Although it's a major road, Old Leland Road isn't labeled in this map. It's easy to find Bud's Cafe. Headed north on Highway 1, turn right on Old Leland Road. As soon as you turn right, start looking on your left for a big nightclub. That's Bud's Cafe. When I mentioned places to eat "where the peas started the day on the vine and the pie started the day as peaches," this is the place I had in mind. Every white person in Greenville will tell you that you've got to eat at Doe's Eat Place which is located on the far west end of Nelson Street. Now, if you will remember, that's the very same street those same white people will tell you that you can't go to if you're white. But by now you should know that you shouldn't pay much attention to white people in Greenville. But do eat at Doe's Eat Place because it has good food and a wonderful atmosphere--it looks like a juke joint converted into a restaurant. But it only serves steaks and seafood, and if I'm not mistaken, you can buy that in Paris, France, or in Paris, Texas. So go to Doe's if you want a steak and a bottle of Bordeaux and you want to rub elbows with other tourists or high-brow bankers and high-society blue-rinse old-money aristocratic ladies.
Dorothy and Arthur Weeks own Bud's Cafe, and Dorothy does the cooking and runs the cafe. I don't know what Arthur does unless it's eat real damned well. She opens daily a little before noon. You can eat in or take out. If you eat in, you'll see a steady stream of folks packing out to-go orders. I went by Bud's Cafe one morning about, oh, between nine and ten, and I was looking for a cup of coffee. It wasn't open but Dorothy let me in anyway. Believe it or not, I drank a cup of coffee and helped Dorothy shell purple hull peas, part of that day's lunch menu. Y'all, she had picked those peas that morning. So I don't have to tell y'all what I did. I hung around until lunch. The price: $5, including tax and drink. |
