Madison’s Greenbush Neighborhood has a rich history that many people have forgotten. But as Maria Brunetta tells us, business owner and long-time Madisonian Sam Brown is working to preserve the legacy of the historic neighborhood.
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Decades ago, the Greenbush neighborhood in Madison was ethnically diverse. It was home to African Americans, plus Jewish and Italian immigrants.
Then, in the 1960s, the city kicked out most of the residents for an urban renewal project.
“Those families experienced horrible trauma and were uprooted from their homes,” said Sam Brown, who owns businesses on Greenbush’s Regent Street. “The whole neighborhood bulldozed. Churches and synagogues torn down, grocery stores torn down, restaurants torn down. It was a very vibrant neighborhood, and they were poorly compensated for their property,”
Nowadays, Regent Street is home to beloved local businesses and student housing. It’s also a prime destination for University of Wisconsin-Madison football tailgate parties. But the street still holds a lot of historical significance that’s not always known to newcomers.
Brown is a native Madisonian who has long aspired to bring back the area’s cultural history.
“I always dreamed of bringing red sauce back to Regent Street. Park and Regent Street used to be known as ‘Spaghetti Corners,’” he said.
Brown now owns Fabiola’s Spaghetti House & Deli as well as Leopold’s Books Bar Caffè.
Fabiola’s is an ode to the businesses that made up Spaghetti Corners.
“You had Josie’s. You had Amato’s. You had Pino’s. You had DiSalvo’s,” said Brown. “I wanted to create a space that had a feeling of historic significance.”
Interior view of DiSalvo’s Spaghetti House bar in April 1944, located at 810 Regent Street in the Greenbush neighborhood. Family portraits, including servicemen, are on wall above the bar, and a service flag with stars. (Courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society)
Brown’s roots in the Madison culinary scene — and another type of red sauce — run deep.
Before Fabiola’s opened in 2023, the building was occupied by Rocky Rococo’s, a pizza chain and Madison staple co-founded by his father, Roger Brown, in the 1970s.
“When I was 16 and in high school, I was working here at this Rocky’s on Regent Street — doing football prep and boiling brats for game days and sweeping floors,” said Brown.
He’s always had big dreams for Regent Street.
“I have a ridiculous love affair with Regent Street,” said Brown. “I think that Regent Street should be a phenomenal thoroughfare that welcomes you in from the west side into the downtown.”
But Leopold’s and Fabiola’s aren’t the only ways he’s spicing up the neighborhood.
Brown recently purchased a beloved staple: Greenbush Bar, which is in the basement of the Italian Workmen’s Club.
Owner Sam Brown talks with customers at Greenbush Bar in Madison. (Photo by Isabelle Delfosse)
“The Italian Workmen’s Club is one of the oldest Italian social clubs in America. The building was built in 1922 by club members and the basement space has always been a tavern,” said Brown.
And in July 2024, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
“I would be run out of town on a rail if I changed too much over at Greenbush,” Brown said smiling. “So our restoration of the space is really to keep it largely as it was. The pizza is staying the same. The same Christmas lights that everybody loves on the ceiling — those are staying, too.”
The Greenbush Bar in Madison with its iconic Christmas lights on the ceiling. (Photo by Isabelle Delfosse)
Brown is also on the board of the Neighborhood House, Madison’s oldest community center.
“We have been serving Madison’s Greenbush neighborhood and the south side since 1916,” he said. “We were part of the original Greenbush neighborhood.”
Neighborhood House staff and volunteers are seeking to expand their services and impact. They are currently undergoing a redevelopment of the site, which will include things like art spaces, dance studios, venue space and a social services wing so that they can continue serving their community.
“We have about 4,000 usable square feet for community center space. We are going to build a new five-story building that will include a 17,000-square-foot community center along with four stories of affordable housing above (it),” said Brown.
He wants to continue telling the story of the neighborhood with what’s left of it.
“There’s a home next to the Italian Workmen’s Club that was from that era. There’s a fire pit in Brittingham Park. That’s all that remains,” said Brown. “The Italian Workmen’s Club is still around, and Neighborhood House as an institution is still around. But besides that, the neighborhood is gone.”
While a lot of the immigrant history in the past, Brown’s vision is to bring it back to Madison one dish and building at a time.
The Italian Workmen’s Club and Greenbush Bar on Madison’s Regent Street. (Maria Brunetta/WPR)
