Four Generations. One Recipe Box.
Serving Fairfield since 1953.
It started with a nine-year-old and a pot of chili
Samuel Augustus Daniel was born in 1906, and cooking was in his blood from the start. At nine years old he was already working for Mr. Joe Roller in downtown Fairfield, selling chili and Hokey Pokey.
He left school in the eighth grade and opened his own hamburger stand. Folks liked those burgers enough to give them their own name — Sam Burgers. Through the '30s and '40s he ran several more places around town, including a popcorn stand and a hot dog stand on the Fairfield square.
Sawdust floors and a sauce worth perfecting
In January 1944, Sammy married Doris Wayne Childs. In 1953 the two of them opened a small BBQ stand on the south side of town on Highway 75.
It wasn't much to look at — sawdust floors, old school desks for tables, surplus army tin trays for plates. But it's where Sammy perfected the BBQ sauce recipe we still use today. Doris was just as busy, developing the homemade pies and desserts that people still drive out of their way for.
Coming home
In 1963 the family moved to Delaware. They lasted three years before missing Fairfield and their friends too much, and came home to open another restaurant on Highway 75 south of town. That's where the famous homemade bread got its start.
Sammy passed away on June 15, 1967. His oldest son, Gilbert — known to everyone as Ponte — had already stepped in to run things during his father's illness. Gilbert had been working for his dad since he was nine years old, starting out bussing tables.
Doris kept working and kept making pies for 34 more years, retiring in 2001. She passed away on March 9, 2006.
A fourth generation at the table
Gilbert “Ponte” Daniel Sr. carried Sam’s forward for the rest of his life — moving the restaurant out to Interstate 45 and making the all-you-can-eat buffet its centerpiece. He passed away in 2025, but the recipes he protected and the standards he set are still exactly how we do things.
Today Sam’s is in its fourth generation. Sonny Daniel and his adult children work in and help run the restaurant — the same family, the same recipe box, still cooking for Fairfield.
Still here. Still made from scratch.
The recipes haven't changed. The pies are still made fresh every morning, the bread is still homemade, and the BBQ still comes off the pit the way Sammy figured out how to do it back in 1953.
Sam's Original in the Press
Texas Monthly
“One of the best deals in Texas.”
“It’s also homemade food. The crisp fried chicken isn’t dumped out of a freezer bag, and the mashed potatoes were real.”
“It’s a family business,” Sonny said, just like it has been since the early fifties.
Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly BBQ review, April 15, 2026
Read the Full Review
Mark Wiens Abroad — “I Tried a $19 Highway Buffet in Texas!! (Full Review)”