Peter & Mike Restaurant

Peter & Mike Grill was a restaurant in the mid-1900s that was open to African Americans. The restaurant was advertised in The Green Book from 1950 to 1952. Peter & Mike Grill was located at 430 S. Dawson Street in Raleigh, NC.¹

Peter & Mike Grill was created and co-owned by Peter Pavlakos and Michael Thevis. Michael Thevis was born in Sparta, Greece in 1882. He and his wife, Angelica (Angeline) Thevis, resided at 315 S. Dawson Street. Peter Pavlakos married Evanthia Thevis, who was born in Sparta, Greece and is believed to be Michael Thevis’ sister. They resided at 215 W. Martin Street in Raleigh. Both Peter and Mike were accustomed to the Cafe business; Peter had previously worked with the Fruit and Lunch Store in Raleigh and Michael had previously worked at various restaurants and cafes. Peter and Michael also owned and worked at Lincoln Cafe, a restaurant located at 223 W. Martin Street, in 1932. In 1950, Peter and Michael opened Peter and Mike Grill at 430 S. Dawson Street.²

Peter & Mike Grill saw multiple employees in its day. In 1950, James Thevis, the son of Michael and Angelica, became the manager of the grill. Harvey Black, Ishamael Davis, Stephen Morning (who also worked for William Moras of the New York Cafe), and David Tabron, who were all African American, worked at the grill.³

The building housing the restaurant is located in the Depot Historic District in Raleigh.  In speaking with the staff of Fiction Kitchen, the current restaurant occupying that space, there is a rumor that though it was open to African Americans, Peter & Mike Grill was segregated. However, this is still a rumor.⁴

George Thevis died in 1951 due to a myocardial infarction (heart attack). In 1956, Peter lost his wife Evanthia to a coronary thrombosis. Both the Thevis family and the Pavlakos family are buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh, NC.⁵

Essay by Miranda Clinton, 2019

Notes

1. Victor Green, 1950 Green Book, 63; Green, 1951 Green Book, 54; Green, 1952 Green Book, 54.
2. Michael Thevis, North Carolina Death Certificate, FamilySearch.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PL-C32X-M?i=1480&per…; Evanthia Thevis, North Carolina Death Certificate, FamilySearch.org,  https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9PF-89ZM-Y?i=1833&per…; “Industrial directory and reference book of the state of North Carolina [1938],” North Carolina Digital Collections, http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p249901coll22/id/402268/; Hills 1930 Raleigh City Directory; Hill's 1945 Raleigh City Directory 412, 527; Hill’s 1950 Raleigh City Directory, 315a, 322a, 26c.
3. Hill’s 1950 Raleigh City Directory, 403a; Michael Thevis, North Carolina Death Certificate; Hill’s 1950 Raleigh City Directory, 55a, 115a, 287a, 399a.
4. Bowers, Katherine, Derek Huss, and Rachel Jacobson, “The Green Book Assignment, North Carolina, Durham, Wake, Halifax, Vance: Historical Structure Report for the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office,” HI 587: Cultural Resource Management, North Carolina State University, Spring 2016, 4, 18.
5. Michael Thevis, North Carolina Death Certificate; Evanthia Thevis, North Carolina Death Certificate.