Smokey D’s

That is holy smoke you see rolling over the barbecue stand in Knollwood. Dale Bryant thanks the Lord for leading him to the smoked meat business, and business is booming at Smokey D’s Bar-B-Q in the little suburban community north of Sherman.

Tamale Man: Nabor Quiroz

Nabor Quiroz is a celebrity in the world of handmade homemade tamales. His wife and daughters are in charge of production and he is the company’s primary distribution channel. Known also as “Tamale Man,” Quiroz has been peddling tamales in Texoma from the back of his SUV for more than a decade. Now the family is opening a permanent business in Van Alstyneat the site of the Elmont Farmers Market.

Kent's Tex Mex Restaurant

Kent’s Tex-Mex

Heading northbound on Hwy 75 in Denison, just before the exit for Hwy 120, the Garcia’s Restaurant sign sits atop the oil derrick as a reminder of just how risky the food business can be. Not that many years ago the seemingly prime location was home to Harper’s, a steak and potato place. When Sherman Town Center’s restaurant row began to develop, Harpers fell on hard times and eventually became Bayou Daddy’s.

Old World Meat Market

It’s about meat, or MEAT in the vernacular of the hungry summer grill master. Brisket smoking long and slow, pork chops, really thick pork chops, and of course, steaks—ribeyes, T-bones, the regal porterhouse—all with a char and a sizzle and juice that runs pink and warm when your knife slides through the beef. Got the picture?

Lupe’s Tamales

Think Wall Street. Very good. What comes to mind? Bears, bulls, stock exchange, high finance, tamales—Whoa! One moment please. What have tamales got to do with Wall Street? Well, it’s all about location. If you are thinking about the Wall Street in the Big Apple, all of those money references are a natural, but if it’s Wall Street in Sherman, then tamales take center stage—Lupe’s World Famous Tamales to be precise.

Devolli’s Italian Restaurant

It’s small for a restaurant kitchen. The four-burner commercial range sits between a sink and a waist-high cooler, which in turn rubs against a multi-level baking oven and warmer. On the weekends, when Devolli’s Italian Restaurant is jumping with customers waiting for dinner, Frank Devolli and his assistant have to watch out, lest they collide somewhere around the tall pot of red tomato sauce that usually sits on the corner of the range.

Rare Hamburger

The most recent book to praise the hamburger, “Hamburger Heaven: The Illustrated History of the Hamburger,” by Jeffrey Tennyson, hamburger is the “hands-down all-time favorite food.” “Lauded for its convenience and versatility as either snack or entree and labeled as both a cultural icon and a cliche, the hamburger—this omnipresent beef-between-bun creation— is a meaty, multifaceted phenomenon,” Tennyson wrote.