Doe's Eat Place

Mar 27, 2018, 9:53 PM

I was introduced to Doe's Eat Place in the fall of 1949. I had accepted a job in Leland, MS and several of my co-workers told me we were going to Doe's Eat Place in Greenville, MS for the best steak anyone could put in their mouth. I really though the guys were handing me a line and when we arrived at Doe's I thought surely it was a prank.

Doe's was an old wooden building that looked to be on the verge of being demolished. I was told we couldn't go in the front door because it was a "honky-tonk" for the blacks, we had to go to the back door. (this was before de-segregation). We went to the back door and when we entered we were in the combination kitchen and dining area. There was a wood burning cast iron stove and the steaks were cooked in the oven. There were several long tables and we took our seats at one of them. One of the cooks asked what kind of steak we wanted and how we wanted it cooked. When our steaks arrived they looked like a small roast. Tender and tasty? That was one of the best steaks I had ever eaten. I don't even remember what the steaks cost but whatever it was, it was well worth it.

After we had finished our meal, the guys asked me what I thought about Doe's. I told them I thought they were playing a prank on me when we drove up and saw the building and I knew they were when they led me around to the back door. When I saw that wood burning stove I wondered how they could prepare a steak in that oven. I had never seen that before.

During my working days (and that was many years ago) I made many trips back to Leland and Greeville and I always managed to make at least one trip to Doe's. By the way, the owners of the business was a white family but I never saw them when I was there. I believe they are still in business.

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Had a similar experience in New Bern, NC. We were down for a business meeting and four of us headed out into the flat swampy area east of the city for dinner at a famous seafood restaurant. I had been to the restaurant before. The others had not and had never heard of the place. One of the gentlemen was an African American State Senator.

When I turned down a narrow dirt road and continued for a couple of miles my guests were getting a little nervous. Finally when I pulled up in front of an unpainted wooden shack, the Senator said that he didn’t think he wanted to go inside. The others also expressed reservations about the wisdom of eating there. I assured them that everything would be fine and the food would make up for the physical environment.

They finally relented and we went in and my friends were surprised to find that the dinning room was much more modern and comfortable you would expect based on the exterior appearance. Well we were treated to a wide array of seafood platters cooked in the best downeast style.

As we were leaving everyone expressed their gratitude for such an unexpected wonderful meal. The Senator said that he was going to come down for a weekend and take his out to dinner at the seafood shack. What’s that old saying, “You can’t tell a book by its cover”.

Doe's Eat Place

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it's still there...

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