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Food and Fun

Backroads, Burgers and Homecoming Queens

By Beverly Gentry

Fall comes with its own traditions in small-town Texas. Friday night lights shine over football fields, homecoming mums grow bigger by the year, and former students make their way back to the places where they grew up. In Colmesneil, those memories aren’t confined to the school yearbook. Some of them have a place of honor on the walls of a favorite hometown restaurant.

About three and a half hours southeast of Dallas, Colmesneil is one of those small East Texas towns that welcomes friends, family and curious travelers with the easy hospitality the region is known for. The scenic drive through some of the most beautiful forests in the Lone Star State leads to a culinary and cultural treasure: The Burger House.

The Burger House is not just a place to grab a bite to eat; it is a living scrapbook of the community. Step through the front doors and your eyes are immediately drawn to walls filled with decades of cherished memories, including photographs of local Homecoming Queens dating back to the 1930s. Smiling across the dining room, the black-and-white and color portraits tell the story of generations of small-town royalty.

At any time of year, the collection is a nostalgic look at Colmesneil’s past. But come fall, when football and homecoming season roll around again, the photographs seem especially at home. Across Texas, homecoming is more than a football game. It is a reason to come back, reconnect and remember. There are pep rallies and mums, class reunions and familiar faces in the stands. For locals at The Burger House, the wall of queens is something of a community family album. For travelers, it offers a glimpse into a Texas tradition that has connected generations.

That deep connection to the past is no accident. The Burger House is rooted in family, built on a foundation of hiring local employees and enjoying the decades-long support of the Colmesneil community. The restaurant was founded in 1982 by Jimmy McMahon, who envisioned a family-run staple for the town. That dream became a multigenerational legacy when, in 1993, Jimmy’s sister, Virgie Trahan, purchased the restaurant and ran it for many years.

Today, Virgie’s son, Matt Trahan, carries on the family tradition. Since the early 2000s, Matt has helped guide the business through changing and sometimes challenging economic times. He managed the restaurant through the COVID-19 pandemic and has served multiple generations of locals and visitors. Through it all, he has maintained the core business principles established by his uncle and then his mother.

That continuity matters in a small town, particularly during a season built around coming home. The Burger House remains a gathering place for young and old, the kind of spot where someone who left town years ago can walk through the door and find something reassuringly familiar. During football and homecoming season, when communities such as Colmesneil fill with returning alumni, families and fans, places like this become part of the tradition, too. Trahan makes guests feel welcome the moment they arrive, greeting travelers with the same warmth he’d show a lifelong neighbor.

“We’ve always wanted everyone who walks through the door to feel like family,” Trahan said.

Of course, a destination road trip requires destination-worthy food, and The Burger House delivers. The food honors time-tested traditions over fast-food shortcuts. Burgers are formed by hand using a secret savory recipe handed down through the generations. Then there are the onion rings. Each is hand-dipped in house-made batter and fried until crisp and golden brown. The sound of burgers hitting the flat top and fresh onion rings bubbling in the fryer are part of the experience — and for generations of customers, part of the memory.

The Burger House is a reminder that some of the best travel discoveries are found along the backroads, where food and community are often inseparable. And fall may be one of the best times to go. Take the scenic drive through the East Texas pines, catch the glow of Friday night lights along the way and stop in for a burger surrounded by nearly a century of Colmesneil homecoming memories.

Bring a little cash — The Burger House doesn’t take credit cards. 

Guests may come for the burger and onion rings, but the homecoming queens on the walls tell another story — in small-town Texas, there’s something special about coming home.