FOREWORD

By Michael Wallis 

It is an honor and pleasure for me to introduce this long-overdue book about the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Although, no longer on the original Mother Road alignment, this steak lover’s paradise remains one of the most revered culinary icons on every Route 66 travelers “must experience” list.  

As a true son of Route 66, I love every mile of that magical ribbon of asphalt and concrete that winds between Chicago and Santa Monica, through eight states and three time zones. I was born near the legendary highway in 1945 and have maintained a passionate relationship with the road and its people ever since. As a result, I know the best stopping places along the way and realize their value in the ongoing effort to keep the old road alive. There is a constant battle, but one worth fighting in order to preserve the best examples of the various layers of open road culture and history. 

I became an active road warrior back in the 1980s. I had grown weary of people referring to Route 66 only in the past tense. I knew that although the familiar highway shields had been removed by five new interstates and whole towns had been bypassed, as much as eighty-five percent of Route 66 remained. More importantly, so did many of the people and places along the shoulders of the Mother Road, as John Steinbeck called the highway in his immortal novel The Grapes of Wrath. That was why I wrote a book intended as a love letter to the road and its people. Route 66: The Mother Road was published in 1990 and is considered a major catalyst in a resurgence of interest in the highway that continues to grow to this day.  

The tremendous revival has made Route 66 a symbol for all endangered two-lane roads that were hijacked by the super slabs. The old road is a metaphor for America before our nation became generic and we lost our sense of place. Although we cannot get along without our superhighways, it is good to know Route 66 is still there as an alternative for those who value time and want to slow down and take the pulse of the land.  

Naturally, given my passion for the open road, I have been traveling Route 66 all my life. I have made the journey in family sedans, eighteen-wheelers, and on a roaring motorcycle. I have traveled the length of Route 66 as a lone hitchhiker, in tour buses, and on two historic occasions leading a posse of more than 1,500 Harley-Davidson riders from around the world.  

All of my many journeys down the linear village of Route 66 take me through a diversity of places ranging from big cities to small farm and ranch towns and, of course, the wide open spaces. Since I was a teenager one of my favorite stopping points along the way is the Big Texan Steak Ranch nestled deep in the heart of the Texas Panhandle on the eastern edge of the high plains city of Amarillo.  

Like so many of the great culinary palaces travelers encounter, each and every visit to the Big Texan Steak Ranch is memorable. And I am no exception. People from around the globe flock to the place and keep coming back for more. They show up in every kind of motor vehicle imaginable, including one of the Big Texan’s own limousines with longhorns mounted on the hood.  

Some of the diners are locals, who over the years helped establish the Big Texan’s enormous gastronomic reputation. Many are travelers who read about this oasis of hospitality in guidebooks or saw it featured on television shows and in documentary films. Others come because they are curious after hearing countless stories about the place and what transpires inside the cavernous building. But most people who stop are interested in what the Big Texan does best make hunger pangs vanish.  

Simply put, this legendary highway mecca is tailor-made for anyone who enjoys good food and entertainment. The Big Texan routinely turns out beefsteaks so succulent that even diehard vegetarians have been known to fall off the wagon and depart as dedicated carnivores looking forward to their next visit.  

That has been the case ever since 1960. That was when the late R. J. “Bob” Lee, formerly a Kansas City restaurateur, his wife Mary Ann, and their growing brood of kids founded the Big Texan alongside Amarillo Boulevard, one of the aliases still used by U.S. Route 66 as it snakes through town. In no time the ingenious entrepreneur’s towering sign of a long-legged Texas cowboy lured swarms of weary and hungry motorists off the Mother Road to refuel on choice steaks cooked over open flames and served with all the trimmings.  

Folks knew they would feast on top-quality fare because there was nothing instant at the Big Texan except the service. I was one of those diners. Since the first time I cut into a Big Texan steak when just a sun-tanned boy of summer, I have known I would never leave the table hungry or disappointed. The Big Texan and the Lee family have never let me down. I am willing to bet good wages they never will.  

Even when Bob Lee moved the business from its original site to a new location next to Interstate 40 I stayed loyal to the Big Texan, as did many other Route 66ers. In truth the Lee family had little choice but to relocate. It was either make a move or face what so many other businesses suffered — death by interstate. By November 1968 Interstate 40 muscled its way past the Amarillo city limits and business at the Big Texan plummeted overnight. Bob Lee could not stop the inevitable. As I was later to write about the coming of the super slab: “Most of Lee’s customers vanished as quickly as a pat of soft butter on a hot-baked spud.” Bob Lee himself told me that he never forgot that fateful day when his “business went to absolutely zero.”  

Instead of whimpering and turning tail, the Lees persisted. In 1970, they moved to the present location where to this day the Big Texan Steak Ranch remains a staunch Route 66 supporter and successfully competes with the generic cookiecutter joints crowding the interstate highway. In 1976 after a horrific fire gutted the west wing of their restaurant, the Lees rolled up their collective sleeves and rebuilt. In fact, they expanded and added more features just as they always have done throughout the many years of serving the public. That is why legions of Route 66 travelers pause to buy Mother Road mementos and tangle with all manner and size of grilled beef. The Lees have never forgotten that it was Route 66 that “brung them to the dance.”

That is why I will always stop there. I stop to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner depending on the time of day. I stop to see the best marketing gimmick on Route 66 when some stalwart soul attempts to devour the famed 72-ounce Big Texan steak and all the trimmings in an hour or less, or shell out a buck for every ounce. I go there to spend the night in one of the comfortable cowboy-style motel rooms. I go there to soak in the Texas-shaped swimming pool after a hot day on the open road. I stop to stock up on the latest in Route 66 souvenirs and road treasure. And, I go there to see old pals and make new friends, knowing there will be plenty of both each time I show up.

 Although founding father Bob Lee passed away in 1990, leaving behind Mary Ann and their eight children, the Big Texan remains in loving hands. Today, the three eldest Lee siblings – Diana, Bobby, and Danny – jointly own and operate the business complex and continue to dispense the same hospitality that has always made the Big Texan a success. 

Enjoy reading about the Lees and the Big Texan. I trust that like me, you will always come back. I guarantee that you will never regret it. In the meantime, good reading and bon appetit!