My Dinner With Vaky

In a recent blog entry about lady boxing promoter Fannie Edwards, I referenced an occasion where she and visiting out-of-towners took in the city of Shreveport and dined at Vaky's. It sounded like a special treat to eat there, which piqued my interest to explore what could be found about the restaurant and its owner.

Peter Vaky (1878-1937) was a native of Turkey (or Greece)* who immigrated to the U. S. in 1899, and came to Shreveport by way of New York and Mobile, AL. As expected, Vaky was not his real name (which was Varvakis), but one assigned by an immigration inspector at Ellis Island, which he retained.

Shreveport Times 31-Dec-1905, Page 11

Around 1905 he opened Vaky's Cafe, a confectionary, bakery, and restaurant that for several years existed at 310 Texas Street. It remained open very late or possibly 24 hours, as a social column entry mentions a group having a midnight supper there after attending a play. Vaky made special effort to emphasize this was an establishment that ladies would feel comfortable patronizing, which would explain why the three unescorted young women (Fannie and friends) would have dined there.

Shreveport Times 18-Apr-1909, Page 20

A 1912 advertisement.

Shreveport Times 11-Aug-1912, Page 6

The street view shown below was photographed sometime between when the Exchange National Bank next door opened 20-Nov-1919, and April 1922, when the restaurant was renamed.

Shreveport Times 29-Mar-1981, Page 1-E

In 1920, the Vakys moved to Corpus Christi, TX as supposedly it reminded wife Arsenoi (1884-1960), then in poor health, of the seashore in her native Greece. There they opened another Vaky's Cafe and an apartment building. Another person continued to run the Shreveport cafe, still billed as Vaky's, but ran into some sanitation issues the following year over charges of serving spoiled fish. Apparently still well regarded by patrons though, two successor restaurants linked themselves to the Vaky brand.

Shreveport Times 23-Apr-1922, page 24

Despite the contest mentioned above to come up with a suitable name, the restaurant was dubbed the (unimaginative) L & L Cafe. The following year it changed hands again.

Shreveport Times 18-Jan-1923, Page 11

Today the site is part of the Capital One Bank parking garage.


An interesting "rest of the story" - A son born in Corpus Christi, Viron Peter Vaky (1925-2012), became a foreign diplomat who served as U. S. Ambassador to Costa Rica (1972-74), Colombia (1974-1976), and Venezuela (1976).

* Vaky's 1909 passport application states he was born in Turkey, however Census records (e.g., 1920) and an interview with his son Viron state his birthplace to be Greece.