The Big Texan welcomes guests from all over for its annual Thanksgiving Day buffet

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - The Big Texan served close to 3,000 people today at its annual Thanksgiving Day Buffet.

Danny Lee, Co-owner of The Big Texan, says the reason they choose to stay open on the holidays is because it is a tradition his parents started back in he 80s when they were one of the only restaurants on I-40.

At the buffet, they served turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and everything in between.

Lee says today is a big day for the restaurant and took a lot of preparation.

“We have to start looking at how much we’re going to buy, how many turkeys are needed for this day, how much things are going to weigh, so today we prepared 166 turkeys for an example, 800 pounds of mashed potatoes,” said Lee.

The Big Texan wants guests to know they will always be open and ready to serve a made-from-scratch meal, whether you’re local or from out of town.

“So we’re here for a basketball tournament and we wanted to enjoy it here because we had no where else to go,” said Trinity Johnson, Oklahoma resident.

Lee says many locals who don’t want to cook at home come out as well, or for one Amarillo resident The Big Texan was one of their only options.

“Came to the big Texan, brought the family because the oven broke on Monday, so being that we didn’t have very many options,” said Joe Chris Rodriguez, Amarillo resident.

One guest came all the way from Florida.

“This is our first time not eating with our grandmother at her house because she likes to cook, but she just turned 88 years old on Monday, so were celebrating her birthday and we decided to try a new tradition and heard great things about the big Texan,” said Trent Moore, Florida Resident.

Lee says there is no greater feeling than hearing people walk out saying that was the best meal ever.

“Oh my god it was amazing, I will do this again...the rolls, the mashed potatoes, always a true tradition to dip the rolls in the mashed potatoes,” said Karley Floyd, Stinnett, Texas resident.

The Big Texan says they are ready to welcome guests for another buffet for Christmas.

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