  Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 667 Registered: 11-2006 |
The name is painted on the side of a Vietnam veteran building downtown on Woodward. The place was mentioned in two different books I read about the race riot of 1943 as being unfriendly and accomodateing to black patrons. Does anyone have any memories or info on the place. | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2627 Registered: 01-2005 |
As I recall it was a cafeteria. Think I was in there once or twice, but I can't recall anything about it. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 1837 Registered: 07-2004 |
A good place to start would be to check the 1943 Detroit City Directory at the Burton Collection, Main Branch, Detroit Public Library. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 702 Registered: 04-2006 |
There is some information in here: https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/6790/83010.html | ||
Terryh Member Username: Terryh Post Number: 670 Registered: 11-2006 |
Now that you mention it Ray I do recall reading something about the place set up as a cafeteria.thanks Andylinn. | ||
Dorothyd Member Username: Dorothyd Post Number: 17 Registered: 09-2007 |
I used to eat lunch sometimes at the other Greenfield's on Griswold between Michigan Ave. and State St. back in the 60's when I worked in the Griswold Building. After eating, would go in the Griswold Street door of Cunningham's Drug Store and out the other side on State Street, to get to Woodward. In the 70's when I went back downtown to work after staying home with my kids for a few years, I headed over there for lunch one day (the sign was still up) only to find it was no longer there. I don't know about the history of the one on Woodward being unfriendly to black patrons, but do remember as a young white gal raised in Detroit, it was the first place I ever encountered Okra in my soup. | ||
Waz Member Username: Waz Post Number: 253 Registered: 11-2006 |
I went to Greenfields on Greenfield across from Northland Mall once or twice when I was small. It recall it as being was very crowded and more of a nice sit-down place. But being between 5 and 7 st the time, I might have it all wrong. | ||
Pffft Member Username: Pffft Post Number: 1449 Registered: 12-2003 |
Greenfield's really was an "upscale" cafeteria. The one in Birmingham was out on Hunter/Woodward was particularly nice. But yeah, that's from a kid's viewpoint too. | ||
The_rock Member Username: The_rock Post Number: 2106 Registered: 11-2003 |
Dorothyd and I have fond memories of Greenfields on Griswold. A fine restaurant, cafeteria style. Located right next to the Griswold Sporting Goods store. Very popular restaurant. I think, but not positive, that you walked in and went downstairs to go thru the cafeteria line. Very popular among those of us who worked downtown. Great chicken pot pie! Great desserts, too. But we often just slipped into Cunningham,s a couple of doors away and bought an ice cream bar. I don't recall ever patronizing the Woodward Avenue store as we just found it so much easier to walk two short blocks up Griswold from the Guardian Building and there it was. | ||
Ramcharger Member Username: Ramcharger Post Number: 517 Registered: 05-2006 |
My Grandmother would often take me to the Greenfield’s on Griswold after a morning of shopping at Hudson’s and a “ladies day “(Wed.) matinee at one of the great old theaters. I loved the chopped steak and rice pudding. I miss cafeterias. Why did they fall out of favor? | ||
Stinger4me Member Username: Stinger4me Post Number: 147 Registered: 08-2007 |
I am pretty sure there was a Greenfield's on Woodward north of Vernor and south of Stimson. There may have been one south of Grand Circus Park and east of Woodward, maybe on Broadway. They had good food at reasonable prices. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 2023 Registered: 12-2005 |
The Greenfield's across the street (Greenfield!) from Northland had a grating you stood on in the outer lobby with motorized brush bristles that oscillated up from below the grating to clean off the bottom of your shoes. | ||
D2dyeah Member Username: D2dyeah Post Number: 91 Registered: 09-2005 |
My Grandmother was a clean freak, and when she took my brother and me downtown shopping, Greenfield's was the place we ate lunch at, we wanted Sander's, because "you could eat off their floor's" at Greenfield's. They did have alot of really great Jell-O deserts, with fruit cocktail, whipped cream, 2 colors. It took 5 minutes to pick one as a kid. | ||
Elevator_fan Member Username: Elevator_fan Post Number: 37 Registered: 04-2004 |
Greenfield's also had a more formal dining room, where you ordered from a menu, off to the right as you entered the Birmingham restaurant. It was perhaps one third the size of the cafeteria area. I always thought of Greenfield's as the cafeteria equivalent of Stouffer's. Machus Sly Fox took over the Birmingham building, and didn't do all that much remodeling to the main dining room, save for eliminating the cafeteria and changing to a red color scheme. Borders now stands on that property. There are other Greenfield's-like chains in other cities. For example, in the Carolinas there is the K&W Cafeteria chain: www.kwcafeterias.com | ||
Dorothyd Member Username: Dorothyd Post Number: 18 Registered: 09-2007 |
Rock, you are right about going downstairs to go through the line. | ||
Bbq1945 Member Username: Bbq1945 Post Number: 39 Registered: 10-2007 |
Greenfield's on Woodward was fantastic. I used to go there frequently as a teen in the 60's. I still like cafeteria food today - and it's not available like it used to be. Two of my friends worked there for a while. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 1544 Registered: 04-2006 |
I seem to remember a coffee shop in a basement somewhere around the described location as Greenfields. This would have been early 70's. I can remember how pi$$ed I was because my little sister got a yellow cup with a smiley face on it and I got nothing. She was only about two or three at the time but she would gloat every time she would use that cup! |
