Australia's oldest continuously Greek-run cafe, Niagara Cafe at Gundagai, listed

The oldest continuously Greek-run cafe in Australia is for sale for only its second public sale in 100 years.

The 1902 Art Deco Niagara Cafe at Gundagai is the last of the country’s traditional Greek cafes.

The future of the only other historic Greek cafe, the 1916 Paragon Cafe in the Blue Mountains, is in limbo after closing in 2018.

Niagara Cafe has been listed by Tina Loukissas, whose family bought the cafe in 1983.

The cafe was established by a Kytherian Greek, Strati Notara, and then by the Castrission family who installed the art deco interior and exterior in 1938.

It transformed the eating house into a “pleasure palace”, according to Macquarie University historian Leonard Janiszewski, who has documented the evolution of Greek cafes in Australia together with Effy Alexakis, in their book Greek Cafes and Milk Bars of Australia.

It was always promoted as “Australia’s Wonder Cafe” with its semi-domed ceiling, once painted as a night scene with stars onto which lights would shine.

Domain reported it was later destroyed by fire but never replaced.

Ross Tout, at Elders Real Estate Gundagai, said it was difficult to put a price on it, although the National Bank building nearby, with a four-bedroom apartment above, sold three years ago for $600,000.

Photo courtesy of Visit NSW.