The Business Through The Decades series is an ongoing series highlighting and telling the stories of the local businesses that have been in Mineral Wells through the decades. One business will be highlighted at the least every week by a journalist at Goodday Mineral Wells. We hope you enjoy these articles, and they let you get a new view of businesses we’ve grown to love in Mineral Wells.
Every generation has a memory of their favorite place to eat with family and friends. This place could be where everyone went after a high school football game. Or an ice cream place before a nervous first date. Sometimes, it’s a family burger joint where they could have fun before going bowling or watching a movie. Dairy Mart has been that kind of place for Mineral Wells for over fifty years. This wonderful establishment has filled multiple generations not only with good food but great memories as well.
Dairy Mart originally was owned by a man named John Clark, who built the eatery in 1962. Clark kept it for a few years, but the business changed hands quite a bit over the years. It was sold to Jesse’s Drive-In. Not long after that, Jesse Sold Dairy Mart to Bruce Light. He had it for close to twenty years before Light eventually sold the business to Bill Walker and his wife Debbie in 2004. These became the permanent owners of Dairy Mart. The restaurant is still currently owned and run by the Walker family.
The Walker family has become a beloved member of the Mineral Wells community through their hard work at the Dairy Mart. But their story starts long before 2004. Bill Walker was born and raised in Massachusetts. He came down to the small town of Mineral Wells when his family bought the Crazy Water Hotel. It was through this connection he met his wife, Debbie. While working at the hotel as a young adult, he met Debbie’s Mother, who also worked at the hotel. This intern introduced the two to wedding bells. “Next thing I know, we had a bunch of kids.” It was a love story that could have made the black and white movies. But the couple decided they wanted to run their own restaurant, which led them to Dairy Mart.
Since then, they have been serving the neighborhood with some of the best food in town, along with great hospitality. Walker says the most crucial thing they strive for in their business is customer satisfaction. Walker notes that Mineral Wells’s community is a “Tight Nit” town compared to living eleven miles from downtown Boston. This closeness within the public has made Mineral Wells stand out, especially for the Walkers.
The location itself has not changed much over the years because it has been “great just the way it is”. There hasn’t been a need to jazz it up because the finesse is already there. Between the giant milkshakes and specialty, onion rings Dairy Mart has stayed popular throughout the years. Although keeping up with the times has been a challenge for all older fields. Technology has changed the business over the years by starting with cash and checks being switched to mostly visa cards. Walker correlates the change with a fun memory, “When I first got the Visa machine, Ya know it was dial-up. I could go fill up two drinks and come back, and it still hadn’t given me an answer. Now it takes a second maybe, and you got an answer.”
Currently, the Walkers have had the location for sixteen years, and all of the children help run the restaurant. His youngest was eight years old when they bought the business, so they have grown up loving what they do as a family. The kids have every intention of keeping the business going. It was asked if they love or hate working there sometimes. Walker’s chuckled response was, “Both, like me. There are some days where you make- 170$. It’s great. On other days you lose 170$, you cry.” It’s not the capital that keeps them going. They generally enjoy what they do. Despite some days where the income isn’t high, they still love the place they have built together. They always find a way to work together to ensure another day is a success no matter the outcome.
Writer | I graduated from Weatherford College with an Associates in Art, focusing on history, creative writings, sociology, and humanities. Experience in child development, client care, and runs local Spoken Word Poetry group for young teens.
