Our History

With the story starting in South Africa in 1975, Yiannis and Maro Drakopoulos started the business and created the foundations of a brand that blends family heritage and history with contemporary design and innovative cuisine, making for a cosy, artsy and hip space. Walnut Grove has been run as a family business in Sandton for nearly 50 years. When Yianni and Maro Drakopoulos handed the restaurant over to their kids in 2012 , it was decided to refurbish the entire space. “We wanted to excite and entice our customers to visit the new Walnut Grove without losing site of the traditions, history and handiwork of our parents,” explains Elle, who is the designer of restaurants and the creative director of the Walnut Grove brand.

Fotis Drakopoulos who is the executive chef and oversees the operations of the entire fracnhise with his wife Alessandra says “For Greeks and Italians eating is a social experience, a very special event that just happens to occur every day – three times a day!”, he adds. Meals here are about family, friends and sharing, a value carried through in several different dining areas and menus that we offer, and of-course in the social dining platters designed for sharing.“Our food is rustic, simple, fresh, authentic and most importantly, unforgettable. We have been inspired by our travels to our villages in Greece and Sicily,” says Fotis. Our food is served on large wooden platters which encourages social dining and sharing.

In 2016 opened our second store in City Walk, Dubai followed by a third in 2018 in the world famous Dubai Mall. We realised that the brand and ethos that we created was desirable to investors and had a global appeal to customers from around the world. We now look to share this business model through our franchising strategy.

Our journey has now brought us to the shores of Greece, our home country. Our newest and most exciting project yet is a boutique restaurant in Mykonos. Our partnership with Bard de Sol hotel in Agios Stefanos will allow us to share our craft with thousands of new customers. The atmosphere is unique and interactive with panoramic views of the Aegean Sea. We have evolved from a simple family restaurant into an international 360° hospitality experience venue as a brand that is still grounded in family tradition, elevated family recipes and warm Greek hospitality.