Captain’s Galley and J’s Pizza in Stony Point close

By MICAH HENRY

Two Stony Point restaurants were forced to close this month after Iredell County officials said the landlord for the businesses failed to adequately address ongoing waste water issues at the locations.

The two affected businesses are Captain’s Galley and J’s Pizza, said Captain’s Galley co-owner Tanna Minton. She and her husband, Wayne, operate the Captain’s Galley in Stony Point, but lease the property and use of the business name from Kifisia LLC, of Statesville. Kifisia LLC is owned by the Kazakos family.

This situation has developed over more than a year, Tanna Minton said. It has resulted in short-term closures of Captain’s Galley twice, causing the Mintons to have to lay off employees two different times, until the inspectors said the landlord had complied with earlier goals of the septic repairs. However, this last time is a permanent closure, she noted, causing them to lay off 14 employees and resulting in no income for the Mintons as well, with mortgage, food, and other bills looming.

The more the Mintons have looked into the issue, the more complicated it has become.

Tanna said that Captain’s Galley operates off a Class 5 septic system, with tail lines going off into eight drain fields in back of the restaurant. She and Wayne entered into the business agreement with Kifisia LLC with the understanding that the septic issues had been taken care of.

However, the septic system was failing back in 2005, according to paperwork Tanna later discovered that was filed with Iredell County Environmental Health officials.

In July 2024, the Mintons received a Notice of Intent to Suspend or Revoke Permit for the facility’s waste water permit. It is required to be renewed every five years. The maintenance agreement contract for required weekly inspections of the Class 5 septic system was set to expire August 11, 2024. State officials suggested that Captain’s Galley and J’s Pizza — which may actually operate off the same septic system — should be broken into separate parcels and reduce Captain’s Galley seating from 256 seats to 249 seats, which would allow for monthly, instead of weekly, inspections.

On August 6, 2024, the Intent to Suspend was lifted, due to pending state regional investigation and guidance of the system.

On September 30, 2024, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to Heath Snow of the Iredell County Health Department and Kifisia LLC, noting that state inspectors had completed an inspection of the system five days earlier. They laid out a list of 14 items that needed to be repaired or investigated, such as cracked tanks and broken lids, risers, and locking mechanisms. Kifisia was given 60 days to make repairs to the system.

Officials extended this deadline several times, to January 30, March 3, April 3, May 7, and July 10, 2025.

On June 9, 2025, N.C. Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to Kifisia noting that Kifisia must be under contract with a Grade IV installer no later than June 30.

This was apparently not done and thus, on July 1, the NCDHHS officials issued a Notice of Immediate Permit Suspension or Revocation. Captain’s Galley and J’s Pizza had to cease operations immediately.

J’s Pizza owners, Maria and Humberto Alanis, were contacted but declined to comment at this time.

The Times’ call to Kifisia LLC representative Anastasios Kazakos was not returned by press time.

Tanna Minton noted that she and her husband had sunk their life’s savings into the Captain’s Galley restaurant venture, and now must seek other income. In the meantime, she is hoping to grow her Pampered Chef business, located online at www.pamperedchef.com/party/sfletcherminton0531.