A POPULAR Greek restaurant in Basingstoke is expanding by opening a second venue in the town.

Greek Street will be opening at Basingstoke Sports and Social Club, in Fairfields Road, which is the home of Basingstoke and North Hants Cricket Club.

The family-run business opened its first restaurant in the town in September 2020 at Chineham Shopping Centre.

Owned by mother-of-three Suzanna Collings, the 46-year-old from Winklebury had been running a Greek catering business for six years after being made redundant by Tesco.

When the restaurant first opened its doors, more than 200 people queued outside to be the first inside.

The mum, who was born in Serbia, previously told the Gazette: “I always wanted a café, it’s been one of my dreams.”

Now, after the restaurant celebrated a successful first year in September, Suzanna is excited to be expanding, and described it as “wonderful news”.

She told the Gazette: “We have been wanting to do this for a very long time,” adding: “Opening Greek Street was a dream of mine for a very long time. I’m so excited to open at another location, it’s going to be amazing.

“I was terrified when we opened in lockdown last year and thought ‘am I crazy’. But now it doesn’t feel real, I can’t believe we’re expanding and I’m actually going to open another place.

“We have absolutely amazing customers, we have great support. I would never be able to do this without my family and staff, we have an amazing team.”

The new restaurant will offer eat-in and takeaway, and it is hoped that themed and party nights will also be held there.

Suzanna is hoping to pick up the keys on October 30, before opening on November 6. She is now recruiting for a team to run the new restaurant.

It will offer a range of Greek food including gyro wraps, souvlaki wraps, and Greek salad.