After 43 years of service, it was last call for hamburgers and charcoal chicken at Nick and Archie’s Charcoal Chicken shop in the Kingsgrove as Nick and Archie Mihalatos shut the shop’s doors for the last time.

All through the day, valued customers came to pay tribute to Nick and Archie Mihalatos, their mother, Erasmia, and their respective families, as they all acknowledged the important contribution to the Mihalatos family has made to the local community.

While Vinod Reddy highlighted the strong friendship that developed over the years with the Mihalatos extended family, Tim Hansen pointed out Nick and Archie served the heartiest meals in Sydney.

Arthur Banos reiterated the generous servings and recalled how his sons often could not finish their meals because there was too much food, so “Nick and Archie found the right balance between great- tasting foods and value-for-money meals.”

Ilaisa Livi, who has worked for the family for many decades, stated how he regards them as his own family, since Nick and Archie treated him like a brother.

The Mihalatos family migrated to Australia in 1969; it was when Nick worked in Kingsgrove Fish Shop that he enquired about a vacant shop and the family believed it was a great opportunity to escape the monotonous and menial factory work. They subsequently opened their takeaway in 1975.

In the mid 1970s, Kingsgrove was a very Australian area; there were very few Greeks living here and Nick and Archie remember how they were initially new Australians and were called ‘wogs’ at various times before the local Australians got used to them and became valued customers.

Over the years, Nick and Archie saw all the changes to the local area as the ‘No Standing’ sign went up along their strip of busy Kingsgrove Road, introducing new meals such as charcoal chicken and yeeros to their menu. People’s tastes began to change as more cafes opened in Kingsgrove.

Just how important the shop was to the Mihalatos family is highlighted by Nick and Archie: “Although we were working in the shop all day, our father, Spyro, was the head of the family. We would give him all our shop’s takings and he would bank them. Father would then give us spending money every Saturday, and that was our pocket money for the week. When we had saved enough, our parents would buy property for us.

“We have worked together for forty-three years. We have grown up in the shop. We married and had families, and our children practically grew up, and later helped out, in the shop. We were young men when we bought the shop- we learned the meaning of life (and business) here.

“Three generations of family worked in our shop: our mother, Erasmia, ourselves and our wives, and our children- who have their respective careers and still come to help us on weekends. Our shop was truly a family business.”

Ninety-year-old Erasmia Mihalatos, fittingly, had the last word as she thanked God for giving her such a wonderful family and saying that she was proud of each and every family member.
When asked what they will be doing now that the shop is shut, both Nick and Archie point out that after 43 years, they deserve a break.

Sydney historian Vasilis Vasilas, who covered the Mihalatos story in his book, Beyond the Shop Window and Counter: Stories and Photographs of Sydney’s Current Greek Shops (2017), was invited to the final call for hamburgers, as the grill was filled with sizzling onions, meat patties and eggs, for the last time.

“The significant role shops like Nick and Archie’s should not be understated; if you consider its location, how many commuters got off the train at Kingsgrove and walked up the main road and detoured into Nick and Archie’s to buy the family dinner; If you consider Kingsgrove High School is up the road, how many hundreds of students made their way to the railway station, only to stop over in the shop for a filling hamburger? In 43 years, how many thousands of people did Nick and Archie, as well as their families, cater for? Over such a long period of time, Nick and Archie’s shop became such an important part of the local community.

“And this is why Nick and Archie’s Charcoal Chicken Shop’s contribution to the growth and development of the local area should be acknowledged and celebrated.”