The Mad Greek has teamed up with an iconic local artist to create a heartfelt mural on the side of the restaurant.  

Owner of The Mad Greek John Iatridis has partnered with Carly Jaye to paint a mural in tribute to the Iatridis family and their journey to and development in Moose Jaw.  

What makes this mural so personal and special is the heritage of the Iatridis family that’s going into it.  

John Iatridis' family originates in Greece. However, after the second world war, Iatridis’ father and many of his uncles all migrated to Canada within a few short years. Then his mother not long after.   

When they arrived, many of them settled in Moose Jaw.  

Not long after they settled, Iatridis’ father and a few of his uncles decided to start a restaurant business which has lived on for decades.  

“(The mural) is the story about my father, my uncles, my mother and their journey over to Canada and everything they’ve started. The restaurant business, they’ve been (running) restaurants in Moose Jaw since 1963,” said Iatridis. “I don’t want to give it all away but (the mural) it's images of the last 50- to 59 years.” 

The family started with the Ambassador restaurant in the 60s which eventually evolved into Rodos Pizza and The Mad Greek.  

“They came from Greece at a pretty difficult time, post war. Like a lot of people who lived through that, they went through some pretty ugly things. They were very, very thankful not only to be in Canada but Moose Jaw in particular. I just can’t stress to people enough how much they loved being in Moose Jaw and how proud they were to be a part of Moose Jaw. So, I just felt this was really important,” said Iatridis.  

Iatridis found old photos of his family and the old restaurants that inspired the mural.  

He said that when he brought the idea to Carly Jaye, she was excited to work on the project.  

He said, “I have one picture of my dad and my uncles renovating the Ambassador and I showed it to Carly and she loved it right away. She said to me, you know, let me work on this and see what I want to do... She threw a collage together for me and I mentioned to my wife that I just teared up right away. I couldn’t believe what she came up with. She’s so talented.” 

Jaye started painting the mural on Monday, August 15th. It’s estimated to be finished in September.