- November 9, 2025
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For Mark Botros, experimenting in the kitchen has been a lifelong endeavor.
Alongside his brother, Peter Botros, they grew up in New York City, always using all sorts of ingredients to create food combinations.
Their parents, Joseph and Violette Botros, had one rule — they had to eat the food they made and no food was to be wasted. Some combinations worked out, while others Botros still looks back on years later as “disgusting.”
“One time, my brother decided to try ketchup on pancakes and I made sure I wasn't involved in that one,” Mark Botros said. “Needless to say, it wasn't very good and I sat there trying to hold back the laughter as I watched him painfully eat the whole thing. You don't know unless you try.”
Although pancakes and ketchup didn’t work out, that didn’t stop the Botros brothers from creating new combinations. Peter went on to open several restaurants, with his first being The Stone House at Clove Lakes in Staten Island.
Mark went on to work in sales, but is now opening Carved Crafted Sandwiches at Waterside Place, with his wife Carrie Botros and Peter, who still lives in New York, as his business partners. The tentative opening will be "early in November."
The menu will contain hot and cold sandwiches, salads, bowls, soups, beer and wine. They will also have grab and go items. Carrie Botros said many of their sandwiches have a classic traditional feel with an “elevated twist.”
“I enjoy sandwiches because the possibilities of what you can put between two slices of bread and make it taste great are seemingly endless,” Mark Botros said. “I love a good steak, for example, but there are only so many ways you can prepare it and only so many things you can prepare it with.”
The menu for Carved was created through trial and error and will change based on community feedback and seasonal specials. Mark Botros makes sandwiches for his family often and gets good honest feedback from the children (Emily, 13, James, 11 and Matthew, 9). His grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a shining example.
“Everyone liked it, but my son James had some honest feedback,” Mark Botros said. “‘It’s fine but I feel like it’s missing something.’ I asked him what he thought it needed, and he said, ‘Something to make it extra special.’ After experimenting with a few ideas, we finally found the winning touch — a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on the outside.”
The couple invites any and all feedback from their children, customers and staff. In order to see what the local community is seeking, they are doing a contest on social media. To enter, customers must follow Carved on Instagram or Facebook, like the post, and comment describing their all-time favorite sandwich. The winner will win a free sandwich everyday for a year and will be announced on social media on Nov. 1.
“We want an environment where they can be brutally honest with us,” Mark Botros said. “If something can be improved, let us know because we want to get better and better and better.”
Carrie Botros was a teacher for 17 years, including three at Robert E. Willis Elementary School in Lakewood Ranch. Because of her experience with families and students, the children’s menu was of great importance to her.
“Kids are known for being picky, but we tried to take those things that they like (including pizza and grilled cheese) and put a twist on it,” Carrie Botros said.
Kids' menu items are chicken tenders and fries, pizza grilled cheese, Grilled peanut butter and jelly and the chicken tender melt.
When the Botros family moved to the area four years ago, they knew Waterside Place would be the perfect spot for them to open a sandwich shop.
“We want the place to be filled with happy people who are enjoying themselves,” Mark Botros said. “I want to enjoy it myself. We've been so busy getting this up and running that I'd love to one day be sitting at the pavilion, eating one of our sandwiches, and have this be a well-oiled machine where I can just sit back and relax.”
Carrie Botros said it has been a slow process, but she sees it as a blessing because it gave them time to perfect everything from the menu, the staff, and the space itself.
“We want to have exceptional service and provide exceptional food,” Carrie Botros said.
The staff will be 15-20 people. The space will have seating available for approximately 30 customers — 18 inside and 12 outside. They wanted it to be welcoming and inviting and not too cramped.
