Farmersville, Texas, the birthplace of Audie Murphy, offers a bewildering variety of restaurants for its size. Farmersville, Texas, a small but vibrant main street town to the north-east of Dallas, has a wealth of history and many popular antique shops but is worth a visit just for the excellent range of cuisine it offers in its many restaurants.
Farmersville: a Texas Treasure
Farmersville, Texas, a small town about an hour’s journey north-east of Dallas, has a wealth of antique shops, old buildings, and quaint frame houses. On the first Saturday of every month, it holds a “Farmers’ and Fleas’ Market” and every month a different Country artiste performs at the local Opry. The history of the town dates back to 1849 and is reflected in the many antique shops: there is even a monument to the Confederate dead. The town won Main Street status in 2003 for its beautifully preserved main square with its original brick cobbles and 19th Century buildings.
Farmersville: Audie Murphy’s Home Town
Audie Murphy, the USA’s most decorated hero in WWII, was born near Farmersville and spent his youth there. The town square includes a museum commemorating him and, every year, holds a celebration in his honor with speeches and a parade of vintage cars, driven by veterans, and floats – a fun afternoon out. This year, Audie Murphy Day is being celebrated on Saturday, June 18th.
Farmersville is also the birthplace of Monty “Hawkeye” Henson, 3 times world champion rodeo cowboy, and Herb Ellis, the jazz guitarist. On a less salubrious note, Tex Watson, a member of the Manson family and involved in the murder of Sharon Tate, grew up in nearby Copeville and attended Farmersville’s schools.
Where to Eat in Farmersville, Texas
The town is well worth a visit for its monthly market, history, and antique shops alone but it also knows how to titillate the tastebuds of its residents and visitors with a wide variety of restaurants, including a (genuine) 50’s diner and some of the very best Italian cuisine in Texas, all at country prices.
As you enter the main square itself, on your right, near the Post Office, you will find Tony’s Mexican restaurant, independently owned and offering a good variety of excellent Mexican cuisine at reasonable prices.
On the right-hand side of the main square itself, nestled among the antique shops, is a genuine 50’s diner, Daddy-O’s Doo Wop Diner, serving country cuisine including chicken fried steak and chicken, and pork chops, in an ambiance celebrating the music stars of the ’50s and early ’60s, including original vinyl jukebox EPs under glass on the tables. A blue plate special is available every weekday.
At the head of the square lies the Sugarhill Country Kitchen providing a buffet and à la carte menu in an upscale environment with prices to match. The restaurant is housed in a complex of three interconnected buildings housing a function room, a boutique, and an antique store.
To find some of the best Italian food in Texas, however, you do not need even to enter the center of town. Victor’s Italian Kitchen lies on US Highway 78, just before the First National Bank and the turnoff into Audie Murphy Parkway. The restaurant, converted from a small service station, has a rustic ambiance reminiscent of the little restaurants that dot the Italian countryside where the cuisine is equally superb. The chef/owner has 25 years of experience in cooking Italian food and it shows. There is an extensive and very economical lunch menu – try the Princess pasta in pink vodka sauce or any of the dishes served with Victor’s home-made tomato Pomodoro sauce. The dinner menu offers even more, with huge portions – try the Chicken Marsala or Sicilian Chicken. The restaurant is also a favorite for its home-made pizza to eat in or to go.
Pizza is also available from Mr. Jim’s Pizza further up on US 78 and Pizza Street on US 380. More comfort food is also available in the same block as Mr. Jim’s at Charlie’s Old Fashioned Burgers, which also sells Italian ice cream, and at Just Donuts. This small selection of food outlets is now complemented by a Chinese restaurant due to open its doors very shortly.
Every town of note should have a Dairy Queen and Farmersville is no exception. Well-placed on US Highway 380, it offers a Blue Plate Special every weekday, burgers for $1.00 every Monday from 5.00 PM, and tacos for $0.89 every Tuesday evening.
The local Sonic is also on US 380, as will be the proposed ubiquitous McDonalds to be constructed in the new out-of-town retail park near the Brookshires supermarket. The local Subway restaurant, some 4 miles along US 380 in the direction of Greenville, is currently closed, awaiting rebuilding following a disastrous fire.
If your tastes tend towards catfish and steak, Catfish Heaven awaits you on US 380 beyond Lake Lavon in Princeton, along with more fast food outlets. More well-recommended Mexican cuisine can also be found south on US 78 at La Flor and a little further on, in the direction of Wylie, pizza lovers will discover Pizza Getty (no relation, I am told).
Lastly, aficionados of Mexican cuisine will discover the Casa Vieja, another restaurant worth a visit, north on US 78 near Blue Ridge, a small township where country cooking can also be enjoyed at the Cattleman’s Café on W. James Street in the center of town.
How to Reach Farmersville
Farmersville lies at the intersection of US Highways 78 and 380, a few miles from the edge of the Dallas conurbation at Wylie, traveling north alongside the lake on Highway 78. On Highway 380, Farmersville is located midway between McKinney and Greenville close to the northern border of Lake Lavon, on the eastern edge of Collin county.
Restaurant Addresses
- Charlie’s Old Fashion Burgers, 604 Tx-78 N, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-7900
- Daddy-O’s Doo Wop Diner, 117 McKinney St, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-7341
- Dairy Queen, 201 Audie Murphy Pky E, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-8492
- La Flor Mexican Cozina, 701 State Highway 78 S, #120, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-7950
- Mr. Jims, 602 Tx-78 N, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-7333
- Pizza Street, 1203 Us-380 E, #106, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-7601
- Sonic Drive-In, 770 Audie Murphy Pky W, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-7738
- Sugarhill Country Kitchens, 115 S Main St, Farmersville, TX (972) 784-2121
- Tony’s Mexican Restaurant, 201 McKinney St, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-6370
- Victor’s Italian Kitchen, 205 State Highway 78 S, Farmersville, TX (972) 782-8002