Zorbas Owners Making Effort to Regain Business

Oct. 7 of last year, Iris Andros, one of the owners of Zorbas Restaurant, on 105 S. Elliott Road, refused service to David Oberhart and his guide dog, Cooper, citing heath concerns of other customers.

Louis Andros, Iris' husband and an owner of the business, was not present to assist her with the matter.

But Iris, a native Egyptian, said she was not aware of a law requiring the admittance of guide dogs into public areas.

Oberhart initially filed suit against the couple, but the case was settled out of court, with Louis and Iris agreeing to pay $100 dollars per month for 55 months to the Leader Dog School.

As part of the settlement, the couple issued a public apology to Oberhart and invited him, his wife, two guests and Cooper to dinner at Zorbas.

The Androses also initiated a Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce event to explain their experience and discuss the rights of the disabled with the business community.

The event is in the works, said Barry Nakell, the Androses' attorney.

"We are willing to do more than this $100 settlement to recover from this," Iris Andros said.

After the incident, Zorbas has continued to extend a 25 percent discount to disabled customers.

Iris said the loss of customer patronage began in November of last year after the first publication of the incident.

"There are big financial problems that we're going through, and it has affected my personal life. We have lost a lot," Iris said.

Of the business repercussions, Andros said, "Last night, we had only three tables for dinner through the night."

Nakell said the restaurant suffered a big drop-off in business and received angry phone calls and letters.

He added that the Androses' financial situation is not beyond repair, and he hopes the community will be understanding of Andros' mistake and continue to be patrons of Zorbas.

Nakell said the restaurant staff has remained supportive of the couple, some going without pay for two weeks.

"(I think) that says a lot about the Androses," Nakell said.

"They're really good people. Mrs. Andros made one mistake on one occasion, and they've worked hard to overcome it."

Iris expressed that in addition to financial problems, she has been experiencing emotional distress because of the incident.

In June, Iris had a minor heart attack and has been experiencing panic attacks.

"I am on antidepressants, and I have to take sleeping pills to go to sleep," she said.

"I just hope that people will understand that it was a simple mistake and that we never meant to harm anyone."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.