I will be spending one and possibly two nights in Amarillo next week. I don’t think the Sod Poodles will be home. I’ve never not driven thru Amarillo before. Any recommendations? I enjoy beer and sports and good food.
I’ve heard there’s good country music there, Abilene as well.
Growing up in Lubbock, I was taught to always drive through Amarillo without stopping. My dad grew up in Kress, and his exact words were: “I never left anything in Amarillo that’s worth going back for. We’ll just keep on going.”
I had to spend a day there back in 2018. All I could find to do was to go to a movie, but there wasn’t anything I wanted to see, so I just watched TV in the hotel room.
Palo Duro is worth a visit if you have time.
The Goodnight home/ museum is not far away.
American Quarterhorse Museum too I think. No idea if it’s worthwhile.
Cadillac Ranch is quick and iconic.
This bar styles itself as a prohibition era speakeasy. It’s in the basement of a nice hotel. You open the door by using a cigarette machine in a certain combo.
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And assuming it’s a road trip:
- Capulin Mountain is definitely worth a stop.
- Clayton NM is a notorious speed trap. Set the cruise control to the speed limit, which is 25 or 30 for far longer than it needs to be.
- The Toot N Totem in Clayton has clean bathrooms.
- There are HTeaO’s in Dumas and Dalhart.
- There’s a Bucee’s on the east side of Amarillo
The route west out of Amarillo past the Boys Ranch then north to Hartley is more scenic that the route straight north to Dumas IMO.
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Peruvian Chicken:
Aji Amarillo
Cilantro
Serranos
Garlic
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if you’ve never been to the big tex steakhouse, it is pretty awful in some ways, and pretty amusing in others. It only needs to be visited once, but it probably should be visited at least once. The food is moderately priced, not terrible, and they brew their own beer. The weirdest thing is that they let you take your dog in.
The donuts that I’ve had in Amarillo are mediocre. I’ve heard that there are some decent restaurants there now, but I don’t know them. Texas Monthly lists 8, including a sushi place. https://www.texasmonthly.com/dining-guide/?location=Amarillo
I don’t think anyplace in Amarillo has a Michelin star.
Palo Dura is worth a visit, and it’s spring there right now. There are also two places listed in Trip Advisor that look entertaining, the RV Museum and the Route 66 historic district.
If you’re driving from Fort Worth to Amarillo, Bevo’s drive-in in Vernon has great burgers and an orange and white color scheme.
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Palo Duro is awesome. So is Perini Ranch Steakhouse
I’ve heard only good things about Perini Ranch, but isn’t Buffalo Gap next to Abilene, not Amarillo? I hear there’s good country music from both.
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Yes, Abilene
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I think this is the first time anyone’s ever asked for travel recommendations and donuts were discussed. There’s always something new around here.
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Someone needs to open up a kolache/klobasniki place in Marble Falls
- proper bagels
Round Rock doughnuts are overrated.
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While we were fishing in each state, we made a special effort to sample donuts everywhere. Sometimes we had local pastries that weren’t donuts, but close to: kolach in Nebraska, malasada in Honolulu, beignet in New Orleans. The best donuts in the US are at The Tatonut Donut Shop in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The most overrated donuts are Voodoo–I do not want a donut that is jokingly named after the residue from anal sex–but Blue Star, also in Portland, is quite good. I always thought Dunkin’’ Donuts were terrible, but the jelly filled donuts are actually pretty good. In Houston we are very lucky to have Shipley’s. If they served coffee in ceramic mugs they’d be right up there with the Tatonut.
Eta: The machines that shoot little tiny donuts into the fat at the Minnesota State Fair are a cultural marvel. Kris made us visit the Texas State Fair last year just to see if they had them. They don’t.
Etta: There was a donut shop near Charleston that fried your donut when you ordered and then topped it with whatever you chose from the topping bar. It was expensive, but they were very good.
Ettta: If you have a neighborhood strip mall donut shop, a snowflake or a sunshine or a delite, go in and ask the owners if they are from Cambodia. There is a whole financing method for Cambodians to enter the economy through donut shops, and like as not there’s a Buddhist shrine.
Etttta: The best donut is not a donut at all, but a boudin kolache, which were invented in St. Charles, LA, at a Cambodian owned donut shop.
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My wife and I did the requisite one visit to Big Tex. I thought it was quite satisfactory. Not top-notch but something worth doing once if for the experience if nothing else.
Perini Ranch was fantastic. We went pre-GPS and its’ not easy to find.
That is the most damning description of a town anywhere ever. Amazing.
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Eventually it just got shortened to him grumbling “I never left anything in Amarillo” as we drove on past and stopped in Vega or Dalhart.
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Dalhart is no oasis. That one would consider pushing on to Dalhart rather than stopping in Amarillo after a long day is pretty telling. And I speak from experience.
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