Foodies Unite! What Are The Best LOCAL Restaurants In Amarillo?

There are certain things Amarillo does NOT have a shortage of. Coffee shops (this is well documented), convenience stores, and storage unit places. These are all things that seem to go up in the city every single day.

However, there's one more category that Amarillo has a lot of, and we don't complain about this one. Restaurants. We have SO many restaurants to choose from, and it's a beautiful thing.

We have an incredible mixture of cuisines to choose from, some chain restaurants, and some great local options. When you're in a city as small as Amarillo, you have a tendency to want to support those local businesses as much as possible. A lot of those owners are friends of ours, so we support them over the big dogs when we can.

I was scrolling around Facebook and saw someone pose the question:

I thought to myself, that's a heck of a good question. I'll be the first to admit that I don't get out to restaurants often. Between our crazy busy schedule with the kids' sports and having three kids, going out to dinner isn't exactly convenient or cheap. When we do go, yeah, we have a tendency to hit chain restaurants because we know there are items on the menu the kids will eat.

It's time I start finding those great local joints. I mean typically, the food is better and fresher because local restaurants tend to take the time to prepare and cook it, unlike the chain restaurants that want to get you in and out as fast as possible.

I started scrolling through the comments and saw some great recommendations on there, and a couple that I actually HAVE been to.

HUMMERS

This one popped up on more than one occasion, and I can see why. First off, it's been around for quite a while so it's had time to gain a reputation, and the reputation is a good one. I'm a big fan of the laid-back atmosphere it provides. VERY friendly for a family meal. They've got TV's to watch sports on, which definitely satisfies my need to go somewhere with a game on.

The beer is always cold, and the food is extremely good and well-priced, which is another major prerequisite for me. I mean, feeding five people isn't cheap.

YE OLDE PANCAKE STATION

I had the chance to try this one out last year by surprising the wife and taking her to breakfast on her birthday. I had driven past it so many times, and the parking lot was always packed. I figured it had to be a solid option for a tasty breakfast.

I was dead on. I'm a huge Eggs Benedict fan, and they had it on the menu so I figured I would give it a shot. The eggs were cooked to perfection, the hollandaise sauce was creamy and rich. A very good meal for sure. The atmosphere was great too. Nothing fancy with almost an old-school feel to it. It reminded me of going to breakfast with my grandpa in Iowa.

Out of all the suggestions listed on the Facebook post, those were the only two I've had a chance to try out, and I immediately started to shame myself for it.

There were so many restaurants listed that I had heard about before, and now even more people mentioned them. For example, places like Green Chili Willy's, La Frontera, and Lazy Gator were all mentioned more than once by different people. It immediately gave me this sense of FOMO that I now can't shake.

So tell me, what other LOCAL restaurants do you recommend I check out? It's time I start to find out what all the buzz is about with these great local restaurants.