Suds & Duds

Greensboro, North Carolina

Field Note

To read Yelp reviews proclaiming that a hybrid laundromat-dive bar isn’t up to par for impressing someone on a first date is to pity someone who can’t read a room. Suds & Duds has anchored a Greensboro city block since 1980, mashing up a time-consuming activity (laundry) with an excellent way to pass the time (drinking) in one of the great dive bar synergies.

Occupying a building that dates to 1935, Suds & Duds was opened by original owner Bill Wardle, a bit of a local Greensboro celebrity over the years thanks to multiple stints as announcer for the city’s minor league baseball and hockey teams. After opening an original Suds & Duds location in nearby Carrboro, Wardle has plans to open a chain of college campus-adjacent dive bar-laundromat hybrids, eventually peaking at four locations.

The Greensboro location outlasted the other Suds & Duds outposts, perhaps in part due to its perfect location on a residential street corner dotted with a handful of other drinking and eating options. The space today occupied by Suds & Duds was once the Elam Drug Store, an example of the location’s tight knit relationship with the neighborhood that surrounds it. The letters of the original Elam Drug Store sign can still be seen faintly depicted along the Suds & Duds exterior.

Wardle sadly passed away in 2012, ownership eventually transferring to current owner Eric Flick. Updates have been made here and there, but make no mistake that this is every bit a dive bar hitched to a laundromat in the best possible way. The space unfolds exactly as it sounds, most of the square footage dedicated to sprawling washer and dryer machines. Wooden columns in the rear of the space proclaim the bit of land given over to drinking, complete with ping pong table and other games.

The bar itself works as a hub with windows open to both the laundromat and drinking areas of the space. Stools surround this island of sorts, allowing those doing their laundry to never stray too far from the proceedings. For those a little less concerned about the safety or cleanliness of their garments, a handful of distractions pile into the non-washing machine space including a handful of pool tables that straddle drinking and cleaning sides of the building.

The business within a business feeling of the space creates a transitory vibe thanks to frequent cycles of locals and regulars in and out of the Greensboro dive bar as their loads of wash need tending to. Ample televisions surround the space, creating convenient reasons to stare off into the distance rather than fully engage with strangers for those so inclined. Suds & Duds is also fortunate to anchor a city block that includes the nearby Walkers Bar, creating a dive bar one-two punch in an otherwise highly residential area.