Sigalas was the place to be in Adelaide, back in the ’60s. Its cramped space, covered with floor-to-ceiling mirrors, made the crowd feel it was entering a large venue.

Surprisingly, it also made a name for itself as a hangout for bikies, who always respected the owners and the rest of the customers.

The shop’s founder, James Sigalas, had arrived in Melbourne in the late 1890s from the remote island of Sikinos.

He moved to Adelaide in about 1901 and opened his first sweet shop at the iconic location of 19 Rundle St, right next to the Sturt Theatre.

Soon, Sigalas became the most popular Greek milk bar/deli shop serving South Australians delicious American-style milkshakes, hearty hot dogs and mouth-watering toasted sandwiches.

Following James’ death in 1950, the milk bar was leased to his nephews, the Vidale brothers – John, Andrew and Steve – who decided to take the business in a different direction; as a snack bar.

“I had been working at another cafe in Goodwood Rd and heard there was a job going at Sigalas,” recalled Con Chrisafopoulos, manager of the shop for almost 20 years.
“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,” Con told The Advertiser.
“We had three cash registers – one in the front, one in the middle and one in the back – and they never stopped ringing,” Con said.

Before he started managing the shop, it was just an ordinary snack bar, with sandwiches, mainly cordial drinks and not much else.

“Just very typical Australian fare,” Con said, adding that Sigalas was the first spot in Adelaide to serve Coca-Cola and Fanta in a glass.

John Vidale, who was all about taking risks, also introduced 10 varieties of hot dogs to their clientele.

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

Long Johns, named after John Vidale, were served in a long glass, with three scoops of vanilla ice cream. In between vanilla scoops, chocolate flavour, then strawberry flavour, followed by pineapple or lime, then a wafer, a scoop of fruit salad, topped off with whipped cream, chocolate chips and a glazed cherry.

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 served in the tall glass.

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

Source: The Advertiser