Tulare County
Biographies
JAMES K. BARBIS
James K. Barbis, one of the proprietors of the Riverside Café and Grill Room, was born in Corinth, Greece, February 24, 1891. When he was about fourteen years old he came with his parents to America. The family located in St. Louis, Missouri, where James K. Barbis found employment in a box car factory. In this, his first job in the United States, he was so unfortunate as to lose the end of one of his fingers, which caused him to change his occupation. He then became a bus boy in the old Planters Hotel in St. Louis, where he worked until he came to California.
Shortly after the great earthquake and fire in San Francisco in 1906, James K. Barbis landed in that city. The following year he and his cousin, Mike Barbis, came to Visalia and purchased the Riverside Café. The café was then located in a small room on Main street, but the new proprietors soon had the satisfaction of seeing their business expand until larger quarters were necessary. Additional room was secured and the Riverside is now considered one of the best appointed eating houses in the San Joaquin valley.
Besides himself, Spiro and A. Barbis and Mike Barbis, a cousin, constitute the firm. They own a substantial business block on Main street, Visalia, and Mike Barbis conducts a café, known as the Barbis Grill, in Dinuba. The six members of the Barbis family- brothers and cousins- are all successful business men. The Visalia Fruit Market and the Palace Café on North Church street are owned and conducted by them, and James K. Barbis owns a prune orchard and vineyard near Visalia, purchased and paid for within the last few years with the fruits of his industry and good business management.
During the latter part of the great World war, after the United States entered the conflict, Mr. Barbis served in the quartermaster department at Camp Lewis, in the state of Washington. The troops there, himself among them, were just ready to sail for Siberia when news was received that the armistice had been signed and the war was over. When he received his honorable discharge he returned to Visalia and resumed his business connections where they had been broken off when he entered the military service.
Mr. Barbis is a member of the Visalia Kiwanis Club, Elks Lodge No. 1298 of Visalia, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and the American Legion, in all of which he is recognized as a “good fellow” and is deservedly popular.
History of Tulare County and Kings County, California – Kathleen Edwards Small & J. Larry Smith, Vol. I, Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926, Page 126
Transcribed by Jeannie Miyama
PETER BARBIS
Peter Barbis, one of the owners of the Visalia Café, was born August 15, 1895 in Greece, where his parents still reside. He received a practical education in the schools of his native land and at the age of seventeen years he decided to seek his fortune in the United States. Having relatives in Visalia, California, he came directly to that city, where he found employment in a restaurant. For several years he worked at this occupation, saving his earnings with a view to going into business for himself. In 1920 he and a cousin opened the Visalia Café, now one of the popular eating houses of that city.
In 1918 Mr. Barbis made application for citizenship and in 1925 received his papers, in which he takes a commendable pride. He takes a worthy interest in public affairs, especially those of a local nature. He belongs to the Fraternal Order of Eagles, which is the only organization of that character to claim his membership. He is unmarried.
History of Tulare County and Kings County, California – Kathleen Edwards Small & J. Larry Smith, Vol. I, Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1926, Page 331
Transcribed by Jeannie Miyama