Blue Jay Restaurant History

Like most of Cincinnati's mom-and-pop chili parlors, Blue Jay Restaurant was founded by Greek immigrants. Danny and Kathryn Petropoulos traveled to the U.S. in 1959. For the better part of that decade they worked odd jobs such as making golf clubs at MacGregor. By 1967, though their English was rough and they were beginning to raise a family, the Petropoulos's decided to open a restaurant. Blue Jay, simply named after Danny's bowling team, was founded in the heart of Northside on Hamilton Avenue. Now, 44 years later, the Petropoulos family is still running the restaurant. They stopped serving dinner about 10 years ago, but Blue Jay is still a Northside staple when it comes to breakfast and lunch.