Doe 's Eat Place is a chain of restaurants in the United States established in Greenville , Mississippi in 1941 by Dominick " Big Doe " Signa and his wife , Mamie . Doe 's father moved to Greenville in 1903 and opened a grocery store in the building that now serves as the restaurant . The family lived in a house behind the store . The grocery , which the Signa family called " Papa 's Store , " performed relatively well financially until the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 . After the flood , Big Doe Signa started a bootlegging business to help provide for his family . After several years he finally sold his 40-barrel still for $ 300 and a Ford Model T . At first , Signa ran a honky-tonk , strictly for blacks , in the front part of the store . Buffalo fish and chili were regular menu items at that time . Because of the racial segregation at the time it was socially unacceptable for whites to come into Doe 's . Therefore , when a local white doctor began to stop at Doe 's for a meal between house calls , Doe would serve him steaks in the rear of the store . As word-of-mouth spread about the steaks , Doe decided to start a restaurant in the rear of the building . For a short time , the honky tonk and restaurant co-existed . As the restaurant continued to grow in popularity , the honky-tonk was eventually closed . The restaurant has been racially integrated since the beginning . " Big Doe " retired in 1974 and passed along the business to his two sons Doe Jr. and Charles . Doe , Sr. died on April 27 , 1987 , and Mamie died on November 5 , 1955 . The original Doe 's Eat Place is still run from the building in which it started . It is a relatively small and shabby building in the middle of a downscale neighborhood . The dining area contrasts with the outside of the building by being clean and nicely maintained . Doe 's has been described as having a " dive-y atmosphere " and " ramshackle surroundings . " Customers enter the restaurant through the kitchen , and are traditionally greeted by a member of the Signa family ( usually male )
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Great Mississippi Flood of 1927
Doe's Eat Place