Green Acres Cafe
Green Acres Cafe is a chain of fast-food restaurants founded in Chicago in 1946 by William Gratton. Gratton expanded the chain to six locations before he moved to Birmingham and brought the business with him.
Gratton opened the first Birmingham location, in North Birmingham, in 1950. His brother, Charles, worked with him and then opened a second location across the street from the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1958. After relocating a few times, Charles' operation settled into its current location at 1705 4th Avenue North in 1990. It was Charles who decided to try to get rid of extra wings left over after people bought 1/2 and 1/4 chickens by offering a special plate of a half dozen wings with bread and fries for 25 cents.
Charles' son Greg took over the business, which expanded to 11 locations, all offering the same proven menu of fried chicken wings, hamburgers and fries, fried fish, sandwiches, fried okra and fried green tomatoes. His daughter, Tomeka Bell, was named CEO in 1995.
In 2007 the chain was honored with a "Hoodie Award" for the nation's "Best Fried Chicken Place" by the Steve Harvey Morning Show. The show airs locally on WHUT FM "Hot 107.7".
At the suggestion of Randall Woodfin, Green Acres Cafe was invited to participate in the Democratic Mayors Association's "Taste of America's Cities" program at the 2024 Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The restaurant provided fried green tomatoes for visitors to sample individually. Woodfin posted a photo from the event to social media, showing the table set-up with a red banner and a local employee serving individual fried green tomatoes in paper cones. The post sparked real and feigned confusion and outrage about the differences between the event set-up and the actual restaurants, with some wondering if the business had been sold.
Locations
- Downtown: 1705 4th Avenue North, owned by Charles Gratton (opened 1990)
- Center Point: 2405 Center Point Parkway
- Hueytown: Allison-Bonnett Memorial Drive (opened July 2006)
- Ensley: 913 20th Street Ensley (opened July 31, 2014)
Former locations
- North Birmingham: 2724 29th Avenue North, opened 1950 by William Gratton
- Avondale: 4350 3rd Court South
- Irondale: 1819 Crestwood Boulevard owned by Greg's wife, Cindy (August 2005–2020)
- West End: 1749 Pearson Avenue
- Tarrant: 3931 Vanderbilt Road (May 2006–)
- Times Square Shopping Center, Forestdale: (September 2006–)
- East Lake: 8501 1st Avenue North, owned by Greg's daughter, Tomeka Baylor (March 2006–)
References
- Gratton, Charles Austin (June 22, 1994) Behind the Veil: Documenting African American Life in the Jim Crow South. Duke University. Interview with Tywanna Whorley
- Williams, Roy L. (June 4, 2006) "Recipe for success" The Birmingham News
- Brown, Angela (October 2006) "Worth the Wait." Birmingham Magazine. Vol. 46, No. 10. p. 250
- Jordan, Phillip (March 15, 2007) "Winging it: Green Acres makes history with franchises, staying powers." Birmingham Weekly.
- Michaels, Ryan (April 13, 2022) "Meet Greg Gratton, Owner of Birmingham’s Legendary Green Acres Cafe" The Birmingham Times
- Short, Cody D. (August 21, 2024) "Green Acres at the DNC? Birmingham restaurant goes viral after mayor’s post." AL.com