COWBOY UPMany years ago my uncle - who was in the cow business - told his young tag-along nephew, “The bigger the hat, the smaller the herd”. It’s not one of the quotations of the century and it most likely wasn’t original but it has stuck with me.
I have attended many livestock and horse auctions over the years and know they are mostly located out of town or near a railway if one is available. A maybe downwind of town, that is if there is a prevailing wind.
So when Amarillo Convention and Visitors Bureau Eric Miller and I walked into the Stockyard Café the number of western hats was in no way out of place. Those not wearing cowboy hats were in the rural headgear of the day – the baseball hat. These guys knew cattle, trucks, and good food.
It took but a few seconds for a smiling waitress to appear at our table with order pad and a steaming coffee pot in hand. We ordered and were pleasantly surprised at the speed the steaming plates were served.
After two cups of really great coffee – and I know coffee – breakfast arrived and to say the portions are large would be an understatement. If you should go to the café for breakfast please be hungry they will feed you well. Oh yes, the fellow at the next table was having chicken fried steak and eggs that looked fantastic. I was later to learn that their chicken fried steak is nationally famous due to the TV show, MAN v FOOD.
Owned and operated by Jim and Vickie Youngblood, who also have a very successful catering service, that will many times outdo the café, although that’s hard to believe because of the café business during my visits.
Visiting with these good people was a true experience and I learned Jim was a trained chief in New York City but the call from Texas was too strong so he returned to open his own business. Vickie called my attention to the mounted bison head hanging on the wall. She raised the hairy monster from a calf and lost her to an unknown disease, she had the head mounted.
In short this is a good place to go if you are hungry and need to get filled up. Located in the Amarillo Livestock Auction at 101 S Manhattan Street in Amarillo, Texas.
