For most of a century, Greek families fed Goulburn. Their cafes, milk bars and restaurants along Auburn Street were where the town met, and their story is central to this archive.
A Greek business directory of 1935 to 1938 records at least six Greek-run businesses already operating in Goulburn, showing a community established well before the post-war migration wave.
| Business | Proprietor | Origin listed | Address |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue and White Milk Bar and Coffee Inn | Nikol. Ant. Koukoulis | Piraeus | 228 Auburn Street |
| Cafe Bon Ton | George Kosmas Kominos | Karavas, Kythera | 226 Auburn Street |
| Capitol Cafe | Euag. Kon. Tsalavoutas | Kastania, Vatika | Goulburn |
| The Lounge Cafe | Xenofon Ger. Paytopoulos | Agios Sarania, Ithaca | 227 Auburn Street |
| Monaro Cafe | Dim. Mich. Sofios | Logothetianika, Kythera | Goulburn |
| White Rose Cafe | Antonios M. Papadopoulos | Karpathos | Goulburn |
Source: Greek business directory 1935-38, reproduced by Kythera Family History. Published source
Serving Goulburn since 1940 at 174 Auburn Street, and still trading today: the surviving example of the town's Greek cafe tradition, associated with the Sophios family in its early years.
Source: The Paragon Cafe; Goulburn Post
Photographed at 112 Auburn Street around 1953, with John Pandelakis and his daughter Flora identified in the image held by Goulburn Mulwaree Library.
Source: Goulburn Mulwaree Library, via Trove
From market gardens on the Wollondilly, the Toparis family built the Green Valley fruit shop and cafe in Auburn Street, the Classic Milk Bar, and a wholesale fruit and frozen foods operation supplying the region, before developing the Corinthian Mall.
Source: About Regional; Goulburn Post
The Toparis brothers' wholesale frozen foods business was sold to Nick Toparis, Bob McCallum and Theo Mylonas. Under the late Theo Mylonas, a president of our community, it is remembered as Southern Highlands Frozen Foods.
Source: About Regional; community recollection
Formerly the Top Hat Cafe, and passed between successive Greek families over the years: one of the takeaways that carried the tradition beyond the cafe era. We are seeking photographs, dates and the full chain of its owners.
Source: Community recollection
Local histories and community memory recall many more Greek-run businesses in Goulburn: not only the cafes and milk bars, but the takeaways, fish shops, delis, charcoal chicken shops, green grocers and fruit wholesalers that fed the town. We are seeking photographs, dates, owners and stories for each of them.
Many of these businesses traded until the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the Hume Highway bypass drew the passing traffic away from the main street. Did your family run one of these? Do you remember eating there? A photograph, a menu, an owner's name or an approximate year: anything helps us move these from memory into the documented record. Family recollection
Every cafe, every owner, every year. Piece by piece, we can rebuild the whole picture.
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