The patrons at Big Ed’s Steakhouse in Bird City often drive, drive and drive some more to get their favorite cut of grilled meat.
It’s not uncommon for the restaurant’s patrons to travel four to six hours for a meal in the small town of 437 in northwest Kansas.
“I think it’s the experience, really,” says Mark Stromberg, who lives in Denver, a four-hour drive – one way. “The experience is half of what made the steak taste so good. It’s almost like you are at the county fair with the big grills going and just how casual it is. That country beef though was, I’d say, half the experience.
“You can go to places like Ruth’s Chris (Steakhouse) or other big, expensive places with all the fake pomp and circumstance of the super fancy restaurants. But there (at Big Ed’s), it’s authentic.”
And the steaks?
“They are nice and juicy and very charred,” Stromberg says. “There’s lots of that charcoal barbecue flavor.”
What Stromberg and other customers might not have realized until recently is that they’re having what is purported to be one of the best steak-eating experiences in the country.
Several months ago, Big Ed’s Steakhouse was named the No. 1 steakhouse in the nation by readers of TravelAwaits, which focuses on travelers 50-plus, in the online site’s Best of Travel Awards.
It topped a list of 14 steakhouses, beating out such establishments as:
- No. 3-rated Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn
- No. 4-rated Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Oklahoma City
- No. 8-rated Cut by Wolfgang Puck in Beverly Hills, California
- No. 10-rated Johnny’s Cafe in Omaha, Nebraska
It’s a big deal in this tiny Cheyenne County town, barely a pheasant’s flush from both Nebraska and Colorado.
“Friendly staff and meat seasoned so well you don’t even think about adding salt or sauce is what you can find at Big Ed’s,” TravelAwaits said.
Don’t let the size of the town fool you, TravelAwaits cautioned:
“Bird City may be a small town, but the steaks here are big. Big Ed’s cuts include 24-ounce T-bones and ribeyes. Weekend night prime ribs can reach a hefty 28-30 ounces.
“The décor, including deer heads on the walls, is not the main draw; the open kitchen to watch your steak cooked to perfection is.”
Steaks at N 39.686 W 101.569
Located a 30-to 45-minute drive off Interstate 70 from Colby and just off U.S. 36, the drive into Bird City is by many people’s standards, well, out in the middle of nowhere.
The closest tourist site in the surrounding High Plains region is the Arikaree Breaks, known for a rugged landscape of canyons, caves, valleys, creeks and mesas.
Pull into Bird City on a weeknight and you are hard-pressed to find another living soul – even cats and dogs seem scarce.
But turn on to Bressler Street downtown and the smell of steak suddenly smacks your nostrils and triggers tastebuds enough so that your mouth is soon flowing like Niagara Falls.
Parking spaces filled with vehicles with out-of-state license tags – Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Nebraska and more – are at a premium in front of a sparsely adorned building of brick and beige siding.
Could this be the No. 1 steakhouse in the nation?
A small white sign at the top of the building confirms this is indeed Big Ed’s Steakhouse and Lounge.
Underneath, two longhorn steer heads are painted onto the sign with the building’s latitude and longitude: N 39.686 W 101.569.
Neon signs advertising Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors and Miller beers decorate the exterior windows.
But walk inside, and the magic begins.
Down-home is a description that perfectly fits Big Ed’s Steakhouse. No need to get gussied up to get a table. And a visit is as much of a treat for locals like Alana Meitl and Colton Ketterl of Oberlin as it is for folks who have to drive for hours. Photos Credit: Zach Tuttle 
Down-home is a description that perfectly fits Big Ed’s Steakhouse. No need to get gussied up to get a table. And a visit is as much of a treat for locals like Alana Meitl and Colton Ketterl of Oberlin as it is for folks who have to drive for hours. Photos Credit: Zach Tuttle
In fact, Big Ed’s tends to defy expectations in a multitude of ways. Despite its recent notoriety, the restaurant has largely built its reputation by word of mouth. It doesn’t advertise.
Its high quality is infused with a back-to-basics spirit. (Editor’s note: The Journal initially reported that Big Ed’s is cash only and that no credit or debit cards accepted there. But the restaurant said in a social media post Tuesday that they do, in fact, take credit cards.)
But while you should plan on spending money, you won’t necessarily need a wad of cash. The meals are big enough that two people can easily split an entrée, which runs $30 to $40. The price tag goes up, depending on any extras you add.
