A Taste of History, Greenfield Village
20900 Oakwood Blvd.
Dearborn, Mich.
June 18, 2026
One of the cool things about Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford is its ability to make history an immersive experience – including with food. During a recent trip I made a first-time visit to A Taste of History, a restaurant with rotating themes that correspond with the people and periods represented within the open-air living history museum.
The restaurant is a casual, à la carte, counter-service dining experience. Its two main current themes include the Jackson Home and George Washington Carver.
The former corresponds with the newly opened Selma, Alabama, house that played a crucial role in establishing the Voting Rights Act in 1965. It features favorites from the Jackson family and popular Southern recipes from the 1960s sourced from the Freda De Knight cookbook, “A Date with a Dish.”
The latter offers soups and salads inspired by Carver’s agricultural work. The restaurant also features an archival menu of hot dogs, coney dogs, macaroni and cheese, and sandwiches, as well as baked goods that would have been served as Sarah Jordan’s Menlo Park boarding house.
I decided to try the jambalaya from the Jackson Home section and some good old-fashioned apple pie from the baked goods, washed down with a vanilla crème soda from Detroit’s own Faygo brand. It was quite the filling selection, which proved useful for what ended up being a 13,000+ step walking day.
The jambalaya was flavorful without being spicy or too salty, with generous chunks of chicken and sausage in a creamy rice. The whipped cream-topped apple pie was full of cinnamon and hearty without being overly sweet.
The overall vibe was both playful and educational. Displays on President Lincoln’s China, toy stoves and festive dishware guided you to the counter. The walls had signs with old food advertisements and mini-history lessons about the origins of hot dogs and chocolate chip cookies. All sat below a whimsical mix of eclectic chandeliers, which I particularly enjoyed.
If you’re visiting Greenfield Village and looking for a quick, casual stop to eat – A Taste of History is a fun, filling place to refuel.
