PLAINVIEW - For 12 years, one Plainview family home always smelled like beef jerky. Now, the smell of the delicious snack fills a small shop on Broadway Street.

Boys Jerky, 918 Broadway St. in Plainview, opened its doors in late March for weekend sales. Though new to the building, Mario Garcia, his wife Julie, and their daughter Saydis, have spent many weekends making and selling tubs of homemade beef jerky.

"We are brand new, but a lot of people already knew us," Mario Garcia said. "We already had clients, so I think that's a plus for us. The first week has been a blast. I hope it stays like that."

The store offers crispy and thick jerky in several flavors, including the fan favorite Lemon Pepper and Valentina options. Other flavors include mild, hot, hot lemon pepper, pickle, and chili lime.

Mario started his venture into jerky making in 2011 while working at his family's laundromat. People would come into the business and ask if he wanted to buy jerky, but their options weren't like the ones his friend's father used to make. Craving those memorable flavors, he started researching how to make jerky.

"I said 'I want to make my own jerky, I'm going to try to find something similar to his flavor,'" Mario said.

Julie recalled how they first started with no equipment. They used a cookie oven and experimented with temperatures. Friends started to bring meat for them to create jerky, then the family started to buy meat and started selling.

"It just kind of took off, people started calling me every day asking 'you still have some of that beef jerky?'" Mario said. "It's been a journey, but it's a good one."

Mario and Julie attributed their success to their customers.

"The word wouldn't get out if it wasn't for our customers," Julie said.

Prior to the store, the family sold jerky at flea markets. They needed to have a name for the tax ID. The Garcias' son, who they call 'The Boy', named the business Boys Jerky.

"I remember we used to sell from the house, then we went to the flea market, and now he has his own building," Saydis said as she cut sample sized pieces of jerky in the store. "I tell him all the time, 'I'm so proud of you, Dad.' I'm very, very proud of him."

People can find the family at their store most weekends. Boys Jerky will be a vendor in the Hub City Hangout Car Show at Lubbock's MacKenzie Park on Saturday, April 15.

In the meantime, people can keep up with Boys Jerky through a Facebook group called Boys Beef Jerky in Plainview TX. Surroundings. The group had more than 850 members as of April 5.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Plainview family opens Boys Jerky with decade of experience