Book review: “Story of the Free 72-oz. Steak”

The first thing you notice is the cover. Beneath huge, Old West letters is a painting of a 1960s Chevrolet Impala pointed into a red-and-orange sunset, pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant with a neon sign featuring a giant cowboy and a fiberglass steer on the roof.

Below that is a photo of the restaurant’s newer incarnation, with an old photo of a cattle drive superimposed on it. Between is a black-and-white photo of a fellow who resembles a mountain man, patting his swollen stomach after a huge steak dinner.

In all, it resembles a comic-book cover. That is not a bad thing.

That prepares you for the vivid stories within the lavishly illustrated pages of “Story of the Free 72-oz. Steak” (self-published, softcover, 150 pages, $19.95) which serves not only as a souvenir of the Big Texan Steak Ranch, but as a history of the renowned restaurant in Amarillo, Texas. Co-owners Bobby Lee, Danny Lee and Diana Lee Magill are the authors, and Hannah Jane assembled their stories — and others’.

Although “Story of the Free 72-oz. Steak” serves as a history of the Big Texan, it is as much of a tribute to the genius, showmanship, tenacity and often-overlooked restaurant skills of its late founder, R.J. “Bob” Lee.

It’s hard to believe now, but Amarillo had no Wild West-themed restaurants when he bought a barbecue joint on Amarillo Boulevard, aka Route 66, in 1960. Tourists told Bob Lee they wanted to see cowboys and other Western sights. So servers dressed in Western attire. Ten-gallon hat-wearing musicians serenaded diners with guitars and fiddles. Real-life cowboys doing business at Amarillo’s stockyards were welcomed at the restaurant with “two-bit beer.” It was all part of the creating a memorable atmosphere.

It was Bob Lee, using materials salvaged from Air Force barracks, who hurriedly built a new Big Texan on Interstate 40 after Route 66 was bypassed (the Big Texan remains strong supporters of Route 66 even after the move). It was Lee who reopened the Big Texan just eight days after a fire destroyed much of the complex in 1976. He persevered during the worst of times.

And though the “free 72-ounce steak if eaten in an hour” remains Bob Lee’s enduring gimmick well after his death from a heart attack in 1990, the Big Texan wouldn’t be still around if it weren’t a good restaurant. Lee learned the trade at his father’s restaurant in Kansas City, Mo., and he refined those skills at Marriott hotels before starting his own business. Numerous people interviewed for the book marveled at Bob Lee’s restaurant acumen, and many (including Roadfood.com’s Michael and Jane Stern) agree.

The book also contains:

• A forward by Route 66 author Michael Wallis.
• How Bob Lee came up with the idea for the 72-ounce steak challenge.
• The one time when the Big Texan served son-of-a-bitch stew to a select group of patrons.
• Interviews with longtime employees, dancers, musicians and entertainers.
• Stories about rattlesnakes, including live ones on display and others that wound up deep-fried.
• Cincinnati Reds pitcher Frank Pastore’s long-standing record of eating the 72-ounce meal in 9 1/2 minutes.
• Professional eater Joey “Jaws” Chestnut breaking Pastore’s speed record just months ago.
• Stories about the “Longhorn Limousines” and their drivers.
• A list of those who’ve completed the 72-ounce challenge since 1990 (records before then were lost in the fire and a sprinkler accident).
• A chapter on the Big Texan Inn and the Horse Hotel.

“Story of the Free 72-oz. Steak” might be a bit guilty of self-mythologizing. But it’s irrefutable that the Big Texan is one of the most famous restaurants in the world.

Recommended.

(“Story of the Free 72-oz. Steak” is not yet available online, but you can e-mail book1@bigtexan.com or call 806-372-1000 to make arrangements to have it shipped to your door. The book also is being sold at the restaurant, Hastings bookstores in the area and is being distributed at businesses along Route 66.)