Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Deb Tudor, Daddy’s Girl Smoked Meats & Catering
At a glance: Deb Tudor dreamed of having a restaurant with her father, who loved to grill steaks while she loved to smoke meat. After her father passed suddenly, she opened her own restaurant, which has drawn high praise, naming it Daddy’s Girl Smoked Meats & Catering.
More information: Ron Wilson, rwilson@ksu.edu, 785-532-7690
Photos: Ron Wilson | Deb Tudor
Website: Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Feb. 21, 2024
By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University
Where is the world’s most amazing restaurant?
According to a sixth-grader in Centralia, Kansas, it is located in the rural community of Goff. That opinion might also be supported by a whole lot of five-star reviews. Today we’ll meet the owner of this highly praised restaurant in this rural Kansas community.
Deb Tudor is the owner of Daddy’s Girl Smoked Meats & Catering in Goff. Tudor grew up in Wichita where her father was a truck driver who really enjoyed grilling steaks. She met and married a guy from Holton and they eventually moved to northeast Kansas. They live in the Nemaha County community of Wetmore, population 348. That’s rural – but stay tuned. Tudor also had a career as a paralegal.
At right: Deb Tudor | Download this photo
“My daddy was a grill-master,” Tudor said. “He could grill a steak that would melt in your mouth.”
As she grew older, Sunday was daddy-daughter day in her family. “My dad would grill steaks and we’d watch football or whatever was on TV,” Tudor said. “We even talked and dreamed about owning our own restaurant together.”
In later years, Tudor found she really enjoyed smoking meats. “That was my niche,” Tudor said. “People started asking me to smoke meat for them.”
In November 2018, Tudor’s father passed away suddenly. She thought about a way to make their restaurant dream a reality. In 2020, she bought a food truck and used it to sell her products in Holton and Sabetha.
Then she was approached about a new opportunity. A local man had purchased the historic 1880’s-vintage bank building in nearby Goff. “He asked me, ‘Would you like to have your own restaurant?’ I couldn’t turn it down,” she said.
Tudor agreed to lease the building. It took almost a year to remodel the old bank building into the restaurant and bar. The new business opened in December 2021. In honor of her father and her relationship with him, she named it Daddy’s Girl Smoked Meats & Catering.
Today, Daddy’s Girl Smoked Meats & Catering is open for dine-in business in the evenings on Wednesday through Sunday. One side of the building is the bar and the other side is for family dining, with an additional party room.
“We’re kind of a supper club,” Tudor said. “We have all ages at the restaurant.”
There is a complete bar, restaurant and kid’s menu. Popular features include five delicious smoked meats: beef brisket, pulled pork, spare ribs, smoked chicken, and smoked sausage. There are also burgers and other sandwiches, wraps, seafood, and even handmade pizzas with gluten-free options. Among the sides are the baked beans, which have been especially popular.
Daddy’s Girl also does catering, in person or in simply selling smoked meat by the pound. Tudor has provided meals for weddings, graduation parties and more. Her catering has taken her as far away as El Dorado.
Tudor said the people are the element of her business that she enjoys most. “I have an awesome clientele,” she said. “It’s great really getting to know the customers.”
The local elementary school is in Centralia. When the sixth graders were required to write an essay, a couple of them wrote essays about Daddy’s Girl Smoked Meats & Catering. One essay was titled, “The world’s most amazing restaurant.” Another was titled simply. “The best restaurant.”
“I cried when I read that,” Tudor said. “That meant more to me than all the five-star reviews that we’ve received.”
It’s great to find such a well-regarded restaurant in a rural community such as Goff, population 106 people. Now, that’s rural. “I like small town USA,” Tudor said. “I’m really glad to honor my dad and make our dream of owning a restaurant come true.
For more information, go to www.daddysgirlsmokedmeatsandcatering.com.
Where is the world’s most amazing restaurant? According to one Kansas sixth grader and a bunch of other five-star reviews, it just might be in Goff, Kansas.
We salute Deb Tudor and all those involved with Daddy’s Girl Smoked Meats & Catering for providing high quality food service in a rural setting. It makes a world of difference.
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.
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