Tastes Like Food

On a cross-country road trip from Colorado to Texas, we found ourselves in the Texas panhandle at dinnertime. Wondering what to eat, we figured steak might be a good option. We were in small-town-ville, so we weren’t banking on much, maybe Appleby’s, TGI Friday’s, Outback Steakhouse or something along those lines. Then, as we were driving, we saw about the 5 or 6th billboard announcing the 72oz FREE Steak at the Big Texan — eat the entire 72oz steak and you eat for free. My man said “Why not?” I said “Okay, it can’t be THAT bad.” Well, so far it is my favorite part of the trip!

Okay, just to get it out of the way, neither of us got the 72oz steak. We weren’t planning to. Just figured the steak oughta be decent. So, here’s what happened…

Firstly, we learned that the Big Texan is a real-honest-to-goodness Route 66 attraction. And even at 8:30 at night in the middle of nowhere, the parking lot was full! We went in and put our name on the list for dinner. While we waited, we could play slots, browse the gift shop (of course!) where I found a tequila-flavored lollipop with a worm embedded in the sugar, and entertain ourselves at the shooting gallery. Seriously. We both took a turn shooting laser guns at old-time western zombies and skeletons.

Now, on to the dinner! We split an 8oz steak dinner (yes, there are normal sized portions), and the steak was delicious. The sides (corn, mashed potatoes, fried okra, fresh bread) were okay, not nearly as good as the steak. And all this time during dinner, we had a seat very close to the stage. The stage is where the folks who want to try for the 72oz FREE steak sit, complete with a timer, web cam and all the (potential) glory. So, about this FREE steak: to get a free steak, you must eat the entire dinner (steak, potato, bread, shrimp cocktail) in less than an hour. You sit on stage and the BigTexan.com web cam broadcasts you to the world. The pink Winners chart had a list of the winners from the last week or so.

These guys from Santa Fe went for it that night. (Note the timer, they were 19 minutes, 36 seconds in.) We aren’t sure if they got through the massive dinner in less than an hour, but I think the guy with the blue shirt might have gone all the way — he was making good progress.

I know, I know, there should be a law or something. But it’s Texas. Everything’s bigger in Texas!