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SOUTH PARK SEEN THROUGH THE EYES OF
BUDDY AND JANE HEBERT

Golden Arrow

 " HOME OF CHICKEN IN THE STRAW "

                                                              -----Fish Of All Kinds-----

                            Port Arthur Road                                          Phone 2517

    PEOPLE CAME ACROSS TOWN, FROM MIDCOUNTY AND PORT ARTHUR JUST TO EXPERIENCE THE
OUTSTANDING FOOD SERVED IN THIS FINE RESTAURANT. AND MANY CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS
MET THERE, INCLUDING THE LIONS AND LIONESS CLUBS, ROTARY AND MANY OTHERS.

    UNFORTUNATELY I COULD NOT FIND A PICTURE OF THE GOLDEN ARROW IN SPITE OF ALL THE
PLACES I LOOKED - BUT IT WAS A REALLY GREAT LOOKING RESTAURANT. I REMEMBER AS YOU
CAME TO THE FRONT ENTRY OF THE RESTAURANT,  THERE WERE LARGE PLANTER BOXES ON EACH
SIDE OF THE ENTRY CONTAINING TALL PLANTS. INSIDE WERE MARBLE FLOORS. THE COFFEE
COUNTER WAS IN THE FRONT AREA OF THE RESTAURANT, WITH STOOLS PLACED ALONG THE
COUNTER, AND IT WAS  HERE THAT MANY, MANY BREAKFASTS WERE SERVED AND MANY CITIZENS
MADE IT A PRACTICE TO MEET EACH MORNING FOR BREAKFAST. BEHIND THE COFFEE COUNTER
WAS THE ENTRY TO THE KITCHEN - SWINGING DOORS WITH PORT HOLE TYPE WINDOWS IN THE
DOORS.

    BOOTHS LINED THE WALLS IN THE FRONT AREA OF THE RESTAURANT, WITH THE MAIN DINING
AREA BEING IN THE BACK, WHERE IT COULD BE PARTITIONED OFF TO MAKE A LARGE DINING ROOM
AND A SMALLER ONE. HERE WAS WHERE MANY OF THE CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS HELD THEIR
MEETINGS, LUNCHEONS AND DINNERS.

    THE GOLDEN ARROW  WAS SAID TO HAVE ONE OF THE FINEST KITCHENS OF ANY RESTAURANT
IN BEAUMONT - ALL STAINLESS STEEL WITH ALL MODERN CONVENIENCES. THERE WAS AN OYSTER
BAR WITH A SEPARATE ENTRY FROM OUTSIDE. HERE MANY PEOPLE CAME FOR THEIR FINE
"SEAFOOD OF ALL VARITIES".

    JIM VRATIS  WAS THE ORIGINAL OWNER/OPERATOR OF THE GOLDEN ARROW AND PRIDED
HIMSELF IN THE GREAT SEAFOOD, CHICKEN AND K.C. STEAKS HE PREPARED AND SERVED. I COULD
NOT FIND THE EXACT DATE THE RESTAURANT OPENED, BUT IT WAS EITHER LATE IN 1942 OR EARLY
IN 1943..

    THE ELDER MR. VRATIS CAME FROM GREECE AND SETTLED IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA WHERE JIM
VRATIS WAS BORN, ALONG WITH HIS TWO BROTHERS. THE VRATIS FAMILY WOULD LATER MOVE TO
DALLAS, TEXAS WHERE THEY OPENED A RESTAURANT/DINER. THIS WAS DURING THE DEPRESSION
YEARS, AND THE FAMILY WORKED MANY LONG HOURS TO MAKE THEIR RESTAURANT A SUCCESS.
JIM VRATIS WORKED IN HIS FATHER'S RESTAURANT, AND SOON DEVELOPED A GREAT LOVE FOR THE
RESTAURANT BUSINESS.

    JIM VRATIS ATTENDED AND GRADUATED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS WITH A DEGREE IN
LAW,  BUT NEVER FOLLOWED THE LAW PRACTICE.  IT WAS THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS THAT HELD
HIS ATTENTION, AND WAS HIS TRUE LOVE. HE WOULD LATER OPEN THE BLACK HAWK RESTAURANT
IN AUSTIN, TEXAS BEFORE MOVING TO BEAUMONT, TEXAS.

    MARY VRATIS LIVED IN FORT WORTH, TEXAS, AND IT WAS THROUGH THE GREEK COMMUITY AND
CHURCH THAT JIM AND MARY WOULD MEET AND LATER MARRY.

     IN 1939 JIM AND MARY CAME TO BEAUMONT FROM AUSTIN, WHERE HE WORKED IN THE MEN'S
DEPARTMENT AT SEARS-ROEBUCK, AND HE LATER WENT TO WORK FOR THE SHIP YARD.

