The Parkway Restaurant
Meet Todor and Vika Gogov, the owners of The Parkway Restaurant in Bethany Beach. Their story is an amazing one of hard work, helpful friends and a commitment to pursuing the American dream of owning their own business.
Vika came to the US from Belarus in 2009 at age 24. She had already earned a law degree in her home country and was eager to pursue a career in the States. With her then husband and pregnant with her daughter, they tried to build a life in New York. It was a challenging time for them. Thanks to the generosity of Marianne and Paul Hayes, they were able to make a change and move to Ocean View.
Todor hails from Macedonia, previously part of Yugoslavia. The first time Todor came to this area was as a J1 student in 1997. He knew that he liked the area and returned in 1998 and worked for various hotel and restaurant businesses in Ocean City, MD and later in the Bethany area. He has worked in the restaurant industry since age 13 and since coming to Delaware he has worked his way up from dishwasher to busboy to bartender to manager now to owner.
Todor started working as a part-time bartender at Parkway on Valentine’s Day in 2018. In late 2020 he knew that the restaurant was for sale and began conversations with the prior owner. With the help of some “good and generous people”, he and Vika were able to purchase the restaurant and took over on April 1, 2021. Now, you can usually find Todor behind the bar serving drinks and chatting with customers. Vika, on the other hand, is most often in the kitchen where she works as the primary chef and oversees the kitchen staff as well as handling the books. Both acknowledge that they have a great team at Parkway who take pride in their work. They note that Parkway has a loyal following of patrons who know they can count on a high quality food and service.
Todor and Vika met in 2012 while working at what was Magnolia’s Restaurant. Now married they share three children together and live in Ocean View. Vika likes that she can make her own schedule while still having time for her children. Todor enjoys meeting new people and says their customers often become good friends outside of the restaurant. He takes great pride in their food and states that they don’t spare money in making sure they have a quality products. In their free time, Todor and Vika like to spend time with their family and friends, go to the beach and simply hang at their pool. Both are proud to now be US citizens living the American dream.
Written by Beth Gill-MacDonald
