Big Texan Brewery

Stopped here on one of our trips through Texas. Big tourist trap and a fair amount of people were there. Ordered a flight of 11 beers for $12, I figured what a deal. We also ordered some food. The food was better than the beer in my opinion. I figured out of 11 beers I would find at least one good one. The wait staff were attentive and friendly. The food was decent for a sit-down fast-food place. I don't think I have been to any one brewery where they had so many beers that you couldn't find at least one that was good. Even at $12 I don't think I got my money's worth.

 

Stopped in - as any true American - on a cross country drive from SoCal to Baltimore. Anyone traveling Rte 40 can't miss the "Big Texan" signs and home of the free 72 oz steaks (provided you devour it and other sides in <1hr). Grabbed a growler of their Palo Duro Pale Ale and headed for the door. Decent vibe though you had every Jack and Jane from the interstate crowding the place (to include this hombre). Worth checking out... if for nothing else than street cred.

This is so much like South of the Border for those who travel the I-95 down to Florida. Very over the top and really a steakhouse that happens to make beer. Were the beers outstanding? No, but they were enjoyable and they had 10 of them when I went. The wine aged stout was nice on a cold night, and paired with a big ribeye.

Look, if you go and realize its a tourist trap but can enjoy the over the top experience, you will have fin, and a good beer or 2.

 

Super-kitch, and a tourist trap - but honestly? Pretty good beer. Not a huge selection but enough that you can find something you want. Staff is friendly even though there are so many folks constantly churning through here.

My first tourist trap brewery. It took a while to get noticed even though I was the only other guy at the bar. A dozen beers on tap the one I had, pecan porter, was ok. Place has the feel on an arcade. I did not try the food, but these guy are somewhat famous for a 72oz steak challange.

 

(#43 of 49) Our bucket list includes drinking a beer in every state, so that is the only reason we drove from Denver to Amarillo (thru a corner of New Mexico to drink a beer there) on this long pub crawl. There are two breweries in Amarillo, and my research just 'pulled' me to this tourist trap place. (We didn't try to find the other brewery.) A gaudy pair of buildings - the restaurant/brewery and the motel - are just waiting to be experienced. (They have a horse motel out back too.)

The brewpub has a bar area, a gift shop, and a large dining room, and all were busy on a Thursday evening so that we had to wait to be seated. (We're not the only 'thrill-seekers' who got sucked in.) The BA reviews of the beer were just so-so, but I had read that they serve the best steak in Texas, so that's what got my juices flowing. It turns out that the beers are pretty good too. We ordered a pre-selected 10-beer sampler flight (there were 11 beers on tap), and found that all of them were brewed in excess of typical style characteristics so that we gave them an overall B-minus grade. The Whoop your Donkey DIPA and the Pecan Porter were our favorites. A beer can be ordered in 101 oz. tower, a pitcher (64 oz.), a Texas-sized mug (27 oz.) or a pint. Growlers are also available in 4 sizes from 1-liter to 1-gallon.

This place is definitely a tourist trap, but the food (the steak was delicious) and the beer make it worth a visit. If you stay in the motel, be aware that the rooms are very basic, but clean. However, the only Wi-Fi is in the motel office and the restaurant. It was an amusing experience, and we recommend it to anyone as long as you go there with an open mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a tourist trap? OMG no way....
The place is HUGE, as it should be since it is a tourist trap. Pretty much empty when we got there for lunch. Restaurant on the right side, other stuff on the left. Service was awesome. He came around about 5-6 times before and during our meal and catered to us throughout our entire meal. Quality was pretty good, food was better than the beer. Beer selection was limited to their own beers which was a bit of a letdown. I got the whiskey BA oatmeal stout which was ok at best, very little whiskey. Food was awesome as expected. I got the 21oz Sirloin and it was perfectly cooked and tasted great. Prices were more than reasonable for what you get. Overall, yes it is a tourist trap but what were you expecting?

There is no doubt that this place is a massive tourist trap, as one of the reviewers below me said.

Huge, outrageous tourist trap. You can smell the tourist stench miles away from Amarillo. There are even Europeans here! Making their way through Route 66 and ordering "two beers" at a place with 12 different taps...

I had to at least check it out and run away. And that I did. There was quite a wait for dining but the bar was open so there we went... I tried a four-beer sample for $5.50 plus a pint for the same price.

Service was efficient but not super friendly. I can tell they have to deal with a lot of irritating tourists here. The whole place looks like a Vegas version of Texas, but not quite offensive. Busy on a Friday night, yet not outright crazy.

I tried the Whiskey Barrel Stout, Jack Rabbit Red, Pecan Porter, Rattlesnake IPA and Donkey IIPA. The pale ales were the only good beers... some of them were flat-out horrible. Either too flat, or too sweet, or too unbalanced, or just plain wrong (no whiskey on the whiskey-barrel stout).

We brought home a $15 growler of the Donkey Double IPA, which was our favorite, and even though we consumed it two days later in Lubbock, it held up fine.

We didn't have any food- to be honest, the fare here looked like it was straight out of a Golden Corral or a Denny's. No thanks.

Okay let's start from the top. This place is a total tourist trap. Not that that is in and of itself a bad thing. If you're from out of state you'll probably enjoy the over the top cowboy theme quite a bit. There's a big gift shop. All the wait staff dresses in cowboy attire.

I went only because they started brewing there and thought it'd be worth trying as the beer pickings in Amarillo are kinda slim. I tried the IPA and the pecan porter, my wife had the pale ale. The pale ale really isn't a pale ale, more of a blonde ale which for a blonde ale it was good.

The IPA came to the table with no head which means it sat at the bar for 5 minutes before I got it. Unfortunately it wasn't very good. Under-attenuated, under-carbonated, and lacking much hop character. The bitterness level was right but was in dire need of some late hop additions or dry hopping.

The pecan porter wasn't much better. All I could taste was artificial pecan extract which tasted a bit like artificial pancake syrup.

We weren't there for dinner but were a bit hungry so we ordered the "prime skins" which were potato skins with bits of prime rib in them. Really they were under-fried potatoes with a bit of barely melted cheese and meat that tasted like garbage. The "prime rib" tasted like it had been soaked in Worcestershire sauce for a month then roasted into a dry leathery consistency.

The one bright point for the food was the candies and fudge they sell there. It was delicious and we bought some to take home.

Overall the place is overpriced ($10 for those crappy skins) and the beer is okay at best. The food we had flat out sucked. If you're from out of state and want to indulge in stereotypical Texicana then you'll enjoy the atmosphere. Otherwise go eat at Coyote Bluff for a good meal, and find a six pack of Sierra Nevada until you get back to beer-civilization.

Alrighty then...it's been a while since Amarillo had a little brewery. Anyway, this one is unique! The Big Texan is a large cowboy themed steakhouse, with a bar area and separate large open restaurant with booths and communal tables. The outside is decked out with giant cowboy boot, bull and cowboy. You can spot this place from the highway!
Inside there's games for kids, weird things in corridors (Egor will tell your fortune), and the big dining area that overlooks the kitchen. All the staff dress in cowboy attire and the sound of boots on floors is loud.
The food offerings are not cheap, but a big quality steak is expensive. On the other hand, the house beers are reasonably priced, and I found the bock decent and the IPA darn tasty (I had two). They also have Andy's Winter seasonal which was darn tasty also. They had a porter that I thought OK, and a few other lighter beers...about 7 total.
I'd happily visit again if in Amarillo! Also, they have a motel next door that is also nicely decorated. And there's a horse hotel...just in case you're bringing Lassie along!