Back in the late 1950s a Midwesterner named R.J. “Bob” Lee made his way to the Texas Panhandle.  He came to Amarillo with his wife Mary Ann and their growing family.  Bob, whose family roots went back to the four-star Savoy Grill in Kansas City, grew up on stories and movies about cowboys, Indians, horses and Texas cattle ranches.  The Texas mystique drew him like a lodestone.  It didn’t take long for Bob to embrace the Lone Star State and to claim its persona as his own.  He had no idea in those early days that he was destined to become a part of the Texas legends and lore that he loved.

Bob’s business as a food purveyor at the local airport provided a solid foundation for his exploration of the Panhandle.  His only disappointment was that he couldn’t find a first-class Texas-style steakhouse in an area of the country best known for cowboys and cattle.  In true Texas spirit, Bob decided to create a place that would satisfy the world’s hunger for good steaks and the ambiance of the Old West.
 

The original Big Texan Steak Ranch opened its doors in 1960 at a location on Old Route 66 on the east side of Amarillo.  The building had formerly been a location for Underwood’s barbecue.  Its distinctive architecture soon became recognized across the Mother Road as a good stopping place for great steaks grilled over an open flame. The towering sign of a long-legged cowboy that Bob erected next to the building became a major landmark on Route 66. From the beginning, the Big Texan welcomed weary travelers and migrating families whose roots spread all across America.
 

The 72-oz. steak came to life not long after Bob opened the doors to the Big Texan Steak Ranch.  In those days, cowboys still worked the area ranches and came into town on their days off to get a good meal and have some fun.  Both of those needs could be fulfilled at the Big Texan.  One day a cowboy came through the front door bragging that he was so hungry he could “eat the whole, darned cow.”

Bob grinned as he put the first one-pound steak on the grill and the contest was on.   When the cowboy finally yelled, “calf-rope” he had consumed 4½  pounds of tasty Texas beef.  Bob vowed from that day forward the dinner would be served “free” to anyone who could complete it in one hour.  In those days, the dinner – shrimp cocktail, salad, baked potato, bread and 72-oz. steak – only cost $9.95.   Today, challengers pay $72.00 for the experience.
 

Beginning in the mid-1960s signs began cropping up along the Mother Road inviting travelers to come in for a 72-oz. steak dinner that was FREE if it could be eaten in one hour.  Thousands of road-weary youngsters practiced their ciphering as they converted 72 ounces into four and one-half pounds.  Those Big Texan signs became as much of the nation’s culture as the old Burma Shave signs.  One company has long-since disappeared with the dust of the old road, but the other still flourishes. Big Texan Steak Ranch billboards can still be seen to the east and west of Amarillo along Interstate 40 and on major north-south routes that run through the Panhandle.
 

Bob and his family built the new Big Texan Steak Ranch from the ground up.  Lumber came from the old Pantex Village and from barracks used to house prisoners of war during World War II.  Bob’s eldest sons, Bobby and Danny, remember moving materials and hammering nails on the new building. The new restaurant included a huge dining room as well as an “Outpost” for those who could only make a quick stop.  The giant cowboy, now an historical icon, was moved by helicopter from its original location on the Mother Road to its current home on Interstate 40.  The Lee family, now including seven children, had reason to celebrate when they opened the doors of their new business in 1970.  A large emporium, featuring antiques and Texas merchandise, opened in 1972 to handle overflowing business and increasing requests for banquet services.
 

Excitement and prosperity turned briefly to despair in 1976 when a fire destroyed most of the restaurant.  But the Lee family had learned through adversity and they remained undaunted and determined.  Everyone -- family members, employees and friends -- pitched in and the restaurant was only closed for one business day.  The emporium became the new dining room and the business continued to grow.

A 30-unit motel, constructed to look like a street in an old western town, opened for business in 1978.  Visitors were fond of the swinging saloon doors that separated the sleeping area from the vanity portion of the room.

A few years later, Bob added a Texas-shaped “cement pond” where guests could cool off as they swam across the Lone Star State.