Eating a hamburger and drinking a chocolate milkshake is a nostalgic rite of passage these days. But 80 years ago, the milk bar was a novelty – in terms of both the type of food on offer and the way it was served. Australia’s first milk bar was opened in Sydney in 1932. In November that year, Mick Adams (aka Joachim Tavlaridis) opened the Black & White 4d Milk Bar at Martin Place in Sydney. He went on to open a chain of milk bars around Sydney and NSW.
Milk bars were inspired by American ‘soda parlours’ but most milk bars in Sydney and around NSW were owned and operated by members of the Greek community. There was an influx of Greek migrants to Australia in the period between the first and second world wars as a result internal conflicts and conflicts with neighbouring Turkey. Most of Sydney’s milk bars were family-run businesses and were associated with cinemas which were often next door.
Milk bars sold drinks like milkshakes and spiders, fast foods like hamburgers and hot dogs and sweet treats including ice cream sundaes. The main difference between a milk bar and a restaurant was the way food was served – rather than table service, you had to order at a counter (par for the course today but radical in 1932!). Also most Greek-run milk bars didn’t serve Greek food – until the 1970s.
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Milk bars played an important part in Sydney’s Greek community. Setting up or working a family-run milk bar enabled Greek migrants to adapt to their new Australian culture (albeit via America). It also offered new migrants a secure and familiar environemt, and gave them a way to communicate’ through food (rather than language).
One of the last original milk bars in Sydney is the Olympia in Stanmore, once next door to the late great Stanmore cinema. If you look beyond the cracked glass, you’ll see that the Olympia still has the original art deco fit-0ut – and you can apparently get an excellent milkshake – it has a facebook fan page and there was program about it recently on ABC Radio National. Further out of town, on the fringes of Sydney, there is a Paragon in Katoomba.
Further reading:
neoskosmos.com/news/en/the-birth-of-a-milk-bar
www.smh.com.au/nsw/milk-bars-and-rock-music-living-the-american-dream-in-a-greek-cafe
Scratching Sydney's Surface 
August 19, 2013 at 2:41 am
Growing up in the 40’s and 50’s milk bars were a way of life. In summer there was the lime ice cream soda and at any time of year there was a single dip of vanilla ice cream with double chocolate, double malt, and double nuts. How I ever ate that I’ll never know.
And the Paragon! Holidays in Katoomba always included a visit to the Paragon.
August 20, 2013 at 3:24 pm
I wasn’t familiar with the Inter-War era but the early 50s was a very familiar time. My particular Melbourne suburb was not Greek but it was indeed filled with European migrants.
I suppose the men had returned from the war in early 1946 and wanted to open a small business that they could run with members of their family. Customers knew the couple who owned the milk bar, went to school with their children, didn’t ask for anything exotic (that wouldn’t have been kept in stock) and were happy to leave their pet dog tied up outside whilst shopping.
If I had to think of a word to associate with milk bars, I would say friendly.
August 20, 2013 at 4:09 pm
Fascinating that the Greek milk bars didn’t sell Greek food until the ’70s. I wonder if they were unsure that Anglo Australians would like their ‘strange’ food? Could you imagine that happening today, with patrons always wanting to be the first to try something exotic?
October 3, 2014 at 11:48 pm
The Golden Gate is still open at The Entrance, opposite the cinema. It is run by the same man, Jonny – also a Greek migrant, for 100 years* or so. Happy memories of getting off the school bus and having 50c of pineapples and racing cars. Always preferred Jonny to serve as he gave huge handfuls regardless of 20c, 50c or even $1. Unlike his sister who counted them into the bag:( *rough estimate of a icon