If you want to look beyond the steak, you also might see a fascinating story about a rural business, launched by a community outsider, that is thriving amid a series of successions in ownership, no small feat at a time when small-town restaurants too often face extinction.
Big Ed is long gone, but his spirit endures in away many places can’t emulate.
The other Big Ed’s Steakhouse
Wait, wait, just a minute.
Before we go any further. We need to clarify.
Do a Google search.
Kansas has another Big Ed’s Steakhouse – in Thayer, population 432.
It’s in Neosho County in southeast Kansas.
And although it has not been named the No. 1 steakhouse in the nation, owner Ed Carrico references the Bird City Big Ed’s by throwing a little good-natured shade.
“I thought it was a hamburger joint,” he says. “That Big Ed’s in Bird City is not associated with me, at all.”
He’s owned Big Ed’s in Thayer for 31 years – and prides himself on the quality of steaks his restaurant serves.
They are also big enough for two people to share.
And, like Big Ed’s in Bird City, his customers also come from all around.
A symbol of pride
Still, in Bird City when word started trickling in that Big Ed’s was named the top steakhouse in the nation, it didn’t surprise City Clerk Seante Gyukeri.
“The steak is amazing,” she says. “They have some secrets that have been passed along from owner to owner.”
Gyukeri moved to town from Massachusetts three and a half years ago.
“Coming from the East Coast, it’s the best steak I’ve ever had in my life,” she says. “I never knew steak could taste that good.”
There was a flurry of activity when the news first made its way to Bird City early this past summer.
As you might expect word got around town pretty quickly.
More vehicles with out-of-state license plates showed up.
It is a symbol of town pride, says former Mayor and current City Councilman Ted Partch.
“There are those in town who have never been there (to Big Ed’s) because they don’t want to drink beer. And there are those who don’t mind the drive and come from out of town and become regulars,” Partch says.
Most of the customers are out-of-towners, which may be a good thing. Because in Bird City an establishment that caters to those with hearty appetites could feed the native customer base in fairly short order.
Bill Prochazka found out about Big Ed’s 20 years ago.
“We’d heard about it over the years but had not gone and tried it,” said Prochazka, from Phillipsburg. “Then, out of the blue, some lifelong friends from Denver got ahold of us and said, ‘Hey, we just drove out to Bird City for dinner and love it.”
So, that made Prochazka a believer.
The steaks are perfect.
“It’s old-time, down to earth,” he says of the restaurant. “You walk in, and you feel at home.
“It’s world-class steaks. We’ve traveled the world and it’s in the top two or three – one was in Colorado, the other was in South America.”
Not bad for a small-town restaurant that began with a big vision.
Big Ed’s started in 1986 with Ed Thomas.
“This was one of those things that started with somebody who wasn’t from here who was a relative of a relative,” Partch says. “He came in and opened it up. It’s changed hands a couple of times, but it’s the same décor and the same menu. When people come here, they know they are going to get a good steak.”
Since Big Ed’s tends to fly under the radar, news of the No. 1 ranking erupted on social media, Gyukeri says.
“Everybody just clicked on it, shared and it just exploded,” she says.
Creating legendary steaks
DeAnza and Shannon Ambrosier sank just about everything they owned into Big Ed’s when they bought the place more than four years ago.
They knew they were buying more than a restaurant. They were also buying a reputation, starting with Big Ed himself.
“He had oil wells and was worth money,” Shannon Ambrosier says. “He built a YMCA in McCook (Nebraska) and then he came out here and bought the building and just started cooking steaks. It took off from there.”
The next owner was Richard Upchurch, who continued to serve good steaks and upgraded the building, followed by Robert and Sherry Cherry.
“I worked for the Upchurches, cooking for him for six years,” Shannon Ambrosier says. “He then went out to Colorado and built a nice steakhouse, and I went out there for a year helping get that one going. He said he’d sell it (Big Ed’s) to me, but he sold it to the Cherrys instead and then, when they were ready to sell it, my wife and I talked about it.”
DeAnza Ambrosier says they definitely wanted to buy Big Ed’s because it was an established name.
Shannon Ambrosier and DeAnza Ambrosier sank about every dollar they had into buying Big Ed’s about four years ago. She had worked for a previous owner and knew the value of the restaurant’s reputation. Credit: Zach Tuttle 
For those with big appetites, a 24-ounce ribeye awaits. Credit: Zach Tuttle 
Orders clog the queue in the kitchen, where magic is added to the meat. Credit: Zach Tuttle
“Just to come up with the down payment, we pretty much liquidated a lot of our stuff,” she says. “Gradually, we will get back the things we liquidated.”
