The Big Texan Steak Ranch

Amarillo, Texas, United States

Characters and mascots

✓

Current

Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is an Amarillo steakhouse that opened on Route 66 in 1960 and moved to Interstate 40 in March 1970. A cowboy sign described in 2014 as 90 feet tall, a 27-foot dinosaur added in 2012 and a free-if-finished 72-ounce steak challenge feature.

Private to your Passport.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

No recommended arrival yet

We have not checked a recommended place to arrive or stop here yet.

This takes you to the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch

This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.

Site-level location · 35.1938° N, 101.7550° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A yellow steakhouse beside Interstate 40 in Amarillo has built its fame on a 72-ounce steak and a 90-foot cowboy. According to a May 2026 Nexstar report carried by WSPA, R.J. "Bob" Lee opened the Big Texan Steak Ranch on Route 66 in 1960 as a Western-style steakhouse, after visiting the area on a work trip. When Interstate 40 bypassed the old highway, a historical marker at the restaurant says, it moved to its present location in March 1970. The restaurant's co-owner told Nexstar that the Lee family still runs it, now with a third generation.

The cowboy sign is the landmark. Route 66 News, citing the Amarillo Globe-News in 2014, called the 90-foot figure "Bull" and said it dates to 1960, when the restaurant stood on Amarillo Boulevard. The restaurant's own timeline gives 1970 for the Big Texan Cowboy sign. In 2014 strong winds in late June damaged it; it came down for about a month while a local sign company repaired it, and it went back up.

Then there is the steak. The restaurant says anyone who finishes a 72-ounce sirloin with the traditional sides in one hour eats free. Nexstar reported in 2026 that nearly 100,000 guests had tried and just over 10,600 had finished.

In 2012 Route 66 News reported that the ranch was adding a 27-foot-tall dinosaur statue that had stood at a Planet Hollywood in Dallas. A marker at the site, photographed in 2018, is titled "Big Tex-Rex", calls it a cowboy-dressed, green dinosaur and dedicates it to the spirit of the Mother Road.

It is a working restaurant on business property, and dining is the way in.

Add a photo

PRACTICAL

Plan your stop

WHAT TO EXPECT

A working steakhouse on business property. Nexstar reported in May 2026 that the Big Texan Cowboy sign towers over the restaurant, and a dinosaur statue added in 2012 was dedicated by a marker photographed in 2018. The 72-ounce steak is a restaurant challenge for diners.

ACCESS

Along Interstate 40 in Amarillo, Texas; private business property, so the way in is as a customer.

COMMUNITY