Photo by Richard Maack Romeo Taus

BACK OF THE HOUSE

If you’ve ever eaten at Romeo’s Euro Café in downtown Gilbert, chances are you’ve seen Chef/owner Romeo Taus. He’s the amiable, larger-than-life character in a chef’s coat who has doggedly kept his doors open for nearly 20
years in two locations in the East Valley.

Taus started Romeo’s with his wife, Janice, in 1991 in Mesa near Fiesta Mall. It morphed into a nearly 6,400-square-foot restaurant, coffee shop and ersatz cultural center with poetry readings, live music and an art gallery. “We had great fun,” he says.

The restaurant moved in 2004 and now has 50 seats in a 1,800-square-foot space. It retains an artsy vibe, thanks to shelves of tchotchkes and crafts as you enter, but the extensive Mediterranean-inspired menu is now the main act. Taus selects each of the 70 to 75 wines (30 by the glass) himself, ensuring that they pair well with the food. He hosts monthly wine dinners featuring four courses with pairings for $45 (plus tax and tip).

Where are you from originally, and where did you get your training?
I came from Romania. We lived in Detroit. I went to engineering school, I worked for Chrysler, then I didn’t want to be an engineer. I went to business school, spent most of the ’80s in the drugstore business. I got into my mid-30s…. Nick (Ligadakis, a longtime Valley restaurateur) had one of the few satellite dishes at the time. I would go on Sundays to watch the (Detroit) Pistons playing basketball, and he would give cooking classes. For me, it was like a magic show. I spent time in his kitchen and I observed.

Your menu is one of the biggest I’ve seen outside of the Cheesecake Factory. Is it tough to maintain quality control?
No, absolutely not. If you look, there’s probably 40, 50 ingredients. Remember, this is our lives, seven days a week.

You’ve been criticized on user-review sites for your “no substitutions” policy. Give us your side of the story.
Contrary to some of those opinions, we do make a lot of changes, a lot of omissions. We cook one dish at a time…. That’s one reason the menu is so big, is that I try to address a lot of peoples’ dietary concerns. I’m very much aware that the guest is paying our bills. What I’m asking is, let’s have a dialogue.

Was it a good decision to move to Gilbert?
Overall, it was a good decision because we retained a lot of base customers and we have made some new friends. (But) there’s a reason the East Valley lacks a presence of independent, chef-driven kitchens. The support for your local chef is not always there.

Are people chain-crazy or just budget-minded?
They don’t know what they’re missing. Culturally, there’s a great distinction between going to a restaurant where the food evokes a positive emotional response and just going out to eat.

DETAILS
Romeo Taus
Chef/owner, Romeo’s Euro Café
207 N. Gilbert Road
480-962-4224
eurocafe.com