Bob Byrne remembers Sigalas, the Greek milk bar that shook up Adelaide’s deli scene in the 1960s

BOB Byrne remembers when hot dogs and milkshakes in metal containers were the must-have snacks, thanks to a cafe started by a Greek migrant.

Royal visit and tour by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to Adelaide in Mar 1954. Exterior of Anglo American J. ...

IT was the place to meet in Adelaide in the ’60s, right next door to the Sturt Picture Theatre in Rundle St: Sigalas, the iconic snack bar/deli with its mirrored walls, American-style milkshakes, famous hot dogs and toasted sandwiches.

Founder James Sigalas, a native of the Greek island of Sikinos, had arrived in Australia in the late 1890s.

After a short time in Melbourne, he moved to Adelaide in about 1901 and opened his first sweet shop at 19 Rundle St.

The shop continued to trade successfully in confectionery until James’s death in 1950, when it was leased to his nephews, the Vidale brothers – John, Andrew and Steve – who decided to take the business in a different direction.

When Con Chrisafopoulos started working there in the late ’50s, it had been turned into a snack bar.

“I had been working at another cafe in Goodwood Rd and heard there was a job going at Sigalas,” recalls Con, who went on to manage the shop for almost 20 years.

“It was very highly regarded and so I applied for the job, not even realising it was a manager’s job.

“It always had been a big meeting place because it was the only one serving refreshments in Rundle St, other than the Tropical Coffee Lounge, which was
further up.”

He describes Sigalas as a very long, narrow shop. Along the right side it had floor-to-ceiling mirrors that created a feeling of more space.

“We had three cash registers – one in the front, one in the middle and one in the back – and they never stopped ringing,” Con says.

He was given the job after working on a trial basis for just one day.

“Before I started there it was just an ordinary snack bar, with sandwiches, mainly cordial drinks and not much else – just very typical Australian fare,” Con says. “One of the first things I introduced was to serve Coca-Cola and Fanta in a glass.

Former Sigalas snack bar at 19 Rundle Mall, Adelaide, for sale by auction September 25, 1989. Photo Ken Sellick.

“We were the first in Adelaide to do that.

“Then one day John Vidale came to me and said, ‘Con, we are going to introduce hot dogs to
our customers’.

“He bought in this little machine with two spikes which heated the inside of the bun and into which we would put butter and sauce or mustard, then the sausage.

“We had about 10 varieties of hot dogs, eventually, all called after a breed of dog … chihuahua is one
I remember.”

Sigalas was also famous for its milkshakes like the
Blue Moon and the Long
John, served in silver
anodised containers.

Con recalls: “Long Johns were very popular and very expensive. They were served in a long glass, with three scoops of vanilla
ice cream.

“After the first scoop we’d put in chocolate flavour, then the second scoop with strawberry flavour and the third scoop would be followed by pineapple or lime, then a wafer, a scoop of fruit salad, topped off with whipped cream, chocolate chips and a glazed cherry.” Long John took its name from John Vidale, one of the proprietors.

Originally the drink didn’t have a name at all, until one day a customer came in and said to John, “I’ll have a ‘long’, John”, meaning a milkshake in the tall glass.

The famous Sigalas treat was known as a Long John from then on.

After some time Sigalas began to get a somewhat questionable reputation as a hangout
for bikies.

It was nothing on a Saturday afternoon and night to see dozens of motorbikes parked outside the popular snack bar/deli, but Con points out that although the business attracted a large number of bikies, they were not breaking the law and were generally well behaved.

When asked for his one most outstanding memory of Sigalas, John replies without hesitation: “I have thousands of wonderful memories of that place.”

And so do the many other residents of Adelaide who remember the Rundle St snack bar with great regard.

Peter Lang, who worked there as a shift manager, recalls “making the fabulous Long Johns and in winter, hot chocolate with crumpets, oozing with honey and cinnamon”. And Adelaide Remember When blog poster Col Penney remembers the stainless steel ice cream sundae and banana split dishes that were embossed with “Stolen from Sigalas”.

For him, too, it was the first place he tried a Blue Moon milkshake.

Christine Dixon remembers what she says were the best hot dogs in the city – “in fact the best in Adelaide”. “I used to treat myself to a hot dog each Saturday morning after work,” she recalls. “I worked on the second floor of Edmonds Building on the corner of (then) Rundle St and Gawler Place at John and Ralph Hair Stylists”.

The Sturt Picture Theatre was closed in 1976 and converted into offices, and in the early 1980s, Sigalas also finally closed its doors.

What are your memories of Sigalas’ in Rundle St? Share them below.