Only a 6.5 hour drive from our home in Denver, Colorado, Amarillo has been a new destination for us. We visited twice in the last month on our drive to and from New Orleans, Louisiana for Christmas. Both times were super fun, and I’m already planning a girls trip back to explore even more.
Stay:
The Courtyard Amarillo Downtown is a perfect location, within walking distances of restaurants and bars. It’s a huge hotel, totally different than the Courtyard most of us are used to. The rooms are spacious, and from the top floors you have some incredible views of the city.
Eat:
Crush Wine Bar & Deli is one block from the Courtyard. When I was here the first time, I only had one evening to explore, and this was perfect being so close. They have an extensive wine list, and it looks like they can also do some flights for tasting if you’re sitting at the bar. The food is also incredible. Think lots of pastas, fresh veggies, very much the types of items you would expect in a wine bar. This is definitely a spot I’ll return to on my next visit.
The first morning I visited, I had to get up early, so I could drive the next leg of my trip. Before heading out, I walked across from the Courtyard hotel to the Palace Coffee Company. The coffeeshop is spacious and had a ton of tables if you wanted to sit inside and get some work done. The coffee was fantastic, and they had so many different options.
They also have incredible bagels – I grabbed this jalapeño cheddar bagel on my way out, and it was the perfect road trip meal.
The Big Texan Steak Ranch is so fantastic that it almost deserves its own blog post. This was absolutely, hands down, the highlight of our trip.
For starters, we didn’t want to drive here, because we knew we’d want to enjoy some (many) libations. GREAT NEWS, you don’t have to drive here, because they have a FREE LIMO SERVICE that will pick you up at any of the hotels in Amarillo, along with a few group stops. All of the limos have horns on the front, and while they certainly aren’t new, luxurious limos, they did the trick, and were a great touch to the beginning of the evening.
When you first enter The Ranch, I recommend putting your name on the dinner list right away. The place fills up FAST, and even arriving early (around 6 pm) there was already a 45 minute wait. After putting in your name, you can start exploring the area. We immediately posted up at the bar in the main hall, which features all of their beers made onsite at The Big Texan Brewery. We tried a few pints, while we eyed the gelato spot next to the bar.
You can do a sampler of all of their beers, and I think it I remember correctly it was something ridiculously cheap like $10 for all of these. We waited until we’d sat down to order the sampler, and just got one so we could try everything together and then pick our favorites for pints with dinner.
The food is good – it’s definitely more about the atmosphere than the quality, so don’t come in here expecting Ruth Chris steaks. We loaded up on a few appetizers (HIGHLY recommend the stuffed mushrooms), which were all delicious. The steak was fine – we didn’t dislike anything. They have folks that walk around during dinner to sing at your table, and you can also watch people on the main stage attempting to finish the 72 oz steak dinner challenge, so there is plenty to keep you entertained.
After dinner, you can stop back by the gelato, the bar, the shooting gallery, etc, and make sure to check out the gift shop! We grabbed some t-shirts to commemorate our trip before grabbing another (FREE!) limo back to our hotel.
Do:
Even if you’re just driving through Amarillo and don’t have enough time to stop and eat and drink, make sure you plan for time at the Cadillac Ranch. You can spend anywhere from 5 minutes to over a half hour here, and it’s super easy to get to. Basically, in the middle of a field, someone buried a bunch of old Cadillacs halfway in the ground, and people travel from far and wide to take photos with them, and add to the graffiti. Bring a spray paint can if you have one, if not, you can buy them in the gift shop before you hit the main attraction.
We had a blast in Amarillo, and I can’t wait to go back! Let me know if there are any other spots I need to add to my next trip in the comments.