    JIM VRATIS' DREAM WOULD COME TRUE IN 1942, WHEN HE HAD BUILT AND OPENED THE GOLDEN
ARROW AT 3130 PORT ARThUR ROAD, TELEPHONE 2517, OPEN FROM 8:00 AM UNTIL 12:00 AM -
SATURDAY UNTIL 1:00PM. JIM AND MARY MADE THEIR HOME AT 1315 THREADNEEDLE, AND THERE
WERE 3 BOYS AND 2 GIRLS BORN TO JIM AND MARY.

    HE WAS DESCRIBED AS A TALL, GOOD LOOKING MAN - CONGENIAL, COMPATIBLE WITH A SPECIAL
CHARM, AND JIM VRATIS LOVED TO MEET AND TALK WITH PEOPLE HE WAS HOST, COOK, BUSBOY,
CASHIER - AND HE ALWAYS HAD A NAPKIN IN HIS HAND OR OVER HIS ARM, WHICH BECAME HIS
TRADEMARK. HE AND MARY BECAME AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE COMMUNITY, AND ESPECIALLY
THE GREEK COMMUNITY OF BEAUMONT, AND AMONG HIS MANY FRIENDS WAS THE COKINOS
FAMILY.

    MARY VRATIS WOULD WORK WITH HER HUSBAND IN THE RESTAURANT AND HER SON, NICK,
DESCRIBED HER AS HAVING A BETTER BUSINESS HEAD THAN DID JIM.

    IN 1952 JIM AND MARY SOLD THE GOLDEN ARROW TO MIKE G. KOUCHOUCOS AND HIS WIFE,
SYBIL, AND HE RETAINED THE SAME HIGH STANDARDS AND DELICIOUS SEAFOOD, STEAKS AND
CHICKEN AS THE VRATIS MENU. GUS KERIOTIS BECAME ONE OF  THE KOUCHOUCOS STAFF
MEMBERS, AND GUS KERIOTIS WOULD LATER OPEN HIS OWN RESTAURANT IN BEAUMONT

    AFTER JIM AND MARY SOLD THE GOLDEN ARROW, THEY OPENED THE B & B  CAFE AT 453
ORLEANS, WHICH LATER MOVED TO BOWIE AND PARK, AND THEY ALSO LATER BOUGHT AND
OPERATED THE J & J STEAK HOUSE ON THE CIRCLE. JIM VRATIS WOULD DIE IN 1965, AND MARY
CONTINUED TO OPERATE THE RESTAURANTS THEY OWNED. MARY PASSED AWAY IN 1972.

    IN 1956  JIM E. MC FADDIN, JR PURCHASED THE GOLDEN ARROW FROM MIKE AND SYBIL
KOUCHOUCOS - THE MC FADDIN FAMILY RESIDING AT 2107 AVENUE A. JIM MC FADDIN AND HIS
WIFE, ROBINA OPERATED THE GOLDEN ARROW, AND CONTINUED SPECIALIZING IN ALL VARITIES OF
SEAFOOD, CHICKEN AND STEAKS, AND PROVIDED PRIVATE DINING AREAS FOR SPECIAL PARTIES.

    JIM AND ROBINA'S SON, JIM, REMEMBERS THE GOLDEN ARROW WELL, HAVING  WORKED THERE AS
A YOUNGSTER AS A CASHIER, HOST, BUS BOY AND EVEN CUTTTNG THE GRASS AROUND THE
BUILIDING.

    THE WONDERFUL ATMOSPHERE AND FOOD AT THE GOLDEN ARROW WOULD COME TO AN END IN
1966 OR 1967 WHEN AN ELECTRICAL SHORT IN THE ATTIC AREA ABOVE THE KITCHEN CAUSED A FIRE,
AND THE BUILDING AND ALL ITS MEMORIES  BURNED TO THE GROUND, AND WAS NEVER REBUILT.
JIM MCFADDIN, JR. DECIDED AFTER WORKING 18 HOURS A DAY FOR MANY YEARS, AT AGE 54 IT WAS
TIME FOR HIM TO RETIRE MR. JIM MCFADDIN DIED JULY 4, I997 AT THE AGE OF 84.

    AND THUS ANOTHER PART OF THE HERITAGE OF SOUTH PARK WAS GONE - WITH ONLY A FEW
MEMORIES REMAINING. BUT THANKS TO THE VRATIS, THE KOUCHOUCOS AND THE MC FADDIN
FAMILIES, WE HAD THOSE WONDERFUL TIMES AT   THE GOLDEN ARROW.
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