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.