Texas Tavern’s Millionaire’s Club can now learn about their beloved restaurant like never before, thanks to a new book. Roanoker Shari Dragovich, along with Mercer University Press, has just published “Texas Tavern, Four Generations of the Millionaires Club,” featuring the story of this iconic restaurant and the Bullington family who has owned and operated it since 1930.
The book is part of a series being published by Mercer University Press, titled “Food and the American South.” The series explores Southern foodways and the profound role food plays in understanding Southern places and their people.
Dragovich, a farm-raised Midwesterner and educator, is a transplant in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, having written for the last decade on foodways and thriving spots.
“Twelve years ago, when I first moved south of the Mason-Dixon line, I recognized something important about being a Southerner,” says Dragovich. “In the South, food tells the best kind of story. It’s a story steeped in the specifics of time and place. It is generational in its telling and is deeply personal. Yet it is expressed in a way that transcends itself.”
Dragovich is also The Roanoker Magazine’s dining writer, sharing her reviews on local eateries. Texas Tavern is an old favorite, of course, with a story unlike any other. Visitors and locals alike continuously frequent the 10-stool spot, eager to enjoy cheesy westerns and a bowl with.
“I think the Texas Tavern is really a love story about a family wholeheartedly dedicated to this place, Roanoke and its people,” says Dragovich. “This book will be of expressed interest to food lovers, local history crusaders and folks who love shows like Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. But mostly, it’s a book for Roanokers.”
For Dragovich, there was never a dull moment in the making of this book. She spent time with owner Matt Bullington and his family, listening to their stories, sifting through boxes of memorabilia and hearing stories of the previous generations. She took it a step further by actively working at TT, too.
“I spent hours behind the Tavern’s counter, serving drinks and food, listening to customers’ and employees’ stories and trying not to get in the way!” she says. “I spent more hours in the back, making batches of chile, chopping cabbage and practicing lingo with the employees. Oh, and listening to more stories. I worked a night shift and witnessed plenty of stories in the making.”
From all these experiences, as well as her own research of Roanoke’s history, Dragovich then had to turn the months of research into one big story that maintained the essence and spirit of the Tavern as it’s best told through all its individual stories.
“This felt like wrestling with an elephant for a long time,” Dragovich admits. “At the same time, it felt like this incredibly high privilege and equally high responsibility. It was terrifying and thrilling all at the same time.”
“Texas Tavern, Four Generations of the Millionaires Club” is the first book Dragovich has written for publication, and she enjoyed the learning experience in the publishing process. But it was what she learned about TT that really put her in the right mindset.
“I was surprised the first time I set foot in the back of the Tavern–how much they do with so little space, not to mention it being pretty much the same as it was in 1930,” she says. “I was surprised to learn all the wonderful things I did about Roanoke, like how quickly it grew from trading outpost to flourishing city. It even grew in the Great Depression Era and the airport played a central role during WWII. I also learned I really like cheesy westerns and grape soda!”
What didn’t surprise her? The generous spirit and open-heartedness she felt every time she walked into the Tavern. “From everyone–employees and customers alike,” she says. “Even on my nightshift–maybe especially on my nightshift!”
Dragovich has always had a hunch that if you truly want to understand a particular culture, you must study their most beloved places. “People make places, which in turn, makes people. Writing the Texas Tavern’s story turned this hunch into a full-blown belief.”
Above all, Dragovich is blown away not only by the trust granted by her publisher, but by the Bullington family. She went into the project as a stranger, but their generosity in every aspect (even when it was difficult) only solidified the belief that these kinds of moments are good and worthy undertakings.
“It’s no wonder to me how the Tavern has become the Roanoke icon that it is,” Dragovich says. “And if the book contains any amount of the magic within it as the place itself, it’s wholly because of those who placed their trust in me.”
“Texas Tavern, Four Generations of the Millionaires Club” releases September 2020. Too excited to wait? You can pick up your signed copy and meet the author at Texas Tavern on August 29 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Everyone who purchases a book will get a free bowl of the famous TT chile, too! View their Facebook event here. You can also learn more about the title on the publisher’s website here.
