With a pair of giant scissors and family, friends and civic leaders standing by, entrepreneur Diane Miller on Monday cut a ribbon that formally reopened a dining establishment that was an institution in Stockbridge’s Black community.
The Green Front Cafe, which operated as both restaurant and community gathering spot for more than five decades before closing in 2002, was brought back to life after four years of renovations, funding from various state and private organizations and a lot of sweat equity from Miller and a cadre of volunteers.
“When you walk in the building you can feel the spirit, you can feel the love, you can feel the sense of community,” Miller said.
The tiny eatery was originally opened in 1949 by owner Carrie Mae Hambrick, who used the business as a way to feed, clothe and connect the Black residents of what was then a rural county of around 11,000 people just down the road from Atlanta. It also brought together the Henry County city’s Black and white residents who would dine there together during segregation, forming friendships during a period when such fellowships were not common.
Through the restaurant, Hambrick fed Black families struggling to make ends meet, pulled together trips to baseball games in Atlanta or to Six Flags Over Georgia for Black children, and brought back together old friends after they had grow up and moved away.
Black families that didn’t have phones in the early days of the restaurant also could call the establishment and get messages to diners or others in the community because of its central hub role.
Hambrick retired in 2002 and died in 2010 at age 90.
“People had a tab with Mrs. Hambrick, but she didn’t care about getting repaid,” Stockbridge City Councilman Alphonso Thomas told a crowd of about 50 people who gathered for the opening Monday. Thomas worked as a manager at the restaurant for many years.
“They could come over and over because Mrs. Hambrick saw the need,” he said. “She fed the whole community. She clothed the whole community.”
The updated version of the restaurant, which had a soft opening in March, includes menu items such as fried and baked chicken, ox tails, hot dogs, fried catfish, greens, fried okra, mac and cheese, candied yams and pound cake, with shrimp and grits and other dishes coming soon, according to the eatery’s online menu.
Credit: LEON STAFFORD
Credit: LEON STAFFORD
In celebration of the restaurant and as an homage to Hambrick, Stockbridge will have a free community cookout from 1 p.m.-6 p.m. May 13 at the cafe, 112 2nd Street in Stockbridge, Thomas said. The event will feature a variety of food, music and community activities.
“Please come out to help us continue the legacy and the spirit of this establishment,” he said.
Kira Harris-Braggs, program manager for Stockbridge’s Main Street plan, said the city received several grants to help Miller resuscitate The Green Front, including repairing the restaurant’s roof and adding signage. The city also received tourism funding to promote the business.
Hiram Hambrick, the son of the restaurant’s founder, complimented Miller on her handling of his mother’s business, especially the taste of the food.
“You keep going the way you’re going now, you can’t do anything but progress,” he said he told Miller.
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