• Welcome to the Oral History Archive of Foodways Texas. The mission of Foodways Texas is to preserve, promote, and celebrate the diverse food cultures of Texas. Within this archive of Texas food history, you will find stories from some of the folks that help create those cultures. We are actively building our archive, so expect to find new histories on the site regularly.

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    Mama Sugar

    Fresno

    Nathan Jean “Mama Sugar” Sanders is a legend in the east Texas “Cowboy World” and the matriarch of a riding and roping family that bridges four generations. Born on a farm in Nacogdoches, Texas, by the time she was twenty years old, Sanders had enough ...
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    Gatlin’s BBQ

    Houston

    Greg Gatlin opened his family’s namesake restaurant with his mother and father in June 2010. A graduate of Rice University, in business, Gatlin and his parents run their establishment like, what he calls, “a conglomerate of heads.” The brisket is smoked ...
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    Louie Mueller Barbecue

    Taylor

    Bobby Mueller was born in Taylor, Texas, in 1939. Louie Mueller was Bobby’s father, who opened the restaurant and grocery store in 1949. When not in school or in the service, Bobby worked with the family business, which he bought from his father in 1974, ar...
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