Fizzy - Zaharakos

A server puts the finishing touches on old-fashioned
desserts and drinks at Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor
in downtown Columbus. The soda shop was founded
in 1900 and refurbished in recent years.
16
Indiana Farm Bureau
Fizzy
Business
Zaharakos Ice Cream Parlor in Columbus gives
visitors a delicious taste of the early 1900s
Story by Teree Caruthers | Photography by Jeff Adkins
T
ony Moravec, owner of Zaharakos
Ice Cream Parlor and Museum in
Columbus, loves to tell stories
about his customers and their
experiences in his shop.
“I had a 3-year-old customer once who
stood in front of the big pipe organ watching
it with great delight as the music played,” he
recalls. “When the music stopped, everything
was silent, and the boy stood there and
screamed at the top of his lungs, ‘Yippee!’
The entire place erupted in cheers because
there was just such joy on his face.”
That youngster’s reaction is a common
one at Zaharakos, a Columbus institution
since the turn of the 20th century. Three
Greek brothers who had brought their candymaking skills from the Old World established
the confectionery shop in 1900. The
Zaharakos family operated the candy shop
and ice cream parlor for the next century.
It became the social gathering place for many
generations of residents until 2006, when the
last member of the founding family passed
away, closing the beloved landmark and
leaving the town wondering if there was
anyone willing to save it.
THE SCOOP ON ZAHARAKOS
Fortunately, Moravec, a local
businessman, answered the call and spent
two years meticulously restoring the soda
shop to its original glory. Moravec traveled
the country scoping out examples of soda
fountain restorations before tackling his
own. He hired a range of specially skilled
craftsmen, including a tinsmith to repair
the original tin ceiling and a craftswoman
from neighboring Brown County to repair
and replace the stained glass in the front
doors. He spared no detail – from the 1905
Tiffany-style dispenser to the wood and
metal child’s soda table in the dining area.
“The building had great bones. It was really
in need of dramatic repair, but the bones were
great,” Moravec says. “The original soda
fountain and back bar from 1910 were there.
The Welte orchestrion (a machine that plays
music designed to sound like an orchestra or
band) that had been installed in 1908 had been
sold to a collector in California, but one of my
first projects was to contact the collector who
had purchased it and eventually buy it back.”
In addition, he incorporated modern
technology, installing new heating and air
If You Go...
Columbus
Zaharakos Ice Cream
Parlor and Museum
329 Washington St.
Columbus, IN 47201
812-378-1900
zaharakos.com
Open daily from
11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
my-indiana-home.com
17
conditioning units and a new roof,
as well as redoing the soda fountain
hardware, making it compliant with
current regulations.
CARBONATED COLLECTION
Moravec says during the
renovation process, he developed
a curiosity about the history of soda
fountains and pipe organs. He began
collecting historic artifacts from
around the country, which turned
into a museum inside the ice cream
parlor. The museum features marble
soda fountains, syrup dispensers and
the aforementioned rare orchestrion,
all of which date back to the late 1800s.
While Zaharakos remains
a community gathering place for
Columbus residents, the ice cream
parlor attracts visitors from across the
Midwest who come for a Green River
float with ice cream made on site,
a vanilla Coke from the soda fountain
or the parlor’s signature sandwich,
a GOM Cheese-brr-grr – a sloppy joe
topped with cheese then grilled. They
also come to hear the majestic Welte
orchestrion – the only one of its kind
in the country located in a place
where the public can hear it play.
SERVICE WITH A SMILE
“[Zaharakos] is a gift to
the community and to the state
of Indiana,” says Debra Slone,
a designer and Zaharakos historian.
“It’s such a big tourist attraction
because it’s not a place that’s been
made to look like a 1900s soda
fountain, it is, in fact, a 1900s soda
fountain. When you sit at that soda
fountain and have a sundae or ice
cream or soda, you’re transported
back in time because it’s so
authentic. It just makes me happy.”
Since reopening, Zaharakos has
garnered a number of accolades,
including Best Ice Cream/Confection
by LocalEats, and was deemed the
No. 1 thing every Hoosier should
do by Indianapolis Monthly magazine.
But Moravec says his greatest reward
comes from the opportunity to serve
his community.
“I did it for my family
– my children and grandchildren –
In addition to serving up delicious ice cream confections, Zaharakos also houses a collection
of antique soda fountains, syrup dispensers and other historic artifacts from the turn of the century.
and for the community’s children
and grandchildren. I saw it as an
opportunity to create some jobs and
polish and preserve an old gathering
place in the community,” Moravec
says. “When we first opened, I had
my quadruplet daughters and youngest
son working because I wanted them
to learn how to serve other people.
And as I watched them, I realized
that’s something all of us could stand
to learn to do well – is serve others.”
my-indiana-home.com
19