Meanwhile, they’re No. 1.
The restaurant in Bird City is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 5 to 10 pm.
“We get a lot of locals but also a lot of our business is on the weekends,” DeAnza says. “People come from out of town, traveling quite a distance. Sometimes, people will rent a party bus and they’ll travel as a group to come spend an evening with us.”
The most popular items on the menu?
The prime rib, DeAnza says, is like getting a roast on a dinner plate.
Then, there are the ribeye and filet that are mighty fine, too – big, juicy and ever so tender.
People come for the experience, the tastes and that feeling of just being here.
The atmosphere is a bit eclectic.
It’s mounted deer and buffalo heads, racks of antlers, longhorn skulls, taxidermied turkeys, rodeo posters, and a mural of the Kansas prairie with a windmill and white stockinged horse looking off into the distance.
It’s Old West saloon meets small town diner.
“I think the big attraction is that it’s located in such a small, little Midwest town,” she says. “It’s a tiny little hole in the wall compared to other places. It’s not fancy, at all. But people get a great steak at a great price.
“I think that’s the allure of it all.”
The regulars know it’s also about the cooks.
“They’ve had cooks there long enough to know what they are doing,” Partch says. “The good cooks know by the touch of the steak. That’s a real knack. You’ve got to train somebody so they can do that.”
Cathy Loop is one of the grill masters.
“There are some folks who won’t go unless Cathy is at the grill,” Partch says.
He’s one of them.
And when he goes to Big Ed’s, Partch also asks what the evening’s best cuts are.
“When I go in there, I always ask what’s the best you got? Shannon knows because he’s bought all the steaks. He knows what pieces are best. Certain cuts are just better pieces of meat. I always ask for which one he thinks is best.
“The thing is you go into some restaurants and one time you might get a good steak and the next you won’t.
“The steaks at Big Ed’s are always the same – always good. “
Partch says it’s because the folks at Big Ed’s know how to take meat to the next level.
DeAnza says the secret is in the spices – and the meat.
“The first step to a great steak is you buy the best quality,” she says. “We never skimp on that because that’s where it is. Then the seasoning and how you cook it.”
The meat is never frozen.
“We get it as a big roast and then it is hand cut per order,” she says. “We keep it in the cooler, trim it and get all the fat off it. Whenever there is an order, we cut off however big a steak they want.”
Shipments come in once a week.
And now, here is a kicker – it’s not Kansas beef.
“Most of it comes out of southern Nebraska,” DeAnza says. “When we first started, our hope was to buy local, but there were no local suppliers that could produce the number of cuts we wanted. So we had to look elsewhere for it.”
The eating experience
It’s certainly fitting for Bird City to host a top-rated steakhouse. It’s in the heart of cattle country, having been founded in the mid 1880s and named after Benjamin Bird, manager of the Northwest Cattle Co.
One of its first moments of notoriety was in the summer of 1922, when a soon-to-be famous barnstormer used the town as his home base.
Charles Lindbergh was nicknamed “The Daredevil” by locals.
These days, Bird City attracts barnstormers of a different sort, such as Mary Jo Prochazka – Bill Prochazka’s sister – who lives in Longmont, Colorado.
The Prochazka siblings grew up on a farm near Atwood and are now in their 60s and 70s.
One evening about 20 years ago when the family had gathered in Atwood for a small reunion, Bill suggested they all go to Big Ed’s.
Mary Jo is not a steak person. She dug her heelsin, initially.
“Really, we are going to drive to Bird City – 40 minutes away – and have supper?” she asked.
It turned out to be a great experience – although she’s still not a steak person.
“When I grew up, we had our own cattle, and we’d slaughter cows – we’d have beef in the freezer, and we had red meat like three meals a day.”
But diets change and so did her impressions of Big Ed’s.
“You are watching the flames,” she says. “They are cooking steaks over the fire. And there are all these cowboy hats and attire.
“That’s when you know: This is going to be good.”
A version of this article appears in the Fall 2023 issue of The Journal, a publication of the Kansas Leadership Center. To learn more about KLC, visit http://kansasleadershipcenter.org. Order your copy of the magazine at the KLC Store or subscribe to the print edition.
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