Chapter One · 2015
The wake-up call
At 39 years old, Lee Wells had a series of heart attacks that put him in the hospital. What came out of that room was a conviction that never left: we are hurting ourselves with hormones, antibiotics, and fast-growth animals — and the fix starts with what we're willing to put on our own table.
“After losing weight and gaining my life back, I am passionate about healthy food… Wells Cattle Company is dedicated to sourcing and raising healthy animals in order to produce the best beef known to man.” — Lee Wells
Chapter Two · The Ranch
His father’s pastures
Lee grew up on a dairy farm, then a beef cattle ranch. His dad had been a foreman on the Chapman-Barnard Ranch outside Pawhuska, Oklahoma — 85,000 acres, the biggest ranch in the state at the time. Lee was raised on saddle broncs, breaking horses and working cattle.
When his father passed, the ranch — the equipment, the hay, the herd — landed on Lee’s shoulders. What started as obligation reignited something older.
“In some way I feel closer to Dad when out working the cattle and doing the things we used to do together.”
Chapter Three · The Cast-Iron Cow
A seed bought in Pawhuska
Before there was a restaurant, Lee and Lynda Wells visited Ree Drummond’s Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Pawhuska. Lee carried a small cast-iron cow around the store. When Lynda asked about it, he said: “One day this will sit on the counter of our restaurant we will open.”
“If she can build this here, I can build a restaurant in Rockwall. I can serve a different burger with the highest quality whole-ground beef, and they will come.”
Every morning since opening day, the cast-iron cow has been on the counter, watching the dream get built.
Chapter Four · 2018 → Today
The house on Fannin Street
We washed and painted a 1930s house in downtown Rockwall that barely sat forty people, rebuilt the vent and kitchen, and opened on Labor Day 2018. Nine months later we expanded with a large rear deck that doubled capacity and started hosting live music. In December 2018 we won our first people’s-choice award — Best Burger in Rockwall County — and we’ve won Living Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Best Burger every year since.
Chapter Five · The Book
Burger Brilliance
Somewhere along the way, I wrote a book. Burger Brilliance sets down what we actually do here: where the beef comes from, how we treat the folks who order it, and how a menu gets built when you’re not copying the place down the road.
It’s not a cookbook. Readers find it’s not just a simple book about burgers, but about how we treat customers and build value in our products through the deliberate choices we make on purpose.
“Simply put, this book is for everyone. You can use the following pages to activate memories, to remind you of good business practices, to motivate you to do better, or to simply read a story about one very driven and successful business owner. This is Lee’s story, and you should read it.” — Jimmy Niwa, Restaurateur
Chapter Six · Royse City
A second location on I-30
We opened Wells Burgers Express in Royse City in the fall of 2025, the first tenant to take a spot in the city’s restaurant incubator. Wells Express is built on the foundation that made our Rockwall location a town favorite. Wells Express sits just off I-30, with a convenient menu that includes smash burgers, wagyu dogs, hand-spun shakes and more.
Offering only the same whole-ground grind, same seven days of dry age, same quality and care we’re known for.
“We truly love and appreciate every single person who helps us reach for the dream every single day.” — Lee Wells, Proprietor · Wells Cattle Co. · Rockwall County, Texas
