This Amarillo Restaurant Offers a Free Steak With a 72-Ounce Catch
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The Big Texan Steak Challenge offers a free steak dinner to diners who finish the full meal before the timer runs out. The 72-ounce steak is a steak weighing 72 ounces, not the weight of the entire challenge meal. At The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo, you face a timed meal, not an ordinary dinner. Finish before time expires, and the restaurant refunds the price.
That offer has drawn people, including cowboys and curious travelers, for years. You do not need to compete to enjoy the restaurant, but the challenge can make a meal feel like a live event. Here, you’ll get the details that help you decide whether to watch, dine, or try the contest yourself. There is no pressure to take it on.
Key Takeaways
- The challenge meal includes more than the steak.
- The steak is top sirloin, aged for 40 days.
- Challengers pay up front and win a refund by finishing.
- The attempt runs on a continuous clock.
- Successful challengers appear on the online Wall of Fame.
Treat the offer as a demanding restaurant challenge, not a casual free-meal promotion.
What Comes With the Big Texan Steak Challenge?
The meal is more than a large steak: it also comes with five sides or accompaniments. The beef takes center stage, but the full challenge meal includes everything served with it. The 72-ounce weight applies to the steak alone.
The Big Texan Steak Challenge cut of meat is top sirloin, aged for 40 days and cooked over an open flame for about 30 minutes. The steak’s length, width, and thickness can vary by day, while its stated weight remains 72 ounces.
The steak and its sides
The restaurant serves the challenge meal as a full dinner, not a plate of beef by itself. The five accompaniments add different textures and flavors, from the cold cocktail to the warm potato and bread.
- Shrimp cocktail
- Baked potato
- Salad
- Roll
- Butter
The full challenge meal lineup gives you a better sense of the scale than the steak’s name alone. Shrimp cocktail starts the meal with chilled shrimp and sauce. A baked potato, salad, roll, and butter round out the plate.
Those foods matter because challengers must finish the whole meal, rather than just the beef. The challenge is designed around a complete dinner, so the five additions are part of the task. You can also order regular food at the restaurant without entering the contest.
The challenge meal means finishing the steak and every listed accompaniment within the timed contest.
The combination makes this more like a large, multi-course dinner than a single oversized steak. Even the potato and roll can feel like a lot once you have eaten several pounds of beef.
What cut is the steak?
The steak is top sirloin, a beef cut from the upper part of the cow’s rear section. It is not a tenderloin or a ribeye. The restaurant ages it for 40 days before cooking it over an open flame.
Cooking takes about 30 minutes, and the steak’s exact shape can change from one day to another. One serving may look longer or thicker than another, but the restaurant still describes each challenge steak as 72 ounces. Its variable dimensions do not mean the weight changes.
Top sirloin gives the challenge a substantial beef focus, while the sides add more food to finish. If you are deciding whether to compete, picture the whole dinner rather than imagining a steak alone. Remember that the listed 72 ounces refers to the steak, while the sides add to the full meal.
How Much Does It Cost, and What Are the Rules?
In 2026, an attempt costs $72 up front, and a successful challenger gets the full amount back. The refund depends on finishing, while a failed attempt costs the full fee. The contest takes place only at the Amarillo restaurant, under staff supervision.
Attempts are available during all regular business hours, and you do not need a reservation. The restaurant assigns your table, so you cannot choose where the challenge takes place. The Big Texan Steak Ranch is at 7701 Interstate 40 Access Rd, Amarillo, Texas.
Price, hours and where to take the challenge
The 2026 challenge price and refund terms are simple: pay $72 before starting, then finish successfully to get it back. If you do not complete the meal, you pay the full $72. Those terms make the offer a contest, rather than a free meal with no cost at stake.
The Big Texan Steak Challenge happens on-site at The Big Texan Steak Ranch, not at a different branch or off-site event. An authorized representative supervises each attempt. You can come during regular business hours without booking a challenge slot in advance.
Check the restaurant’s current schedule before making a trip, since the contest follows its regular business hours. You do not get to pick the table; the restaurant assigns it. Challengers receive a T-shirt and a cowboy-boot mug whether they win or lose.
Successful challengers also receive a completion certificate, may sign the guest book, and appear on the online Wall of Fame. These items mark the result, but they do not change the rules or the price. The restaurant records finishers as part of the contest’s public history.
Rules once the clock starts
Before timing begins, you may cut into the steak and take one bite to check whether it is cooked as you want. Once you approve the doneness, the clock starts and keeps running. The restaurant’s rules set a one-hour limit for completing the meal.
