Texas Road Trippin’: Muddbones Burgers in Bonham, Texas

by Steven Doyle

This summer we will be road trippin’ with our friend from Channel 8’s  Daybreak’s “Favorite Foodie” Stacy Fawcett along the Texas Highways for some delicious food finds. There are some fantastic diners and road side trailers around Texas that are waiting to be sampled, and we look forward to your suggestions. Our first road trip was a short hour and fifteen minute buzz up to Bonham, Texas. This weekend is the perfect weekend to load up the family and ride that easy stretch of highway 121 that leads to the quaint town of Bonham.

Saturday marks the annual yard sale that expands over 19 communities throughout US Hwy 82 and 287. Shop more than 400 miles of yard sales while you explore the Red River Valley area of Texas and Oklahoma. Bonham will host a large sale in the heart of the city, with plenty of interesting finds waiting for you to snap up.    

One particular find we located this week during our trip to Bonham was Muddbones Burgers, which was definitely the most interesting way to begin our road trip series. The burger Mecca is owned by Jarrett Munger and Kyle Sanderson, an unlikely pair who began their restaurant foray in a trailer which they operated for two years, eventually moving the trailer to a beauty shop where the restaurant presides today. For some time they operated out of the trailer beside the salon, but eventually the salon moved out, and the boys moved in and renovated the building to what we see today. The restaurant is clean, with plenty of parking to accommodate the large influx of the lunch rush, and big weekends such as you might find this coming Saturday.

The name Muddbones comes from the nickname of Munger’s brother, a name that is identifiable to most in the small community, even though the brother has no stake in the operation.

Consider Munger the lead line cook, and Sanderson more of a front of the house man who spins yarns laced with clever adjectives and down home charm straight from the Mayberry playbook. Sanderson explains the origins of each menu offering with zeal. Although you will find a opossum burger on the menu, it is in fact a burger recipe concocted by his late wife that is laced with bacon and cheese in the center which play “opossum”, and is topped with grilled onion and pickles with a shot of BBQ sauce.

Some Sanderson-isms you might hear include, “never trust an empty parking lot, or a skinny cook”, and “don’t worry about the mule, just load the wagon”. He also say that your order will never be called out by number because you’re a name, not a number.

We ordered most of the menu and found that there were no fries offered at Muddbones, instead yo have a choice of chips. Munger said that he may add fries later, but they are content using their fryer to create rattlesnake eggs, which is actually an egg roll wrapper filed with secret-sauced sausage and jalapenos. The jalapeno plays a big factor in most of the offerings at the burger joint.

When cooked, the largish hand-formed beef patties are lined across the grill single file, and seared several times to ensure plenty of flavor. The buns are grilled as well, with a slight char on the crispy edges, and glazed slightly with the juices for that extra kick of beefy burger flavor. This day Munger’s bride, Jessica, was stationed to dress the burgers and each version, including the juicy yard bird sandwich, have their own bedding. The result is a massive, meaty burger that is juicy and delicious.

The Muddbones burger is a perfect example of what a burger in Texas should be, and well worth a drive from anywhere in this great state.

Muddbones is located at 1701 Hwy 121 in Bonham, Texas. Call for more information at (903) 583-5385.