Fair food offered a different way
With the Big Butler Fair and other summer festivities canceled over coronavirus concerns, John Koutoufaris and other fair food providers decided to bring Butler County a little bit of fair flair this coming week with food stands.
Koutoufaris, 68, has served food at fairs since 1978, but this year the Big Butler Fair and a majority of other outdoor summer events have been canceled, leaving his crew without summer jobs.
But Koutoufaris' daughter, Sophia Antonucci, said her father is a “hustler” and this “is our livelihood, so we knew we had to come up with something.”
Koutoufaris reached a deal with the owners of The Atrium, a wedding and events venue on New Castle Road, to use one of the parking lots on the side of the facility to set up three food stands. Along with the Koutoufaris stands, other stands will be Three Rivers Concession and Boyers Ice Cream, offering food and desserts.
Koutoufaris' stands, known as John The Greek Food Concessions, offers a slice of the fairgrounds with a gyro stand, pizza stand and funnel cake stand. Koutoufaris said the deal he reached is similar to other ones he's made as a substitute for summer events: He pays the parking lot owner a certain amount to use the area on a weekly basis.
Antonucci is just one of Koutoufaris' children working the stands, which started serving tasty treats Wednesday and runs through June 27. Calling it the “Fairless Tour 2020,” Antonucci said the food trucks will travel to different counties throughout the summer, bringing with them a small slice of fair fodder from the canceled county events. He hopes the tour will help recover some of their lost revenue.
“It isn't close to what we'd normally get, but it's better than nothing,” Antonucci said. “And it's about the community. We're really surprised by the amount of people who have been coming here.”
The fair stands will operate from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday next week.
