EP 521:Old Quail Run Farm Brings Concert Dinners To North Texas

What makes Jennifer Taylor with Old Quail Run Farm a good neighbor?

We talk with Jennifer Taylor of Old Quail Run Farm about how a venue can become something much deeper than a location for events. Nestled near Lake Texoma in Sherman, Texas, the farm hosts farm to table dinners, live music nights, and intimate gatherings designed to help people slow down, connect, and experience something more meaningful than a typical night out. (Texoma Connect)

Jennifer shares how she and her husband transformed the property into a gathering space rooted in hospitality, community, and shared experience. With a background in catering and event production spanning more than 25 years, she brings a hospitality first mindset to every detail, from the food and seating to the pacing and atmosphere of each event. (Old Quail Run Farm)

We also explore what makes the experience at Old Quail Run Farm unique. Guests are often seated at long communal tables, encouraging conversation between people who may arrive as strangers but leave as friends. The farm blends elevated home style meals, fire cooked dishes, thoughtful wine pairings, and live or ambient music to create an environment where connection naturally happens. (Old Quail Run Farm)

Jennifer also shares how the farm connects with guests beyond events through social media and storytelling, including their Gatherings and Guitars cookbook series and podcast that highlight recipes, artists, and the stories behind the experiences. (Old Quail Run Farm)

If you are looking for a unique event venue in North Texas or inspiration for creating more meaningful gatherings, this conversation offers a refreshing look at what it means to build community through food, music, and shared space.

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Guest Info: Old Quail Run Farm | https://www.oldquailrunfarm.com/ | (903) 868-2100

Transcript

Welcome To The Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a very unique event and concert venue? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Jennifer Taylor, with Old Quail Run Farm. Jennifer, it's so great to be with you this morning. Now we are so excited to learn more about you and your business. So go ahead and tell our listeners just a little bit more about your company.

Old Quail Run Farm Overview

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Thank you for having me today. Yes, Old Quail Run Farm, we uh have been hosting and creating experiences now for nine years in the North Texas area. We are located up really close to Lake Texoma in between Sherman and Pottsboro. We are a farm that loves to create experiences and dinners. Um tag line is creating experiences that make a memory that lasts a lifetime. So when people come to a dinner, a wine paired dinner or a concert dinner, whatever the event is, it's all always our um hope and dream that they all walk away with a feeling of um something very different. And we get told a lot uh by people who have experienced dinners here that it is definitely magical. So that's just that is our goal always, is that people come and experience something very unique and different and special, and they they go away remembering it for a long time.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

I love that, Jennifer.

From Catering Career To Farm Venue

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Now, getting a little bit more into your backstory for a second, you know, when and where was the passion for this kind of business born?

SPEAKER_00 2:06

I have been in the catering business for 25 years. Uh, I owned a catering company and retail store in Arkansas for uh eight years and then moved here to Texas 15 years ago and uh opened Bon Appetite, Y'all, which is my catering company, which is still in existence today. And so I have for 25 years been bringing people to the table and creating experiences. So from weddings, uh showers, birthdays, corporate events. Today we have a huge grand opening for um a big tech company. So from one extreme to the other, I've been bringing people to the table. And so uh 10 years ago when we bought Old Quell Run Farm, uh, the farm, it wasn't called that then, um we decided pretty quickly that we wanted to create experiences. Uh this is our home, and we bring we invite people to our home. It is in the backyard, we've built um great spaces that are not, you know, in the home. But um, and so we just wanted to bring people together and build longer tables, as you I know you've heard before. And so it's just so important, and we've created wonderful, beautiful relationships with local farmers that we partner with, um local ranchers for meat sourcing, that sort of thing. We have a big cowboy grill outside where when you walk up, the big fire's going and we're cooking on it, and um strung lights, and as long as weather's always permitting, we're under the big Texas stars, outside under strung lights, and it's just beautiful. And then we also have a hundred-year-old barn there that uh if it's bad weather or it's cold or whatever, we set up dinners inside the barn too. So just um very different and farm to table, very home cooking, uh elevated for sure. But um, and then I have just had a passion for wine for years and years. Um, I take people on food and wine tours to California and Italy. Um, and so pairing wine with the perfect dinner is just something that I am passionate about and love to do. And so that's something you'll always find here at the farm.

