A popular New York City restaurant welcomed people who didn’t have family and friends to spend Thanksgiving with by offering free meals.

A sign outside Marathi Greek Bistro in Tribeca read “Dear Neighbors, If you’re alone today and need a meal, please come in. It’s on us today. Just whisper to your server the secret word. PHILOTIMO and your meal is on us. Happy Thanksgiving! Your Marathi Family.”

Andreas Koutsoudakis, proprietor of the restaurant said all he was doing was carrying on his father’s legacy.

“For decades, my father was everyone’s friend in this neighborhood and always took care of people in need. This was the Greek in him and he taught me how important this is,” Koutsoudakis said. “I’m doing what I was taught. It’s who I am, but also who we are as Greeks.”

Meanwhile, inside the restaurant of Marathi, Andreas’ two daughters, his mother and a team of volunteers were prepping meals all morning that were delivered to a local mission that supports food-vulnerable people in New York City.

The Thanksgiving Day project was a collaboration with the Greek America Foundation, which received more than $2000 in sponsored meals from generous donors. The preparation was done in Marathi’s kitchen and the meals were hand-delivered to The Bowery Mission.

Roda Plakogiannis, who brought her two daughters to help, expressed her gratitude to the Greek America Foundation and the Marathi team for instilling in her young girls the “real; meaning” of Thanksgiving.

“This is what Thanksgiving is really about,” she said. “And I’m grateful for the opportunity given to Ourania and Evangelia to understand how good it feels to help people in need.”