For years, friends and family members urged
James to open a catfish restaurant in the Houston area. They
were sure that fish, as delicious as his, could only produce a
successful restaurant (well also they could have his fish
anytime they wanted then). But, because of the time consuming
commitment of a restaurant, along with his family's security and
other responsibilities, James never wanted to take on this
endeavor.
In 1987 James and Joyce were approaching their
retirement years from their respective careers. They
were looking for an avenue that would allow them to travel and also
make a supplement to their retirement income. Depending on
who was telling the story, James or Joyce, the idea for a
concession trailer came to them. So James designed and built
the first Catfish On Wheels trailer. It was the intension of
the Varnell's to use the trailer at festivals and do some roadside
vending. However, within six months James had so many
requests for catering that the hobby/business took off in a totally
different direction than expected. So James took his trailer
and his secret recipe into the many plants and businesses in the
Houston area to share with new customers.
In June of 1996 Catfish On Wheels was going
strong but, James and Joyce were ready to do the traveling they had
in mind back in 1987. So they passed Catfish On Wheels down
to their oldest son, Bruce. They bought themselves a motor
home and hit the road. Since 1996 Bruce has added five more
rigs to his operation and is still growing.
In May of 2000, Brett (James and Joyce's youngest
son) opened another Catfish On Wheels location in Longview,
Texas where he now operates three rigs in that area and is also
still growing.
From the very beginning Catfish On Wheels has
been a family affair. From the days of James' first trailer
to the present Catfish On Wheels has employed brothers, sisters,
children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins and many
friends. The Varnell's are on their third generation and
still going. They have made many fond memories on past
catering events and expect to make more in the future.
Today the Varnell brothers continue with their
father's tradition of friendly, reliable service with customer
satisfaction always being their goal and number one priority and oh
yeah, their "Daddy's Ol' Secret Recipe".
When ask if they still like to eat catfish after
cooking it daily for many years, one familiy member smiled and
replied "Yes, but, it has cut down on the family fish
frys".