SPEAKER_02 4:37

Wow, Jennifer, you leave me with so many questions for you today, and we're just getting started.

Why The Long Table Matters

SPEAKER_02 4:44

So I think a big question that I have for you right now is I hear you talking a lot about bringing people to the table. What does that really mean to you? And what is the power in bringing people to a table?

SPEAKER_00 4:59

There's huge power in it. Um, we when we started this, we started buying long antique tables. And when you come to a dinner, you literally are sitting at a long table with people you don't know. And so many times over the years, people have truly created friendships that still are current today, and they still they will meet each other at dinners there, but they go on to be friends outside of old Quell Run Farm. Um, because we have people from all walks of life that come. And I think when all of the social media and all the things are set aside, and you sit down at a table to eat, I consider that a very, very holy place. Um, when we can just for two hours set the world aside, truly set the world aside and sit down and converse with the people across the table from us, even if we don't know them. There is so much power in that.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

I would agree with you. That principle is definitely biblical.

Marketing, Cookbooks, And Music Pairings

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Now, this leads me into my next question here because marketing is the heart of every business. Ideally, you know, who are you looking to attract to this table and how are you attracting them?

SPEAKER_00 6:26

We, you know, truly we have a great website and we do um TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all the things to try to get out there. We also have a YouTube page and um that is videos of dinners, videos of me cooking in the kitchen, uh doing different recipes. And speaking of recipes, um, a couple of years ago we released our first cookbook called Gatherings and Guitars, and it features artists who have been at the farm, and all of the recipes in that chapter that features the artist are from the dinner when they are there. And then the artist also contributes a recipe to their chapter, and in the front of the book is a QR code that you click on and it plays you 28 songs from all the artists in the book for you to play in your kitchen either while you're cooking or while you're entertaining. I truly believe that an experience and a dinner is not complete without those elements of beautiful aesthetics, wonderful food, great wine, and music. Um, even if it's just nice music played quietly in the background. I just believe all of those elements need to be a part of a wonderful experience that you won't forget. And so, oh, so next is coming our second cookbook is coming out um in just a few months called Gatherings and Guitars Texas edition, and it features uh Texas country music artists and Texas winemakers and Texas ranchers and meat producers. We have uh the book in truly boutiques all across the United States, and that has grown our audience trem just tremendously. But um definitely word of mouth is the biggest way that people find us, um, either that or on social media. But we love, love, love seeing and hearing all the different parts of Texas and Oklahoma that people come to. And, you know, depending on the artist, if people are a big follower of one of the artists, we've had people come from all over the country to specifically hear one of the artists.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Wonderful. Now you have so much great information to share with us today.

The Gatherings And Guitars Podcast

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Have you ever thought about having your own podcast for the business before?

SPEAKER_00 8:55

We do have a podcast. It's called Gatherings and Guitars, and it is also on um Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

And it is interviews with all of the artists.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

That's really awesome, Jennifer.

Where To Find Old Quail Run Farm

SPEAKER_02 9:14

We are almost out of time today, so we only have time for one more question, and that's where can our listeners go to learn more about Old Quail Run Farm?

SPEAKER_00 9:24

Definitely on Old Quail Run Farm is on TikTok, YouTube, uh, Instagram, Facebook, and our website, just oldquailrunfarm.com.

SPEAKER_02 9:36

Well, Jennifer, I really appreciate you being on the show today. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 9:44

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Frisco dot com. That's GNP Frisco dot com or call four six nine two two two one nine three four five.