McKinney Made

McKinney Made celebrates the culture of dining and entertainment in McKinney, Texas and features the city's most iconic restaurants and talent. Check out this mini-documentary excerpt from the McKinney Made video on the creation and expansion of our Wells Group companies and our mission to create a more sustainable world.

Betting on McKinney

From Dallas Morning News -

Restaurateur Rick Wells likes to call McKinney “one of the most business-friendly places in the country.” So the owner of Rick’s Chophouse is doubling down on the city’s picturesque downtown.

His hospitality company, the Wells Group, has acquired two buildings on the square, the 121-year-old Masonic Lodge and the Grand Hotel, where his steak restaurant has attracted diners since 2007. Wells considers the seller, Don Day, a longtime mentor.

The Bitter Garden

From Edible Dallas & Fort Worth -

In 2016 I flew to London, and I got to see some authentic English tea gardens. They were lush, vibrant in color and abundantly fragrant, and they were everywhere, from extremely urban areas to the English countryside. The same year I became a Master Naturalist in Collin County and became fascinated with our native plants and prairies and all of their uses.

Seeds of Sustainability Taking Root in North Texas

From City Lifestyle Dallas -

“When you take care of your community there is a ripple effect of positive results.” explained Rick Wells, local restaurateur and Founder of the Seed Project Foundation (SPF). The Foundation was established on the premise that funding sustainable ideas today will support ecological and social balance in the future.

McKinney restaurateur mobilizes aid for local farms and others financially impacted by pandemic

From The Dallas Morning News -

The call went out early and fast. While most of us were just awakening to the possible impact of the coronavirus, McKinney Mayor George Fuller was shifting into warp drive. His 19-year-old daughter, Layla, tested positive for COVID-19 in March.

“He saw firsthand what was coming,” says McKinney restaurateur Rick Wells, one of the first people Fuller wanted on an action team to come up with a response and recovery plan.

New Farm Crisis Fund Created to Help Struggling North Texas Farmers

From Dallas Observer -

The Farm Tour for the Farm Crisis Fund will take guests on a six-hour, three-course dinner, touring farms no farther than 30 minutes away from McKinney.

The goal is not just to eat, drink and explore area farms but to raise money for this new fund, which falls under the Seed Project Foundation, a nonprofit that "funds educational, agricultural and community initiatives that support sustainability.

Look for the helpers: 8 local food advocates who stepped up during the pandemic with hot meals and more

From The Dallas Morning News -

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen and Rick’s Chophouse owner Rick Wells wants to do more than own farm-to-table restaurants in McKinney. He also wants to strengthen his community with sustainability and charitable initiatives to end hunger and poverty.

McKinney’s Harvest restaurant honored by Laura Bush’s nonprofit group for conservation efforts

From The Dallas Morning News -

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen is among the 2019 TxN honorees of Texan By Nature.

It’s hard to overstate the significance of Harvest Seasonal Kitchen’s inclusion among the 2019 TxN 20 honorees of Texan By Nature, a nonprofit linking businesses and conservation that was founded by former First Lady Laura Bush.

McKinney Restaurant Vandalized, Finds Humor in Mess

From NBC DFW -

“Okay, okay! We’ll put the tortilla soup back on the menu! Please stop breaking things,” a sign on the front door read.

McKinney police arrested a man accused of breaking the windows and doors of a business on the McKinney Square. Monday morning at around six, officers were called to Rick's Chophouse, where they arrested 28-year-old Kyle Weltner inside the restaurant.

Rick's Chophouse owner Rick Wells said he doesn't recognize Weltner and doesn't believe the man ever worked for him.

Lookin’ At You, Kid

From Edible Dallas & Fort Worth -

One foot in the garden, one in the kitchen, chef Andrea Shackelford is a talent on the rise.

With her cherubic face and generous smile, her dark hair pulled back in double sumo-wrestler knots, Andrea Shackelford isn’t the first person you’d pick out of a lineup as an up-and-coming chef.

“A lot of chefs are kind of loud,” says Rick Wells, her boss and coconspirator in several farm-to-table ventures in McKinney. “Alpha dogs.” His first impression of Shackelford? “She wasn’t. I liked that she was unassuming.”

Today, she’s executive chef at Wells’ Harvest Seasonal Kitchen and creative director of his Rick’s Chophouse, both on the McKinney square.

Look for the helpers: 8 local food advocates who stepped up during the pandemic with hot meals and more

From The Dallas Morning News -

Another talent to watch on the Modern Texas cuisine front is 30-year-old Andrea Shackelford, executive chef at Harvest in McKinney.

A Houston native who grew up in Dallas, Shackelford learned to cook on the job. Her first few gigs, starting when she was 15, were in bakeries, including Kathleen’s Art Cafe (which later became Kathleen’s Sky Diner).

Restaurant Review: Harvest Seasonal Kitchen

From D Magazine -

Andrea Shackelford learned to cook in big-city kitchens. Then she moved to the country.

Upon entering Harvest Seasonal Kitchen, the new restaurant off McKinney’s historic Chestnut Square, the first thing you notice is a shelf where chunks of cucumber, watermelon rind, and strawberries hang suspended in mason jars. Here and elsewhere, spirits are infusing, pickles pickling. You’re seeing an ethos, not just an aesthetic. The watermelon to which those rinds belonged may have grown in a field 20 minutes away.

Harvest on the Square: Farm-to-table restaurant opens Sept. 19 in downtown McKinney

From The Mckinney Courier-Gazette -

A new restaurant coming to downtown McKinney aims for an impact beyond city limits.

Harvest, a farm-to-table dining spot, will open Sept. 19 on the southwest corner of the square. Owner Rick Wells is replacing his casual Italian restaurant, Sauce, with a more unique, fresh venture.