Café Crocodile is located in the Oudezakstraat. The street has existed since the time of the Ferraris maps around 1770. We can consider “Oude Zak” as follows: A Zak was always a street that ended in a dead end, as in French and English “cul de sac” or in German “sackgasse” . “Oude” could mean that the street got a passage after a while, but that the street corresponds to the former Zak (street). The part of the street close to the church was always a concentration of inns with resounding names like De Drie Klokken and De Vrijheidsboom. Also many “rows”: a brewery, a distillery, a pottery. The end of the street (at Knesselarestraat) is a small square: Het Ezelendeke is what the Oedelemnaars call it.
The current street scene shows a collection of firm detached and semi-detached houses, but also unit buildings with a small-scale character. The buildings illustrate different styles: sometimes simple plastered moldings, sometimes with decorative anchors. You can also find a detached villa in cottage architecture in Oudezakstraat.
The house where café Crocodile is located was built by contractor Staf Deneve at the time. First there was an operation as a Welvaartwinkel. Mr. and Mrs. Lanckriet-Scherrens were the first operators. Then came the Maes-De Cuyper family and then Mrs. Maenhout-Dhondt. Then the grocery shop became a café: Café Moderne, where four owners passed in review. It is the current manageress, Katrien Wittevrongel, who changed the name to Café Crocodile.