They just welcomed their first child.

“I am very fortunate,” acknowledged Joseph, who has spent much of his days overseeing the efforts at the Great Greek Mediterranean Grill that recently opened in Layton near the Layton Hills Mall. “So, Windy has obviously taken on a huge load at home keeping the child alive.”

Said Windy:

“I think it’s a lot of teamwork, a lot of giving each other grace when we’re busy and a lot of support from our family. Like, it’s not going to be 12-hour days forever. …

“And, like, we chill. … we’ve been watching Netflix at home. It’s not a lot of heavy work, you know, but it’s just … working together and understanding that it’s going to take some time to get everything together.”

The restaurant, which opened March 9, is the product of a collaboration between Joseph and his father, Dell Nichols, CEO and principal broker for Dell Nichols Commercial Real Estate LLC.

Jake Nichols, Joseph’s brother’s son, is also involved as a minority owner and is the vice president.

Dell, according to the biography provided on his company’s website, “has been active in the commercial / industrial real estate industry since 1975.” He was the owner of the Utah Blitzz, a Salt Lake City-based professional soccer team that operated from 2000-04.

He was born in Ogden, went to Bonneville High School and became what he called “a school of hard knocks guy,” eventually settling in Davis County.

“I’ve had multiple ownerships in different restaurants — pizza and burgers, tacos and bagels,” he said. “We’ve done a number of them. I’ve been very entrepreneurial over the years.

“But this is the first one Joe has been involved in.”

According to Joseph, who graduated from Brigham Young University with a chemical engineering degree and holds a master’s degree in bioengineering from the University of Utah and an MBA from Weber State University, the restaurant venture provides an opportunity for people to come together.

“There’s such a trend of groups, institutions, people kind of fracturing,” Joseph said. “Bowling leagues are not as popular anymore. Churches not as popular anymore. There are fewer and fewer opportunities to gather with other people in social settings, and I think the restaurant industry is one of the few places that you’re still dedicated to bringing people together – to helping people enjoy something together, share something together and gather in general.”

The idea for a Greek restaurant was the result of what Joseph described as “talking to dozens – if not hundreds – of different franchise groups” to try and find something he believed in.

“And, at the end, this kind of rose to the top,” he said.

“Going in, tasting the food, really enjoying it, going back, trying different dishes – over the course of several months, I’ve probably tried everything on the menu. And there was only once or twice where I was disappointed … and I felt like just coming back that often and not being disappointed meant that it had good systems in place. So that’s kind of what got the ball rolling.”

Joseph’s opinion of his ideal three-course meal at the restaurant is the tirokafteri as an appetizer, the steak souvlaki with a side salad and baklava ice cream for dessert.

“Good choice,” his father said.

Windy had high praise for the steak souvlaki.

“It’s almost really a better steak than you can get at steak restaurants nearby,” she said.

Zachary Comer, the 11-year-old son of the author, spontaneously used the word “goated” to describe the steak.

“I really like their steak shish kebab and baklava ice cream. It’s the best I’ve ever had,” he said.

Windy also said she was a “huge fan” of the baklava ice cream, and she, Joseph and Dell all said they liked the rice pudding.

Dell singled out the lamb and the baklava ice cream.

“Joe and I had (the ice cream) when we were in Palm Beach training and we thought, ‘This works. This was very good,’ and we’ve got that here now,” he said.

Additionally, Windy cited the avgolemono soup the restaurant has.

“I have a friend who came in and said that the soup that they have here is not super common in other Greek restaurants, but it’s like the only thing that she craves when she’s sick,” Windy said.

The restaurant is located at 515 Ring Rd. in the same development as Sport Clips.

Contact Standard-Examiner editor Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net.