This Texas Restaurant Prepares Nearly 1,000 Pounds Of Beef Every Day
Everything is bigger in Texas, as the saying goes about the largest state of the contiguous 48 (second only to Alaska), which is also twice the size of Germany, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Even as simple of an errand as stopping at a gas station in Texas can be a full-day outing, where one could easily spend a day: filling up the gas tank, emptying their bladder in the enormous bathrooms, and chowing down on some barbecue at chains like Buc-ee's and Rudy's (country store) — a tradition that dates back to 1989, as reported by the Houston Chronicle.
It's no secret that Texans unabashedly love their brisket and beef, and one famous restaurant in the town of Amarillo off Route 66 has even made the Food Network's list of the "craziest restaurants in America" for their impressive and record-breaking output of steaks. Just how much beef does the restaurant sell per day? The answer may surprise you (and give you cardiac arrest).
A half ton of beef served daily
The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, serves a whopping 1,000 pounds of beef per day, reports the Food Network. To put this into perspective, as of 2022, the town of Amarillo has a population of close to 200,000 people, and per the Meat Institute's latest report from 2017, the average American man eats 4.8 ounces of meat per day, while the average American woman eats 3.13 ounces of meat per day. That means in a day, more than 4,000 people can get their daily beef dosage from the restaurant.
However, the Big Texan has a 72-ounce steak challenge: If a diner can successfully polish off a shrimp cocktail, a potato, salad, a roll, butter, and 72-ounce steak cooked to their liking within one hour, the $72 meal is 100% refunded. There have been over 10,000 champions so far (out of around 87,000 attempts), which means a 11% success rate. Try your luck if you dare (you may well get bigger in the process), but if you're not near Texas and still hungry for a taste of this Texan indulgence, check out the restaurant's Instagram and live stream of the 72-ounce steak challenge.