|
HISTORYDOE SIGNADoe's Eat Place was established in 1941 by Dominick "Doe" Signa and his wife Mamie. The building, however, was first a grocery store opened by Doe's father in 1903. The 1927 flood devastated them and Papa turned to bootlegging to survive. Around 1940 Mamie got a partial recipe for hot tamales. She improved the recipe and started selling them. At first they ran a honky-tonk in the front part of the store, serving buffalo fish and chili. The "carriage" trade arrived by the back door. One of the local doctors began coming for a meal between calls. Big Doe would cook him up a steak and feed him in the back. Soon the doctor brought another doctor, then a lawyer, and soon there was a regular restaurant in the back. Doe eventually closed the honky-tonk and focused on the eat place. Big Doe Signa retired in 1974 and turned the business over to the next generation of Signa's. Since then, additional locations have opened, as well as franchise locations. Mamie passed away in 1955 and Doe Sr. in 1987.
|
