Dion’s was founded in 1978 by Jon Patten and Bill Scott, long time childhood friends from Birmingham, Michigan. The pair moved to New Mexico with intention of opening a fast serve Greek Restaurant. They bought a small pizzeria called New York Pizza in Albuquerque with the intention of converting it to a Greek menu. The name for their new place was to be ‘Dionysus’, the name of the Greek god of wine. When the two got the bid for their new sign they decided to shorten the name to save money.