Julia Martinez and her friend Georgia Tenney.

Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: In the 56th column in the Diners and Dives series, a small group of Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club members explore Pierceton.

Back in 1853, the founders named Pierceton, after newly elected 14th President Franklin Pierce. One hundred sixty-seven years later at the 2020 Census, 928 residents lived in Pierceton. Last Friday, Diners and Dives ate with some of the interesting ones. Now we’re a little obsessed with EATING in Pierceton and YOU should be too.

Julia’s Tacos Y Tamales

Georgia Tenney shows off her friend Julia’s menu

Julia’s is a small restaurant tucked into a corner of downtown Pierceton. “I’d like to order the Burrito Supreme,” Wildcard Guest Georgia Tenney told the smiling pink-shirted waitress who turned out to be Julia’s Tamales Y Tacos Restaurant owner herself. If you don’t know Georgia, she is famous for being 2024 Chamber Woman of the Year. She worked as the secretary at Whitko Middle School for 33 years before running for school board.

“I figured you would get your usual,” Julia chuckled. “Ground beef, chicken or steak today?” Julia wore pink eyeshadow to match her pink shirt and her pink walls. Later she told us that her grandmother had struggled with breast cancer when Julia was young. Pink had become her favorite color in tribute to her grandmother’s strength and resilience.

Several people contacted me to request a Diners and Dives lunch at Julia’s located at 303 N. First St., in downtown Pierceton. Shout out to everyone who gives us restaurant recommendations. We love Kosciusko County and the cool people who have passion for food and service.

KCountyevents.com

Realtor Jeff Owens ordered a plate of Julia’s famous tamales. He requested the hottest spice bottle. “We really need two separate words to describe spicy,” Our second guest, KCountyEvents.com creator Kelly Mager, frowned at the red and green bottles to figure out which one was spicier. “One for flavor and one for heat.” Kelly likes things to be organized and well defined which is why she created an all-county event calendar tool for you: KCountyevents.com.

Kelly Mager is a mom of three young kids, an author, and an entrepreneur. She created KCountyEvents.com originally to find things for her own young kids to do. She said earnestly, “The website aggregates all KCounty events in one place, so it’s easy to plan.”

“Last week I used your website for bank planning,” 1st Source Banker Paul Finley told her. “I thought it might help us see which weekends would see more heavy ATM usage.” Kelly encourages ALL organizations to reach out to include their events on her well-used calendar and to check it for possible conflicts before choosing dates.

What’s The Best-Selling Food At Julia’s?

Julia in her pink shirt behind the cash register.

Julia’s most popular item is her tamales. She also offers goat birria (tender long-cooked meat) on the weekends until it runs out. She’s open every day except Monday starting at 11 a.m. and running through dinner. Sunday is open noon to 4 p.m. “But how do you make your birria?” Realtor Jeff tried to get her recipe. As we’ve learned through our various restaurant visits, birria can be made with many kinds of meats and with different spices.

Julia shook her head. “My mom taught me how to make it.” Julia’s 7-year-old son loves to cook and will learn the recipe the same way. Sometimes Julia’s mom still helps out in the restaurant.

“Her recipe is a secret!” 1st Source Banker Paul Finley exclaimed.

When Julia first opened in Pierceton, some of her food offerings were new to the residents. “Sometimes people who haven’t had tamales before try to eat the husks,” she explained. “And when I first served lengua, people were surprised that it didn’t taste like tongue.” She chuckled. “I tell them it’s just like other meat. When you cook it right, it’s tender and juicy.”

Isn’t Pierceton Too Small?

When Julia’s crowd thinned out a bit after lunch, she brought more baskets of chips and house-made salsa and joined us. “I love this town! I really like the small-town feel.” Julia moved to Pierceton when she purchased a farmhouse on Zillow, but it happened to be in a different zip code than she anticipated.

Georgia smiled at Julia. “Julia is SO into little-town Pierceton.” She described how residents love the ease of doing errands. “Everything is all kind of in a circle. Stop at the post office, an antique store, and then the restaurant for lunch.” Or grab groceries at the Dollar General.

Julia agreed. “Pierceton is a great community growing together as one. Everyone talks to everyone, and we refer people to each other’s businesses too. It’s amazing.”

What Can You Do In Pierceton Next Weekend?

Julia’s employees fulfill orders to go.

Growing together Pierceton puts on some incredible events. Next weekend you can visit Destination Pierceton with downtown shopping, a silent auction to raise money for the local scholarship fund, and lots of vendors at downtown Brower Park.

You can try Julia’s excellent food there too. I loved my chicken enchiladas with rice and beans and house-made horchata – a refreshing and sweet rice and cinnamon milk. If you like your food spicy, this is a good pairing. “It’s like rumchata without the rum,” Orthopedic Consultant Kris Williams explained helpfully. Titus Funeral Planner Brittany Lyon received a crunch wrap so big that she had to use two hands or cut it in half.

What Else Is Pierceton Known For?

“I’m not really an antique person,” Woman of the Year Georgia confessed as she poured cheese on her burrito. “But I love visiting all of the stores here.”

“Are you really allowed to live in Pierceton and NOT be an antique person?” Realtor Jeff Owens observed. At the last count, Pierceton boasted an amazing NINE antique stores, but it also has additional refurbished and eclectic stores like Kelly Jo’s Store which had a grand opening the day we visited.

Keep An Eye Out For:

On Saturday, Aug. 24 Pierceton will host its famous Heirloom Tomato Festival. Our own famous realtor Jeff Owens will be an heirloom tomato pie judge.

“But what are your credentials for judging tomato pie?” I asked.

“I’m the perfect blank slate.” Jeff finished his tamales. “If my own grandma made tomato pie, I’d be biased towards one style, but I’m not. I will happily try all of them.” Georgia Tenney thought about that logic for a moment and smiled in agreement.

Get some of Julia’s food and you’ll smile too. Thank you, Julia Martinez of Julia’s Tamales Y Tacos. Give her AND Pierceton a visit soon.

Do you know of an interesting place, restaurant, nonprofit, or person that you’d like to see featured in Diners and Dives, Whirlwind Wanderlust Travels, or Profiles Behind the Scenes? Send SB Communications LLC Shari Benyousky an email at [email protected].