Encouraged graffiti

Stepping into the White House Meat Market at 200 E. 52nd St., the store may seem different. In addition to a freezer full of meat, customers sit down to eat giant-sized hamburgers. But, visitor's names on the walls, tables and even the ceiling make the establishment unique.

"It's tradition, and I can bring my kids later and say ‘hey, my name's up there,' " Mark Varela said. Varela said he put his name up on the wall in 2000 when he was a senior at Permian, and then his brothers Jaine and Joe Rey added their names next to his.

"We're all lined up," Varela said.

Varela said he goes to the White House Meat Market because the place stays the same year after year since he started coming as a child. He came Tuesday to purchase meat, but he loves the store's famous burgers as well.

"They're so big, and you don't need salt and pepper or anything. They are just great," Varela said.

White House is owned by Clint Fletcher and his father, Olan Maney. Clint's mother Jane Maney started letting customers write on the walls in 1997 as a way to show that the store belonged to customers, not just Clint and his parents.

"It spread like wildfire," Fletcher said.

The walls and tables feature such messages as "True love forever: Megan and Nate" and numerous names, including that of Joe Beene. His name is recorded in big letters on one wall. Joe played football for Permian until a freak practice accident paralyzed him in 2000. But, he didn't write on the wall himself.

"I don't have any idea who put my name up, but it makes you feel good. It's nice because it shows that people still care," Beene said.

Clint is good friends with the Beene family since Joe's mother, Dianne, used to own a pecan shop next door.

"It seems like we ate a lot of hamburgers," Beene said. Describing those burgers as "awesome," Beene said he just went to White House last week to buy sausages.

Several other famous sports figures have visited the market. Roy Williams of the Dallas Cowboys, Major Applewhite of the Texas Longhorns, Ed Williams of the New England Patriots and Floyd "Porkchop" Womack of the Seattle Seahawks all have eaten there.

Among non-sports figures, much of the cast of "Friday Night Lights" even dropped by for a meal.

Fletcher said some people take recording their names seriously. One man from Canada wrote his name with light marker once before coming back again some time later adding his name to multiple places since he couldn't find his original signing. Some even write their names on the ceiling.

"I don't know how some of these names get put up there," Fletcher said. For example, one ceiling statement advertises a local web design company's website.

The store still has an old-fashioned décor with picnic tables, napkins and ketchup packets. Burgers are served on foam meat containers, and the menu is simple, largely just burgers and fries.

"It is all part of the store. We have thought about upgrading the tables, but our customers didn't want that," Fletcher said.

Fletcher's grandfather Eldon Maney started the store in 1956 as a meat market. They didn't start selling burgers until the early '80s at the request of friends. Now, White House sells from 200 to 300 hamburgers a day, especially on Saturdays during football games or cookout season. The store manager is Jason Munos, who has been at White House for the past eight years.

Selling hamburgers has seemed to really help the store, according to Fletcher. The names on the walls keep growing as the business keeps going strong.

"We've really hit our niche, and hopefully it will be here for another 100 years," Fletcher said.