The rules are simple: eat 72 ounces of steak, a shrimp cocktail, a baked potato, a salad, and a roll in 60 minutes. If you finish, the meal (normally $72) is free. If you fail, you pay. Challengers must eat on stage, visible to the restaurant, with a timer counting down. No bathroom breaks. No leaving the stage. No sharing. The steak alone is 4.5 pounds; the full meal is closer to 5.5 pounds. Most challengers fail around pound three, when the beef stops being delicious and starts being work. Successful eaters typically have competitive eating experience or unusual body chemistry. The current record is 4 minutes 18 seconds, held by competitive eater Molly Schuyler.

The Big Texan opened in 1960 on Route 66, founded by R.J. 'Bob' Lee. The 72-ounce challenge began when a cowboy boasted he was hungry enough to eat a whole cow. Lee offered him a deal: eat a 72-ounce steak and it's free. The cowboy succeeded, and a tradition was born. When Interstate 40 bypassed Route 66, Lee moved the restaurant to the new highway rather than watch traffic disappear. The Big Texan has been at its current location since 1970. Three generations of the Lee family have operated it. The challenge has become nationally famous, featured on television shows, travel programs, and competitive eating circuits.

Even without the challenge, the Big Texan is an experience. The building is designed to look like an Old West saloon. The dining room is enormous, decorated with mounted animal heads, Texas memorabilia, and photographs of successful challengers. A mechanical cowboy greets visitors at the entrance. The gift shop sells everything from Big Texan t-shirts to Texas-shaped waffle irons. The free limo service will pick up anyone in Amarillo - a white stretch limo decorated with longhorns and Texas flags. The motel next door continues the theme with Texas-shaped pools. Subtlety is not the brand.

The steaks come from the Big Texan's own butcher facility. The restaurant serves over 10,000 steaks per year, including the challenge steaks. Standard menu items range from reasonable to excessive; the 72-ounce is merely the extreme end. The steak is cooked to order - even challenge steaks can be requested at various temperatures. Medium-rare is popular because it's easier to chew. The restaurant takes its beef seriously; this isn't a novelty operation serving bad meat. The regular steaks are genuinely good. They're just overshadowed by the spectacle of watching someone try to eat four and a half pounds of beef.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is located at 7701 I-40 East in Amarillo, Texas, on the eastbound service road. The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner. No reservations needed for regular dining; the challenge is first-come-first-served. The free limo pickup is available anywhere in Amarillo - call ahead. The adjacent Big Texan Motel offers themed rooms and Texas-shaped pools. Cadillac Ranch is 10 miles west on I-40. The Palo Duro Canyon is 25 miles south. Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport is 10 miles northwest. Whether you attempt the challenge or just watch, the Big Texan delivers exactly what it promises: too much Texas.