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The original Big Texas Steak Ranch opened on East Amarillo
Blvd. in 1960 by R.E. Lee. He opened his restaurant
to "Satisfy
The World's Hunger For A Good Steak".
With the approaching construction of Interstate
40 and probable
decline of Route 66, Mr. Lee purchased land north
of I-40. A
brand new and bigger Steak Ranch was built. The 66
iconic
long-legged Cowboy was moved to the new location by
helicopter.
Most of the restaurant was destroyed by a fire in 1976.
With
the hard work of family and friends the Steak Ranch
was only
closed for one business day.
The legend of the Big Texan is that if you can eat your
steak
dinner in an hour it's free. Not a big deal ? The
dinner consists
of a 72 oz. steak, a salad, a baked potato, a diner
roll, AND
shrimp cocktail. If you can't eat it all it's $50.
Stuff yourself ? Don't feel like driving ? The Big Texan
is also a
AAA rated 54 unit Motel. With "Today's Conviences
and 1800's
Decor", the Big Texan Motel was designed to resemble
a main
street of an old Western town. The number for the
Motel is
(806) 372 - 5000.
Doing research I saw a lot of different numbers as far
as how many people have tried, and how many people have
successfully eaten their way to a free dinner.
There are a couple of reasons for discrepancies.
The fire
of 1976 wiped out records up to that point. A sprinkler
mis
hap in 1991 wiped out the records for between 1976
and
1991. I'm going with, out of 48,000 attempts, 8,000
were
successful.
Fastest time : 8 min's,52 sec's
Oldest person : A 69 yr. old Grandmother
Youngest
: An 11 yr. old Boy
In the 1960's Pro Wrestler Klondike Bill ate two
dinners
in one hour.
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