. He insisted on giving back the best way he knew.

“Our Thanksgiving Day was always at the restaurant, serving free dinners to those in need. It was his greatest joy to host these families,” said his daughter, whose family visited the new restaurant last week.

Bisioulis has served free meals to thousands of families over the years, exemplifying his proud culture, ancient traditions and customary “philoxenia,” a code of friendly morality with deep roots to Greece.

“It was natural for our dad to get into the restaurant industry,” his daughter said. “He loves to do for others and that’s what having a restaurant means — good food, hospitality and serving others.”

His generosity didn’t go unnoticed. In 1982, he was invited to a formal lunch in his city during a visit by President Ronald Reagan.

“They invited me, a hillbilly from Tripoli. I asked them, are you sure you have the right guy?” Bisioulis joked, pulling out his cellphone to share the photo. “I never dreamed I would someday have lunch with the president of the United States.”

He brought baklava, of course. And he gave Reagan a set of Lackey beads to help guide his decision making in the White House.

“I told him it has helped me,” Bisioulis said, clutching his own set of beads.

When our server brought an order of flaming saganaki cheese, Bisioulis reacted as if he had never seen the tableside spectacle before. “Opa!” he exclaimed, clapping his hands in delight.

“I don’t feel 80,” he said. “I feel 65.”

His wife, Helen, who’s from the same Greek village, is 13 years younger than him. “I’m the lucky guy,” Bisioulis said, knocking on the table. (Watch a video and view more photos on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/JerDavich/.)

“His American Dream was not only about work,” his daughter said. “It was making a happy life for his family and now his grandchildren. He will tell you this is his biggest success.”

Bisioulis said exactly this: “Family is everything. And so is this country. God bless America.”

His daughter noted, “We can’t count how many times our dad has said these words.”

Over the hour I talked with Bisioulis, he said it 14 times. Opa!

jdavich@post-trib.com