While the exact construction date of the building at 13 East Martin is uncertain, there was a two-story building with a parapet roof on the site as early as 1884 according to Sanborn maps. City directories from 1917 forward indicate a variety of uses for the building including restaurants, clothing stores, a shoe store, and a produce market. While significant as an extant early commercial building in Raleigh’s downtown, its chief significance derives from its current use as the Mecca Restaurant and association with the Dombalis family.
Nicholas Dombalis immigrated to the United States from Greece in 1917. He married and had moved to Raleigh by 1931 and by the following year had taken over the Mecca Luncheonette. In 1937 he moved it to a building he had purchased at 13 East Martin Street, where it exists to the present day. Three generations of the Dombalis family operated the restaurant until 2018 when it was purchased by new ownership. The experience of Nick Dombalis and his journey to America and subsequent success in the restaurant business is representative of a trend of Greek emigration and entrepreneurialism in the food services industry. His restaurant, The Mecca, grew to be a Raleigh institution popular with politicians as well as the lawyers and judges practicing at the nearby county courthouse.
The Mecca is significant as an extant nineteenth century commercial building in current use with strong integrity particularly of its interior fittings and fixtures from the 1930s and 1950s. It represents the path of entrepreneurialism of many Greek immigrants in the early twentieth century through the ownership and operation of a restaurant. And it is significant as a meeting place for the business and political leadership of the city of Raleigh and the state of North Carolina.
The Mecca was designated as a Raleigh Landmark in 2014 based on the nomination prepared by Hanbury Preservation Consulting.