The rules are strict once the clock starts, since the contest measures one person’s effort. The table below shows the main stages and what each rule means for your attempt.
| Phase | Rule | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Before the clock | Take one bite to check doneness | Approval starts the clock |
| Active attempt | Stay at assigned table; no one touches meal | Standing, leaving, or help disqualifies |
| Illness or uneaten fat | Illness ends attempt; judge checks remaining fat | Illness means loss; judge decides if food remains acceptable |
| After a failed attempt | Take leftovers home | Do not eat or share them in restaurant |
You cannot stand up, leave the table, or let another person touch the meal after the clock begins. Help with cutting, preparing, or eating disqualifies you. The rule keeps the attempt focused on what one challenger can finish.
You do not have to eat the fat, but the restaurant judges how much remains. That judgment affects whether the food left behind is acceptable. Becoming ill ends the attempt as a loss, even if you have eaten most of the dinner.
If you fail, you may take leftovers home, but you cannot eat or share them in the restaurant. Plan for that possibility before you start, since leftovers are not a way to continue the contest at your table. Make sure the steak is cooked to your satisfaction during the allowed bite, because the clock cannot be paused after approval.
How Many People Finish the 72-Ounce Steak Challenge?
As of December 5, 2025, 10,631 of 99,208 attempts had ended in a successful finish. Those figures count attempts, not unique people, since one person could try more than once. The restaurant owner separately estimated that about 5,000 people had participated.
Molly Schuyler holds the Big Texan Steak Challenge record, finishing in 4 minutes and 18 seconds in March 2015. She also ate three complete challenge dinners in less than 20 minutes during one sitting.
Completion numbers and Molly Schuyler’s record
The attempt count gives a clear view of how often the challenge succeeds: 10,631 finishes from 99,208 attempts by December 5, 2025. The separate estimate of about 5,000 participants describes people, not completed attempts. A person may enter more than once, so the two figures measure different things.
Successful challengers are recorded on the restaurant’s online Wall of Fame. That list gives finishers a place in the history of the contest, while the attempt totals show how many tries ended in a win. The figures should not be read as a count of distinct winners.
Schuyler’s 2015 finish remains the best-known speed mark. Her time was 4 minutes and 18 seconds, and she later showed a different feat by finishing three full challenge dinners in less than 20 minutes. Both feats stand out against a contest built around one complete meal.
The speed record belongs to a woman, a detail that cuts against the old idea that extreme eating contests are only “man food.” The challenge draws people for different reasons, from a test of appetite to the spectacle of a record attempt. You can also visit simply to watch the dining room.
From a 1962 cowboy contest to a livestream
The challenge began in 1962 after a diner ate 4½ pounds of steak and sides in one hour. The Big Texan Steak Ranch had opened two years earlier, in 1960, and later moved to its present location in 1970.
Current co-owners Bobby and Danny Lee run the restaurant. Its large roadside presence has made the challenge part of Amarillo’s food and travel identity. The restaurant also fits naturally among giant roadside attractions in the United States, where the building and contest draw curious stops.
The restaurant has livestreamed challenge attempts from its dining room since the 1990s. Viewers can watch challengers take on the meal without sitting in the restaurant, adding a public show to a local contest. The dining room becomes a stage when a timed attempt begins.
In June 2026, the challenge traveled on a Route 66 Centennial Caravan road show. Nightly streaming events took place at stops along the route. The traveling show connected the steak contest with Route 66’s centennial celebrations.
Calories in the full meal
The full challenge meal is estimated at about 6,937 calories. The calorie estimate for the full meal includes the steak, sides, and sauces, rather than only the beef. That figure gives the contest another measure of its size.
The steak accounts for 5,256 calories, and au jus adds 90. A potato contributes 284 calories, while butter adds 72. The salad itself is listed at 6 calories, though ranch dressing adds 493.
The roll contributes 84 calories. Battered shrimp add 454, and cocktail sauce adds 198. Together, the components bring the estimate to about 6,937 calories.
The full meal’s estimated 6,937 calories include the sides and sauces, not just the steak.
Calorie estimates can help put the meal in perspective, but they do not describe how a particular person will feel during a timed attempt. The meal is substantial even before you consider the pressure of the clock. Molly Schuyler’s 4-minute-18-second finish is the benchmark that makes the challenge’s scale easy to picture.
Conclusion
The challenge is best approached as a planned stop for diners who want a timed food spectacle, whether or not they intend to compete. A successful attempt means committing to the full meal and following the restaurant’s rules, so you can also enjoy the steak ranch as a regular visitor.
There is no need to compete to make The Big Texan Steak Ranch part of an Amarillo trip. If you do want to try, prepare for a large amount of beef and a clock that does not pause. Check the current hours and rules before setting out for The Big Texan Steak Ranch.
