M&D's History
We’ve been telling the M&D’s story the same way for decades. And it just gets sweeter every time we tell it.
It was long ago, 1940 or so, in the back woods of Texas where cotton fields grow when the late Johnny Holiday Sr. knew he’d discovered the secret for great tasting BBQ. He mixed two special woods in his BBQ pit that made an aroma so tempting, he said, “This is IT!” He BBQ’d rabbits, turkeys, armadillos and such, pigs, chicken and ribs the folks craved. He taught his secret to his son-in-law and daughter. That’s Mack and Daisy Shead, or M&D to me and you.
Soon the military beckoned and M&D had to leave home, packing their bags, the secret recipe, and the children, moving to a place called Rome (New York, that is). They stayed in Rome and started saving so they could open Shead’s BBQ Haven in style. Not so far away in the City of Indianapolis, Mack’s father, Rand Shead, Sr., started his own Rib Palace. Soon his children decided to give it a try to get their own piece of the BBQ pie. They opened Shead’s Fish and Rib Palace on 34th Avenue in Denver. Then in October 1977, M&D’s opened up right here on 28th Street, in the same location we are today.
Now a third generation has taken over managing the BBQ operation: Rena Shead, Deborah Shead and Mack “MJ” Shead run the place. But Mack Sr. and Daisy aren’t ones to sit around. On any particular day, you’re likely to find Mack Sr. and Daisy in the kitchen making sure the BBQ served has the same mouthwatering effect on dining guests that it always has.
