3131 2nd Avenue
Standard Oil Service Station, White Grove Restaurant
Over the years, I’ve photographed this restaurant at least a dozen times. None of the images were anything fancy—but, let’s be honest, neither is the restaurant.
It looks like the kind of joint you’d stumble into at 2:30 AM after getting kicked out of the bar to smash a few burgers before going home to disappear into your dreams for the night—and half of the next day, only to be awoken by your gut telling you that it’s time to get rid of what you forced down the night before. If you’ve had that sort of night, you understand what I’m saying; if not, I don’t know what to tell you.
My years of such debauchery are over, and 3131 2nd Avenue is done serving them up, but the structure still fascinates me. I was shocked to learn that the plot of land housed a service station before the current building was constructed.
By 1921, there was a Standard Oil Gas Station there. Cass Technical High School was still being built, the cornerstone for the Masonic Temple was freshly laid, and the term Cass Corridor was years from existing. However, Detroit’s upward trend was powered by gasoline, so small stations dotted the landscape.
In August 1933, Paul McConkey had the idea to rob the service station. He asked a friend, Joseph Gollema, to join him. Gollema decided to let fate determine if he’d run the job with McConkey and flip a coin. If it fell heads, he’d sit this one out; but if it were tails, he’d join his friend. The coin flipped heads, but Gollema decided he wanted to case the joint anyways. The men were caught and later identified by the station attendant, Albert Madison. Both had priors; Gollema got 2-15 years, and McConkey got 15-30.
At some point after that, the service station closed. According to the Detroit Metro Times, White Grove Restaurant was there by 1948. Originally a tiny Greek restaurant, the joint ebbed and flowed with the Cass Corridor as the neighborhood teetered through existence.
The Corridor’s story has been told repeatedly—humble beginnings, noble heights, decline, artists’ revival, and gentrification. That’s oversimplifying things, but the history of the Cass Corridor isn’t dissimilar to Detroit as a whole. One of the few constants was the existence of the White Grove Restaurant.
At some point, a woman named Frieda started working there and may have owned it. To this day, her memory is beloved by hundreds of folks in various Cass Corridor-centered Facebook groups. She was known for being a good cook and kind to kids when they came around.
Later, White Grove was run by Helen Turner. A 2009 article in the Metro Times by Detroitblogger John paints a grim picture of the final days of the slider joint. Run by Turner and a man who went by Linwood Martin, they describe a constant battle to keep things running smoothly. Online reviews from the final years of the restaurant’s existence range from the best food on earth to something you’d be foolish to put into your mouth—without much in between.
The restaurant closed around 2013. Since then, little has happened at 3131 2nd Avenue.
Long grass grows in a vacant lot to the north, and there’s a liquor store pretending to be a grocery store across Peterboro. On the opposite side of 2nd, there are two sizable dingy parking lots—one that recently got a new fence. Behind the White Grove sits The Charlotte, a newly renovated apartment building. Down 2nd avenue sits another small parking lot and a larger lot owned by the Ilitch family across Charlotte.
That was a long-winded way to say that although White Grove Restaurant is close to many places of interest in Detroit, it’s surrounded by a sea of vacant lots and parking.
The neighborhood around the restaurant is a curious case study. In many ways, not much has changed in recent years. There’s still a lot of foot traffic, vacant lots, and folks asking for change. I spoke with a handful of people while shooting these photographs, two of whom I’d spoken to before. However, a new generation of Cass Corridor residents has moved in. In addition to familiar faces, a jogger passed me standing in the bike lane, two cyclists with bikes that easily totaled over $3,000 whizzed by, and a pedestrian walking their designer dog meandered passed. None of the four even glanced at me except for the dog; they were interested.
Don’t get me wrong—I don’t find an issue with new folks moving into the neighborhood. There was a lot of underutilized housing stock here for years, many of which would be considered historic. However, in my experience, most newcomers have no interest in socializing with those who have been here for decades—which is a bummer. I don’t have an answer for that issue; it’s just something I’ve noticed in Detroit, but the Cass Corridor and Midtown more often.
The White Grove Restaurant sold in 2016 for $25,000. It’s currently owned by Daniel P. Tatarian, who used to run Showtime Clothing on Woodward.
It was listed for sale in February 2018 and again in February 2021.
At one time, little structures like this were common across Detroit. Today, we’ve only got a handful left. They’re an iconic piece of Detroit’s culinary history; hopefully, a new owner will realize that.
After all, who doesn’t love a greasy burger?
