More than once over the past five years, Greg Makris had mentioned his desire to leave the restaurant business and the grueling schedule that accompanied it, saying he was ready for retirement so he could spend more time at his second home in Florida.

Sadly and unexpectedly, Makris will never enjoy that part of his life. He died sometime between late Sunday night and early the next morning after feeling discomfort in his legs and going downstairs to watch television. He died there, in his chair.

He co-owned the Makris Lobster & Steak House off Route 106 with his brother, Jimmy Makris, who said Monday by phone that he thought Greg might have suffered a heart attack.

Greg, known as a restaurant giant in this region for more than four decades, was 70.

“Surreal,” Jimmy Makris said. “This has not sunk in yet.”

The Makris brothers and their family have long been part of the Concord-area landscape, known for establishments that promoted after-work gatherings in their bar and late-night dinners in their restaurant.

Their father, Ed Makris, opened the Priscilla Restaurant downtown in the early 1900s, then, after completing his military service, came home to Concord and opened the Liberty Restaurant near what was the Rumford Press then and is the Concord Center today.

Next, Ed and his brothers expanded, opening Keniston’s Drive-In (now Carlson’s Motor Sales), known for its seafood, in the 1950s. Ed retired in the late 1960s, leading to the era of Greg and Jimmy Makris, who opened The Talk of The Town on North Main Street about 40 years ago.

A remodeling project on the building forced the brothers to open a new place in Eagle Court called the Millstone, before their final move off of Route 106 in 1992.

By then, the brothers had established a regular clientele, which has continued over the past 27 years.

“A lot of friends were calling me from Florida and New York, and I don’t even know how they knew,” Jimmy said. “We found out at noon and people were already calling.”

Greg and Jimmy had defined roles, with Jimmy working as the greeter and Greg involved behind the scenes.

“He was the back of the house guy and I was the front of the house guy,” Jimmy said.

Jimmy’s oldest son, 39-year-old Nick Makris, echoed what his father said, noting that news spread before any formal announcement had been made.

“Everybody from the restaurant to the Lakes Region and back had heard about it by now,” Nick said late Monday afternoon.

The Makris brothers became heavily involved with the speedway in Loudon, annually donating the biggest lobster in their stock to NASCAR’s race winner, which always made for a humorous photo, and hosting top speedway officials for dinner during race weekend, including track owner Bruton Smith.

“(Greg) loved being there and giving out the lobster trophy each year,” Nick said.

Greg also loved to hunt and in fact had gone hunting just two days before his death. Jimmy said his brother hunted turkeys near Clinton Street and deer on the Yeaton Farm in Epsom.

“He got his deer every year,” Jimmy said. “This is what he loved to do.”

Greg also loved riding his motorcycle near Daytona Beach, the spot in which he had hoped to retire. And while he told others he was ready to head south years ago, the brothers’ restaurant remained important to him to the day he died.

“That was my uncle’s pride and joy,” Nick, 39, said. “He worked 80 hours a week for the last 25 years. He ate and slept there. This is his baby.”

Greg leaves behind a wife, three children and a granddaughter, who energized her grandfather whenever he saw her.

“He loved that little girl,” Nick said. “You could see the life come back into him when he would see her.”

Greg, Nick said, had been complaining about fatigue in recent years, leading to thoughts of the Sunshine State.

“He’s been saying for the last five years that he wanted to go to Florida and he wanted to be done with this,” Nick said. “He had been done here for a little while, but he just wasn’t able to get out of here.”

A wake, open to the public, will be held Tuesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Wendell J. Butt Funeral Home in Concord. A funeral date, for immediate family only, has not been set. Meanwhile, the family will continue to adjust to this unexpected death.

“He was my best friend and my business partner and my brother,” Jimmy Makris said. “A tough deal.”

(Ray Duckler can be reached at 369-3304.)

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