The Cattle Exchange proud to be growing in Canadian

CANADIAN, Texas (KFDA) - The Cattle Exchange in Canadian is proud to be a part of the community.

Co-owner Milton Cooke says he came to Canadian looking for some used equipment.

“I think the only restaurant in town was closing down and had an equipment sale. I got to looking around while I was here and thought, ‘Canadian seems to be a pretty nice little town. I don’t see anything that is our style of food, so I think we might have a good opportunity here,” said Cooke.

Cooke says they started working on the building and getting the build out done in 2000. It was previously a mini mall in the 70s.

“There was a sparkling water fountain down below, so we had a lot of work to do to kind of create it to what we wanted it to be,” said Cooke.

When Cooke originally met the owner of the building, Salem Abraham, they put together the concept of a restaurant.

Down the street is the old Santa Fe Depot, which is now the Bartlett Lumber Company.

Cooke says the cattlemen would come in on the train and walk up the street to meet in the lobby of the Moody Hotel. They would make cattle deals, generally on a handshake.

“When Salem and I did the deal to lease this building out from him, it was kind od a handshake deal then too,” said Cooke. “We didn’t have a lease or anything like that, it was just, this is what we’re going to do and we got at it.”

Cooke says he thinks Canadian offers a lot of things that small towns don’t offer and is a unique part of the Panhandle.

“A lot of the Panhandle is flat. It’s not here in Canadian. We’ve actually got trees. It’s got things that the Panhandle doesn’t typically offer, so it’s a unique place for sure,” said Cooke.

The Cattle Exchange is located at 2nd and Main St.