Food:

As the largest city in the Panhandle Plains, which is still most certainly cow country, Amarillo is steak town. The famous Big Texan Steak Ranch is here (remember, if you can eat a 72 ounce steak (plus all those side dishes) in an hour or less, it’s on the house!) Barbecue also has a significant presence, meaty and beany as it is. Authentic “Tex-Mex” and traditional “interior” Mexican cooking coexists in high-class, but affordable establishments.

For a different kind of dining experience, check out Figure 3 Ranch, which serves rich and ample chuck wagon fare in between demonstrations of cowboy life and lassoing.

Music:

Amarillo is honky-tonk and country-western to its core, with its folk and rock clubs being comparatively negligible. Old Route 66 is lined with honky-tonk clubs and some of the country clubs even require cowboy hats for entrance; fortunately, they’re provided. For a different kind of musical scene, the Texas Outdoor Musical Drama is set very dramatically against the backdrop of the Palo Duro Canyon and is a lot of historically flavored fun.