Bringing together sweet treats, dedication, and family has been one destination that calls Tyler Texas its home! Candies Funnel Cakes and Moore has been around since 2015, starting as a backyard venture and has now in 2023 become a full restaurant that shows the passion and perseverance of owner Christopher Moore and his family.

“I had belief in myself. We had belief in the product. The cooks, the cashiers, everyone has done a good job as a family to pull together and get everything and make it happen,” said Moore. “We started at my mom’s house, and you look outside and it’s cars on both streets, up and down the streets just coming to get funnel cakes...”

Candies has made multiple stops to become the restaurant that it is today, and they plan to only continue growing and providing a menu full of mouth-watering delights.

Through the Years

First starting with a building, it didn’t take too long before Candies started subleasing out of a local Mexican restaurant and began building support and growing their menu. It all started with funnel cakes, and before too long turkey legs, sausage on a stick, and all kinds of fair foods began to appear on the menu.

After their first stint in a building, Candies steadily made their way through a few locations, mainly as a “get it and get out” style, until the stars aligned and the perseverance won out and Candies stands along with their own building and expanded their menu to include many Southern fried favorites, on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Tyler.

“We’re here to break the curse,” said Moore. “It was originally Freddie Mae’s, and then A Taste of North de Light, and then it went from that to Candies.”

The Importance of Family

What sets Candies apart from the rest, and you wouldn’t be wrong by saying it’s the food, but everyone within the restaurant is family and it’s that connection that truly makes the restaurant shine even brighter.

“When we first started the business, however, my youngest daughter wasn’t old enough to work, but now she is. It’s good to be able to work with the nieces and the daughters in the family and stuff like that,” said Moore. “Everything is family, our main cook, he’s my first cousin, just like a brother.”

In the midst of the Moore family’s journey to bring Candies to the level it is at now, tragedy did stick. The Moore’s daughter, Chrissy, was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs), which is a highly aggressive brain tumor that occurs in the brainstem. Near the end of 2017, with what was originally thought to be the flu, turned out to be this deadly disease, where around only 10% are expected to survive to the two year mark. Although the Moore’s went through many hospitals, in Dallas, in Memphis, TN, and Augustus, GA, she passed in July of 2018.

It’s through the familial love that Candies continues to thrive and share their love for each other and their food with the community.

The Future Ahead

Even though Candies Funnel Cakes & Moore has moved into a full building in 2023, their journey is far from over, with goals to keep expanding and to keep sharing their love for great food, warm funnel cakes, and family with more people in East Texas.

You can swing by Candies Monday-Saturday from 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM. To check out the menu before you go, check out their website here. To stay up-to-date with what’s going on at Candies, make sure to visit their Facebook page.

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